This December, turn your favorite candy and cookies into these fun, colorful red and green
Christmas Magic Bars. It’s a last minute dessert recipe you can make on short notice, but it’s a hit all through the Holiday Season.
Originally posted on December 22, 2013.
The countdown is on. Christmas is just a few days away. Are you ready? I’m not. Vacationing, then getting sick, then having lots of chocolate orders to fill has put me way behind. I’m sad to say my tree never even got put up and my presents haven’t been wrapped.
I hope you are farther along than I am, but know many of you are not. That’s why I thought I’d share an easy, last minute, recipe to make for the big day that’s sure to impress.
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If you have ten minutes, you have more than enough time to prepare this dessert. Sounds good, right?
I discovered the wonders of magic bars (a.k.a. 7 layer bars or gooey bars) a few months ago and was hooked after my first bite. I’ve made several batches using different flavor combinations, but this one is by far my favorite. I feel the need to lock these up, to keep from eating them. I want to make sure I have a nice plate full of them on Christmas eve. Each bar is layered with Oreo Cookies, toffee bits, peanuts, pretzels, holiday chocolate chips and Christmas M&M’s. I love that they are so festive looking yet take so little effort.
While these bars were sitting on my counter cooling, some friends stopped by the house. I was thrilled to see how their eyes got big with excitement when they saw the dessert and they were elated when I offered them one. What happened next had me in stitches. Each woman began to, um, let see, how to put this delicately, make noises that should have come from behind closed doors. That’s the sign of a great dessert.
Christmas Magic Bars
- 30 Original Oreo Cookies crushed into fine crumbs
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup Heath toffee bits
- 1/3 cup salted and roasted peanuts
- 1/2 cup pretzels broken into small pieces
- 16 Winter Oreo Cookies with Red Vanilla Filling broken into small pieces
- 1 cup red and green M&M's
- 1 bag Nestle Holiday Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels with Red and Green Morsels
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Line a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil.
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Mix crushed Original Oreo Cookies with melted butter.
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Press into and even layer in the 9x13 baking pan.
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Sprinkle on toffee bits, peanuts, and pretzels.
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Pour sweetened condensed milk over top and spread evenly.
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Add the pieces of red cream filled Oreos cookies, 1/2 cup of the red and green M&M's and 1/2 of the bag of Holiday morsels.
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Bake for 25-27 minutes until the sweetened condensed milk has caramelized. Remove from oven and sprinkle on the remaining red and green M&M's and Holiday Chocolate Morsels.
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Return to oven for 3 minutes.
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Remove pan from oven, and tap it on the counter a few times. This will help secure all the M&M's.
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Cool completely.
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Peel off foil. Cut into 24-30 squares.
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Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Step-by-step photo tutorial (see the video tutorial below):
Mix crushed Original Oreo Cookies with melted butter. Press into and even layer in the 9×13 baking pan.
Sprinkle on toffee bits, peanuts, and pretzels.
Pour sweetened condensed milk over top and spread evenly.
Add the pieces of red cream filled Oreos cookies, 1/2 cup of the red and green M&M’s and 1/2 of the bag of Holiday morsels.
Bake for 25-27 minutes until the sweetened condensed milk has caramelized. Remove from oven and sprinkle on the remaining red and green M&M’s and Holiday Chocolate Morsels. Return to oven for 3 minutes. Remove pan from oven, and tap it on the counter a few times. This will help secure all the M&M’s. Cool completely.
Peel off foil. Cut into 24-30 squares.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Christmas Magic Bars Video Tutorial:
NOTES:
- The M&M’s tend to crack as they bake and the red and green chocolate chips can turn a bit brown so that’s why I like to add some at the last minute. The fresh candies look really pretty on top. Be sure to press them down using a spatula or spoon.
- You can also place a cookie sheet on the baking rack above your pan of Christmas Magic Bars while in the oven. The cookie sheet will shield the bars from getting too brown on top.
- Allow the Christmas Magic Bars to cool completely before cutting.
- The edges will get a bit crunchier than the inside bars.
Be sure to check out all my fun Christmas Recipes!
More Magic Bar Recipes
from Hungry Happenings
Sweet and Salty Candy Corn and Peanut Magic Bars for Halloween or Fal
Caramel, Chocolate and Peanut Butter Halloween Magic Bars
More Easy Last Minute Christmas Sweets
Nutter Butter Polar Bear Cookies
Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Candy Bars
Almond M&M and Mike and Ike Candy Christmas Lights
I LOVE 7-layer bars and your Christmas adaptation! Just hand your family their gift in a shopping bag along with one of these bars and they won't even know the gift was not wrapped! 🙂
I do believe that you have taken everything I love and put it in one bar!!! Pssst … I know why they are called last minute magic bars …. it would be like magic, if they last longer than a minute 😉
Beth, I just got home from the store with the ingredients to make these and noticed the "Printable form" of the Christmas Magic Bars does not include the Pretzels in the ingredients. I'm glad I read your entire post and bought the pretzels!! These look amazing-my family can't wait to try them!!!
Oh, thanks for letting me know. I just started doing the printable recipes this week and forgot to update it after I realized I had left the pretzels out of the ingredients list on the blog post. I fixed the blog post before publishing it, but I didn't even think to go back and fix the printable file. Gotta be better about that!
Great recipe!
I'm not sure the Winter Oreos are available this year in this area – do they taste like normal oreos to just substitute those in?
Yes, actually they just have red colored filing, but otherwise are exactly the same flavor as regular Oreos.
can you freeze these??
Yes, I do it all the time.
These look so yummy and festive! Beth, I couldn’t tell for sure if the content of the post is from present day or 2013. So if you are under the weather with no tree up or gifts wrapped, i’ll be praying you are well soon! If not, MERRY CHRISTMAS, and thanks for another season filled with your amazing treats!
LOL! Yep, the story is from 2013, but sadly I am sick once again. I think I work too hard during the holidays and almost always end up getting sick. I am fighting off a cold and hope it goes away soon. Thanks for thinking of me. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.