Know what’s better than your standard Hello Dolly Bar? Making Chocolate Coconut Bars! Layers of chocolate cookie crumbs, chocolate chips, and shredded coconut meld together with sweetened condensed milk in this caramel-y, crunchy, delicious treat.
Serve these tasty Chocolate Coconut Bars as part of a Chocolate Dessert Board or include them in platters of Different Christmas Cookies that you can give as gifts. You really can’t go wrong however you dish them up.
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I love Magic Bars. When I was pregnant with FishChick15, I ate half a pan all by myself — in one sitting.
Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling too well that afternoon when I went in for my check-up. And Dr. Arroyo was none too happy, either.
But, he knew exactly what kind of cookie bar I was talking about. Oh yes, yes, he did!
Magic Bars have made a name for themselves as being some of the easiest, most decadent cookie bars ever to grace your table. One of the great things about them is that you can make them so many different ways. While there are thousands of different combinations, these Chocolate Coconut Bars are a surefire favorite at our house.
For these bars I omitted the traditional nut layer to accommodate my youngest’s food allergies. I made another tweak in using chocolate cookie crumbs instead of graham crackers and unsweetened instead of sweetened coconut. Perfection! Not too sweet, just the right combination of flavors!
Why Make This
They’re super quick and easy. These bars come together in minutes and since you bake them all in one piece, you save a lot of time.
Chocolate Coconut Bars freeze beautifully. Not only can you freeze them for later, but they taste fantastic, cold from the freezer? Oh my! Bake a double batch so that it’s easy to share.
They are incredibly delicious! Chocolate, coconut, and caramel? What’s not to love? It’s like a caramel candy cookie with coconut. So good!
Ingredients
You only need five ingredients to make Chocolate Coconut Bars!
chocolate cookie crumbs – You can buy these in a box, but it’s just as easy — and possibly cheaper — to make your own chocolate cookie crumbs. You can use Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies or a favorite cookie, cracker or pretzel as a fun replacement.
melted butter – The butter helps the cookie crumbs hold together. You can use dairy butter, margarine, or a plant-based butter.
chocolate chips – I like using dark chocolate, but you can use whatever chocolate chips you have on hand.
shredded coconut – Coconut is a key ingredient in these Chocolate Coconut Bars. Since the caramel topping is so sweet, I think unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut chips are best here. Use what you have, though.
sweetened condensed milk – Once baked, the condensed milk becomes a tasty caramel. The canned variety is easy to find and shelf-stable, but you can make your own, especially if you’re looking for a dairy-free or vegan sweetened condensed milk. Using a vegan condensed coconut milk will definitely increase the coconut flavor here.
Variations
- For vegan or dairy-free: be sure the cookies and chocolate chips are dairy-free. Use dairy-free margarine or a plant based butter, and use sweetened, condensed coconut milk.
- For gluten-free: You can use gluten-free cookie crumbs, just keep in mind that the butter doesn’t always absorb in the same way. Play with it a bit to get the right texture. It should be similar to damp sand.
- So many variations: Remember there are over 6,561 Ways to Make Magic or Hello Dollly Bars. There are lots of ways for you to mix and match your favorite baking ingredients, including adding nuts. So good!
Step-by-Step Instructions
It’s super simple to make these Chocolate Coconut Bars!
Prep step: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and the butter. Press this mixture lightly into the prepared pan.
2. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and then the coconut over the crust.
4. Drizzle the sweetened, condensed milk over all. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely and cut into squares.
To store: Store your Chocolate Coconut Bars in airtight container, separated by layers of waxed paper, and place in the refrigerator for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.
FAQs
Bar cookies are baked in a 9×13-inch pan, cooled, and then cut into portion sizes. Examples of bar cookies are brownies, blondies, Magic Bars, Lemon Bars, Hello Dolly Bars, or these Chocolate Coconut Bars. Bar cookies are typically cut into squares, rectangles, or triangles.
Since you’re going to cut the large cookie slab in portions, it’s best to cool it completely for clean, cut edges. Therefore, cool the large slab in the pan for about 20 minutes before removing it and allowing the whole thing to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, slice them.
Freeze cookies in parchment lined containers with lids, separating each layer with a sheet of parchment.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- chocolate cookie crumbs – $1.88
- butter – $0.50
- chocolate chips – $0.99
- shredded coconut – $1.34
- sweetened condensed milk – $1.64
While your costs will vary depending on how and where you shop, you can expect to pay about $6.35 per batch of Chocolate Coconut Bars or 40 cents/cookie!
More Great Chocolate Goodies
Tell us what you think!
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Chocolate Coconut Bars
Equipment
- bowl
- fork
- parchment paper
- 9×13-inch baking dish
- wire rack
Ingredients
- 2 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (about a 14-ounce package of Oreos)
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup shredded coconut unsweetened
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and the butter. Press this mixture lightly into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips and then the coconut over the crust.
- Drizzle the sweetened, condensed milk over all.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely and cut into squares.
Notes
- For vegan or dairy-free: be sure the cookies and chocolate chips are dairy-free. Use dairy-free margarine or a plant based butter, and use sweetened, condensed coconut milk.
- For gluten-free: You can use gluten-free cookie crumbs, just keep in mind that the butter doesn’t always absorb in the same way. Play with it a bit to get the right texture. It should be similar to damp sand.
- So many variations: Remember there are over 6,561 Ways to Make Magic or Hello Dollly Bars. There are lots of ways for you to mix and match your favorite baking ingredients, including adding nuts. So good!
