Magic Bars are the perfect last minute treat to make, so try these Orange and Black Cookies and Cream Halloween Magic Bars! They are fun, festive, and full of spooky flavors!
Have you ever tried a magic bar?
They are gooey bars of goodness held together by caramelized sweetened condensed milk and they are super easy to make.
You simply layer ingredients like, in this case, OREO Cookies and Halloween chocolate chips together in a baking pan with a can of sweetened condensed milk and bake. That’s it! Making Halloween Magic Bars couldn’t be easier.
Or you can layer chocolate cake with caramel, peanuts, and Reese’s Pieces to make Caramel Peanut Butter Magic Bars or layer Nutter Butter Cookies with peanut butter, candy corn, and Reese’s Pieces to make Candy Corn Magic Bars for Halloween.
There are endless ingredient variations to use when making Magic Bars.
These Orange and Black Halloween Bars were the very first Magic Bars I had ever made and I wanted to keep them really simple.
It took me less than ten minutes to make an Oreo crust, pour on a can of sweetened condensed milk and sprinkle on Halloween Oreo’s and Halloween Orange and Black Chips.
The magic, I found, happens when the heat from the oven caramelizes the creamy milk. It glues everything together in one crunchy, chewy, chocolaty bar.
Let’s make Cookies ‘n Cream Magic Bars
This recipe was originally published on October 1, 2013.
Ingredients:
30 Oreo Cookies, crushed into fine crumbs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
14 Halloween Oreo Cookies, broken into small pieces not crumbs
1 (11 ounce) bag of Nestle Halloween Semi-Sweet Chocolate and Orange Colored Morsels*
*If you can’t find the Halloween chips you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips and Orange Candy Melts. Just cut the candy melts in quarters before using. Or you can toss on some orange and black Halloween M&Ms.
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil.
- Mix the Oreo crumbs with melted butter and press it into the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the crust.
- Sprinkle on pieces of Halloween Oreos and half of the Halloween morsels.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle on the reserved half a bag of Halloween morsels.
- Return to the oven for about 5 more minutes until the chips melt slightly and until the sweetened condensed milk turns golden brown and the bars appear set around the edges..
- The center will still be just a bit jiggly, but it will harden as it cools.
- Cool completely for at least one hour before cutting into 24 to 30 bars.
PRO TIP:
- If your sweetened condensed milk still looks white and really soft in the middle of the pan, you can use tin foil to cover the edges of the bars and bake for 3-6 more minutes.
- Now that I’ve made many batches of magic bars, I have found that on occasion I have to use this trick.
Items used to create this project that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)
Layers of Halloween Oreo Cookies and Halloween chocolate chips with gooey caramelized sweetened condensed milk.
- 30 Oreo Cookies, crushed into fine crumbs
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 (14 ounce can) sweetened condensed milk
- 14 Halloween Oreo Cookies broken into small pieces not crumbs
- 1 11 ounce bag of Nestle Halloween Semi-Sweet Chocolate and Orange Colored Morsels (or semi-sweet chocolate chips and Orange Candy Melts cut into quarters)
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
-
Line a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil.
-
Mix the Oreo crumbs with melted butter and press it into the bottom of the pan.
-
Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the crust.
-
Sprinkle on pieces of Halloween Oreos and half of the Halloween morsels.
-
Bake for 25-28 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle on the reserved half a bag of Halloween morsels.
-
Return to the oven for about 5 more minutes until the chips melt slightly and until the sweetened condensed milk turns golden brown and the bars appear set around the edges..
-
The center will still be slightly jiggly but should not look really wet. You bars will harden as they cool.
-
Cool completely for at least one hour before cutting into 24 to 30 bars.
- If your sweetened condensed milk still looks white and really soft in the middle of the pan, you can use tin foil to cover the edges of the bars and bake for 3-6 more minutes.
- Now that I've made many batches of magic bars, I have found that on occasion I have to use this trick.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- You can wrap the bars well in wax paper then place in a large zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Be sure to check out all the Halloween recipes here on Hungry Happenings.
You might also like these other
Halloween Recipes from Hungry Happenings
Caramel, Chocolate, Peanut Butter Magic Bars
Halloween Pancakes filled with Nutella
Great tips on working with Candy Melts
to paint perfect lollipops for Halloween or any occasion.
Skull shaped pizza topped with bacon, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese
or simply pepperoni.
Cake Ball Brains Oozing Cherry Blood
Your recipe reminded me of another one I found last year (http://therecipegirl.blogspot.com/2008/10/candy-corn-cookie-bark.html). I think I may combine the two, and see what happens. 🙂
That's what I love so much about magic bars, there are unlimited combinations. Throw in some candy corn and this dessert tastes and looks different. Yum!
Hi, I was wondering, do you use the whole Oreo cookie for the crust or just the tops and bottems?
Thanks,
Beth
Yes, I do use the whole Oreo Cookie for the crust. Just crush them up into fine crumbs and mix with melted butter to make the crust.
