These bars are often called Hello Dolly bars, or seven layer bars or magic bars. I never really got the seven layers name - it makes them sound like they are way more complicated than they are. And they are really, really not complicated to make. They take about 10 minutes to get them in the oven and they really have two very simple layers: a graham crumb crust and then a gooey, caramelly chocolate and nuts layer, balanced with some flaky salt on top.
You can put anything you want in these bars. I like to go with lots of types of chocolate, and I think the star touch is the malted chocolate balls. When you bake them, the malty insides kind of vaporize into crispy, melty magic. I’m very fond of this particular combination, but go for whatever you like - often these bars have coconut, or dried fruit.
dolly’s magic bars
1 ½ cups graham crumbs
½ cup butter, melted
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup milk chocolate chips or chunks
¼ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
¼ cup white chocolate chips or chunks
¼ cup chocolate malt balls (Maltesers or Whoppers)
½ cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
1.2 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
A very generous pinch of flaky salt (Maldon salt is great)
Line an 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper. Combine graham crumbs and butter until evenly mixed. Spread over the bottom of lined pan, and smooth into a uniform layer.
Sprinkle chocolate and nuts over the graham crumbs. Pour the condensed milk evenly over the chocolate and nuts, scraping out as much from the can as possible. Sprinkle a bunch of flaky salt over top (I like to really go for it with the salt - these are very sweet and they can handle it!).
Bake at 350° F for around 30 minutes, or until the top is caramelized and bubbly. Cool bars completely before cutting (chilling them helps even more). These keep well in an airtight container in the fridge (or freezer) if you manage to keep them hanging around.
