Since I was about 6 years old, I have known that I wanted to be a chef. My dad bought me a few cookbooks and magazine subscriptions over the years when I was little, and one of them was specifically a Holiday Cookie cookbook. I have kept it over the years, and it is extremely well worn. The Dream Bars are my adaptation of one of those recipes. Sometimes called 7 layer bars or magic cookie bars, I like to adjust the recipe to use a little different proportions, finer ingredients, and make them more visually appealing.I used to make these at home when I was little and keep them in the freezer. More than once, I snuck into the freezer at night to get one and found that my brother had also had the same idea and we were running low!When I opened my own bakery, the Dream Bars were on heavy rotation there. They remained a customer favorite, and a special favorite of my brother’s. Now, whenever I make a batch, I make sure to freeze some for me and send some to my brother.
Melt your butter and combine with cinnamon, salt and graham cracker crumbs. Press mixture into 10x10 pan that has been sprayed well.
Scatter coconut evenly over the crust and follow with chopped pecans. Mix chocolates in a bowl, then scatter over the pecans. Pour the condensed milk evenly over everything. Place the whole pecans in neat rows rounded side up.
Bake at 350℉ for 10 minutes. Gently press pecans into chocolate and bake again. Your bars are done when the condensed milk starts to gently bubble and the edges are just golden.
Notes
*If you cut them in the 2x2 squares, they fit perfectly into the 4inch gusseted bags tied with festive ribbon, and make a great hostess gift. They can also be shipped with some padding protection as they are both sturdy and fragile at the same time