Ooey Gooey Coconut Bars

I'm sorry for being gone so long; I wish I could say it was because I was having loads of fun and adventures with Ari, but sadly, the guys brought the flu from Spain and I've been ill since before Christmas.  I'm starting to feel a little more like myself and even ventured into the kitchen this morning to bake some bagels for everyone and replenish the cookie jar.

The concept of these cookies has their origins from the Borden's Sweetened Condensed Milk creation called 6 (or 7)-layer bars.  Touted as one of the easiest cookies to make, I know I've been enjoying them since I was a little girl in school.  I kept these pretty simple and only added coconut and chocolate chips, but feel free to sprinkle with pecans or butterscotch chips like the original.  And, by the way, you'll notice I used a mixture of graham crackers and Biscotti cookies to make the crust...because I didn't have 3 cups of graham cracker crumbs.

Ooey Gooey Coconut Bars
3 cups graham cracker crumbs (or a combination of crumbs)
3/4 cup (1  1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. salt

 
Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Brush some additional melted butter on the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking pan and line with parchment.  Set aside.
Pour melted butter over crumbs and mix thoroughly.  Distribute on the bottom of the pan and use the bottom of a measuring cup press down in the pan.

Filling:
2 cups coconut
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups - 2 T (Sweetened Condensed Milk)

Layer the chocolate and coconut (and any other ingredients you desire).  Finally, pour the Sweetened Condensed Milk over the whole mixture.

Put pan in the oven and bake 26 to 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then, take a knife or spatula to go around the edges and loosen the bars.  (I used my spring form pan.)


Ari was my official taster and said, "Mimi, these are good!"

...but then, any super hero would!