Congrats on the show. That gives me more bragging rights. You go girl. Trish Butler
Thank you Trish. It's always fun to do the show.
These bars look AMAZINGGGGGG!!!
Thanks, Tara. I really love the flavor of these bars and have made them several times already.
These look so gooey GOOD! Great job, Beth!
I just made these for a pot luck at work tomorrow, and they are so good! Do they need to be refrigerated? I didn't see that info anywhere?
Oh, so sorry to have missed your comment when you made it. You don't need to refrigerate the bars. I hope everyone enjoyed them!
Would enjoy having a printable recipe link. I'm not one that wants to follow a blog on my counter top.
I need to look into that. Usually my projects aren't just regular recipes and the step by step pictures are important, but this is just a simple recipe and a printable link would be great.
So I tried to make this and it was a MAJOR FAIL!!!! http://www.mummyknowsreviews.com/2013/10/my-pinterest-nailed-it-moment.html
Here you can see it how it turned out, I did see that you needed a total of 40 Cookies lol so I did not use enough for the crust.
My goodness, I just looked at your pictures and I have no idea why your cookie bars turned out black like that. It's as if your crust bubbled up through the cookies and everything else sunk down. Yes, there are 30 regular Oreo cookies in the crust and 10 Halloween Oreo's broken up on top, which is where a lot of the orange color comes from. If you didn't use the Halloween Oreo's you wouldn't have nearly as much orange on top. I hope they at least tasted good.
Second time tonight that I randomly clicked over to your blog from a link party – your recipes are too awesome! I love these magic bars! I can't wait to try them, pinning now!
That's nice to hear. I'm glad my pictures grabbed your attention. I really appreciate the pins.
I just wanted to let you know that I featured your wonderful project on homework. Thanks so much for sharing it on The Inspiration Board. Have a great weekend!
carolyn
homework &
DETAILS
Thanks so much, Carolyn. I'm so happy you like these Halloween Magic Bars enough to feature them! I hope you have a wonderful weekend too.
Beth- these look awesome and sound delicious too! I love the bright orange and black together! How fun!
I have never had these either, but they look perfect to make for my Cub Scouts!
A friend of mine used the recipe to make them for her son's grade school class and they were a huge hit. I hope your Cub Scouts like them too!
Count me as another one coming out from "under a rock". This is going to really sound nuts… but the oreo crust… are we talking using ALL of the cookie with icing middle included? hahahaha I'ver NEVER made an oreo crust!!!! My guess is just pulsing the cookies in the food processor until a fine crumb. Yes?
Everyone has to start somewhere! When you make an Oreo crust, just crust the entire cookie into crumbs, filling and all. I think's it's easiest to do that in a food processor, but you can put the cookies in a bag and smash them with a rolling pin or pan. You wont get as fine of crumbs, but it works. I've now made three different magic bars, as the request of family and friends, and these with Oreos are my favorite.
You had me at the Oreos! Gotta try this becuase it look great!!
These look SO good. And I think they would be a hit with the kids too. I would love if you would link up to the Halloween link party going on now (links shared across 10 blogs!): http://persialou.blogspot.com/2013/10/owl-wreath-and-halloween-project-parade.html
Thanks for the invite, Alexis. I added a few pictures to the party.
That's funny … I didn't see you under the rock … I'm still under it! I have not had a magic/7 layer bar, probably because they usually use coconut (I'm not a coconut lover) … must try your version!
LOL! It's nice to know I wasn't alone under that rock:) I love coconut, but know that most people aren't fans, so I don't bake with it often. If I did, I'd have to eat the entire things, as my husband would not help out. I need his help!
Looks so adorable and lovely!!!
Shobha
Thank you, Shobha:)
Would you believe I had a bag of those Halloween chips in my hot little hand and I put them back!!! EEK – why
did I put them back, now I'll have to go and get them to make these luscious looking bars!!
EEK, is right. Go back and get them, you wont be sorry. I'm sure you can come up with something amazing even if you don't use this recipe.
I love magic bars and I LOVE how Halloween-y these look. Unfortunately we don't have access to Halloween Oreos OR Halloween Morsels where we live (Booooo). These would perfect for the Halloween bake sale we are holding later this month. 🙂
Great creation!!
Oh, that's too bad. The orange and black is so fun. You could just use regular Oreos and add orange M&M's or Reese's Pieces to the bars for a pop of color.
Um, I must be under the same rock, 'cause I'm 37 and have never had them either. But, like you, I've seen them EVERYWHERE lately. I had no idea what was so magic about them. I'll have to give your recipe a whirl and see what all the fuss is about.
I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in my lack of magic in my life. This makes a lot of bars so I shared them with several different friends and they all asked for the recipe. Ya know it's good when that happens.
Oreo Cookies make the best crust! This sounds like a must try recipe!
Oh, I totally agree. I just made another magic bar using Nutter Butters. They are good, but don't even compare to this recipe.
I decided to head over from the homework link party because this just looked so good!
Hi Ciara, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you were intrigued by the photo.