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Christmas Magic Cookie Bars – Classic Magic Cookie Bars all dressed up for Christmas. Layers of graham crackers, chocolate, peanut butter chips, coconut, M&M’s and sweetened condensed milk.
I am pretty sure everyone grew up with the Classic Magic Cookie Bars in their house around the holidays. They go by many different names, in my family they were called One Pan Bars, but Magic Bars or Seven Layer Bars are other common names.
Well these are very similar they are just fun and festive for the holidays. I did make a couple small changes to make them a little different than the original, and I think they might be even better!
What Do You Need For Christmas Magic Bars
- Graham cracker crumbs
- Melted butter
- Chocolate chips
- Peanut butter chips
- Shredded coconut
- Sweetened condensed milk
- M&M’s
See, almost all the same ingredients as the original. I swapped butterscotch for peanut butter and the nuts for M&M’s. So they will be very reminiscent of what you know and love, but with a fun twist!
How To Make Christmas Magic Cookie Bars
- In the base of a 13×9 inch baking dish mix together the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs. Press into the base of the pan. It will be a very thin layer, that is perfectly fine.
- Then just start layering. Sprinkle over the coconut, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and M&M’s.
- To finish evenly pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over the bars.
- Bake for about 30 minutes until they are set and then let them cool completely before serving.
I sprinkled a few mini M&M’s over the top after they were done baking just for looks. You could also pour the sweetened condensed milk on before you put the M&M’s on if you wanted to see the red and green more clearly.
Magic Bar Variations
- You can make these year round. Play around with the colors for different holidays. You can even use different varieties of M&M’s like dark chocolate, peanut butter, caramel etc.
- Don’t like coconut? Use quick cooking oats.
- Mix up the chips! I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. But you can use white chocolate or butterscotch or use mint chips with peppermint M&M’s to make even more festive!
- The original version has nuts. If you love nuts, feel free to add them here.
Can You Freeze Christmas Magic Bars
Yes, these freeze really well! Once the bars have cooled completely you can either cover the entire pan and freeze, or slice and freeze that way. When I was a kid my Grandma would slice them and put them in an air tight container in the freezer. We always knew where to look for treats whenever we went to her house!
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Coconut Macroons
- Andes Mint Cake Mix Cookies
- Double Chocolate M&M Cookies
- Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars
Christmas Magic Cookie Bars
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup M&M’s
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a 13×9 inch baking dish mix together butter and graham cracker crumbs. Press into the base of the pan, it will be a thin layer.
- Sprinkle coconut evenly over the graham crackers.
- Sprinkle over chocolate chips, then peanut butter chips, then M&M’s
- Evenly drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the bars.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and set.
- Remove and let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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So what gives it the thickness I see in the picture? It looks as thought it has cookie dough or something but ingredient list just says peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.
The bars are pretty thin, you can see the in process pictures in the post. There is no cookie dough type anything, just the graham cracker crust, the layers of “chips” and sweetened condensed milk. There is even a video of the recipe being made in the recipe card.
@Erin S, i made these and they are great but a little sticky. I looked at photo and saw that a glass dish was used so I did the same. Did not realize that i needed to lower to 325 and they look a little over done on edges but still good. Do i refrigerate after baking?
Is there anything that can be used instead of the peanut butter chips?
You can use any flavor “chip you like, any nut, candy, or anything like that
Ideas what you could substitute the coconut with? Hubby doesn’t like coconut.
There are tips in the post for what to use instead of coconut – quick cooking oats is listed
So easy to make, it’s not even funny. I don’t like to bake, at all, but these were fun and easy to make! They are absolutely amazing!
The M&M’s cracked open and faded in color. It looks awful but tastes delicious. I suggest not adding the candy until they come out of the oven. Just press them down into the bars.