Nutrition
This post was originally published on December 4, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Sue
If Oreos are used for the crumbs, do you also use the filling in the middleor separate the cookie before crumbling ?
Jessica Fisher
I prefer to buy the crumbs themselves, but they are hard to find. In my experience, leaving the filling creates a goopier crust, so I recommend scraping it out. A pain I know, but better texture in the end.
Danielle
My Mom made something very similar when I was a kid, but we called them Hello Dolly’s. One of my favorites, I love the idea and using unsweetened coconut to lower the sugar content, need to try that. We’ve got two nut allergies in my house, but I don’t think my mom ever made them with nuts.
Jessica Fisher
You can use pumpkin or sunflower seeds if you want some crunch in them. They are really mix and match. Change the chips, change the crumbs, etc.
Wanda
Can I freeze them after assembling but before baking? If yes, would I need to thaw before baking or bake from frozen adjusting the time a bit?
Jessica Fisher
I have always baked them before freezing. I’m not really sure how the sweetened condensed milk would behave. If you try it, please let me know how it works!
Kathy
Now, this has got to be really stretching it – but you have actually made a HEALTHIER version of magic bars than the standard recipe because you omitted those luscious, transfat laden butterscotch chips. We avoid partially hydrogenated oils like the plague around here – so thank you!!!!
Jessica Fisher
Ha! Now, I never would have guessed that my version was healthier. LOL!
Brandy
These sound delish!! Can you buy crushed Oreo cookie crumbs? Or do you just crush whole oreo cookies to make a cup and a half?
Thanks for the recipe!
Jessica Fisher
I just crushed one sleeve of cookies from a bulk box.
Suzanne R
For another fun flavor twist use crushed pretzels as your crumb. Perfect salty-sweet combo!
jan
holy catastrophe… (I just used my 2 can SCM stockpile to make ‘dulce’ in the crockpot) do I need to get more?
Jessica Fisher
@jan, yes, yes, you do. 😉
Jessica
I like the oreo crust option! We layer ours in a different order. Butter & crumbs, then swt cnds milk, then cc, nuts, and coconut flakes.
Prerna
Oh wow!! These look awesome and am sure they taste heavenly too.. I’m putting them on my Christmas baking list right away.. Quick question – Is flaked coconut the same as dessicated coconut? I know we get the latter here but want to be sure it will not change the texture or taste before I buy it.
Thanks for sharing this Jessica!
Jessica Fisher
@Prerna, I’m not sure what dessicated coconut is. The kind that I used was different than what I usually see in US stores and it worked fine. It looked like coconut crumbles or flakes that had broken into bits.
Stephanie
YUM! Thanks for sharing. I am definitely making these either this week or next.
Life In A Day...
I just popped these babies in the oven!
Ellisa
I’ve seen some recipes call for the sweetened condensed milk to go over the graham layer and others say to spread evenly over the whole thing. Does it matter? Does it change the flavor at all? Can I do half over the graham layer and half over the whole thing?
Jessica Fisher
@Ellisa, I don’t know because I’ve only made them this way. Try it and let us know!
Ellisa
@Jessica Fisher, So, I made two batches today. One with the sweetened condensed milk on top of the graham layer (#1), and another with it on top of the whole thing (#2). Based on purely non-scientific research, the findings are as follows, haha.
To me, the flavor is the same between the two. #1 is slightly prettier because the top is a little more toasted looking and the nuts, coconut and chocolates are a little more visible. The graham crust holds together better in #1, but the coconut and nuts fall off a little easier. The crust is a little more crumbly in #2, but the rest of the layers are held together nicely by the sweetened condensed milk on top. The general consensus is #2 is more chewy than #1, but both are equally delicious and will be devoured just the same.
I think if I make these again, I will try to do half of the sweetened condensed milk over the graham layer to bind the crumbs together more and half over the other layers to keep the rest in tact. Since there is not really a difference in flavor, I think the placement of the milk is really just up to personal preference.
Jessica Fisher
@Ellisa, you rock! Thank you for “testing” that for us. Now, I need to go make some more and see if your findings are correct. 😉
Netta
These look glorious!
I’ll be tryin’ um! mmm
Thanks for sharing.
Beth
So. I am revising my Christmas dessert plan, and adding these. Oh, man. I might actually make them tomorrow. Thanks for sharing this!
Life In A Day...
Oh wow! These look amazing… I’ve never heard of these before? I’m gonna make these to tonight to bring to church brunch tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe… can’t waitto try them! 🙂
Jessica Fisher
You’ve probably heard of regular Magic Bars. They’re often called 7 Layer Bars. I’m thinking these are better. LOL
I Live in an Antbed
Scrumptious!!!!!
Natalie
These sound similar to 7-layer cookies that we make. You use butter and graham crackers crumbs, then layer on coconut, finely chopped walnuts, butterscotch chips and chocolate chips. Pour over a can of sweetened condensed milk. I also freeze them. We make a variety of cookies, freeze them, and then give them away on decorative plates to friends around the holidays.
Jessica Fisher
@Natalie, that’s exactly what they were before I tweaked them. 😉
Christine
Wow, they look amazing!! I will have to make them!! Super simple assembly makes two little helpers very happy to be in the kitchen. Thanks for the variation!
La Jolla Mom
OMG. Those look divine!!!
Jessica Fisher
@La Jolla Mom, they are amazing. We ate them all last night to make room for freezer meals. I think I need to make more today.