Christmas magic cookie bars have a buttery graham cracker crust that is topped with a layer of sweetened condensed milk, then oats followed by a combination of different baking chips and m&m’s. You’re going to LOVE them!
A few years ago a friend asked why I never have a magic bars recipe on the blog and I told her, because I have never found one our family loves and I’m not posting unless I think it’s totally delicious!
Fast forward a few years and many recipes and the kids are here to tell you that this Christmas magic bars recipe is literally the only magic bars recipe you need . I love the simplicity of chocolates and grahams but you could always throw in salted peanuts or other nuts, different chips like butterscotch, dark chocolate, peanut butter m&m’s, the possibilities are endless!
What is it about recipes and 7 layers? Have you ever noticed that? Why aren’t there 8 layers? Or 6? We even have our own collection 7 layer recipes…haha! Our 7 layer pea salad is so dreamy! And of course there is always a 7 layer Mexican dip, which contributed to the 7 layer dip taquitos. But anyway, 7 layers! Most magic cookie bars out there are called 7 layer magic cookie bars.
I don’t know how many layers you would say that these bars have. If you go straight from the ingredients list, then these are 7 layers too. You have the graham cracker crust, then the sweetened condensed milk, the oats and all the baking chips and m&m’s. But I’m not going to call them 7 layer magic bars because I want you to be able to add or omit “layers” to make your own magic.
What Do I Need to Make Magic Cookie Bars?
Believe it or not, you are only 9 ingredients away from magic! Here is what you will need:
- Graham Crackers – you can buy graham cracker crumbs or make your own in the food processor
- Sugar – just regular white granulated sugar
- Butter – helps bind the gc crumbs and sugar to make a crunchy crust, use unsalted, and melt it in the microwave for about 60 seconds
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – we always go with Eagle Brand, this layer binds everything together
- Quick Oats – I love the texture of the quick oats in this recipe but you could use old fashioned if you prefer
- Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – feel free to swap these for milk chocolate or dark chocolate depending on what you like
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips – swap with butterscotch chips if you want
- White Chocolate Chips – adds sweetness and creaminess
- Holiday m&m’s – you can use any m&m’s you want for any holiday or just for a normal day
The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
More Options for Toppings
Part of what makes these cookie bars magic is layering it up in just the way you want it. If the toppings