Dream Bars-An Old Family Favorite

By Susan

I have been making dream bars since 1990.  It is a recipe I discovered in my Rose Levy Beranbaum Christmas Cookie Book, still to this day, one of my favorite books.  So much so, that the pages are not only covered with “gook”, but the binding is falling apart.

Prior to making these I had had a bar similar to this one, called a “7 layer bar”.  It had butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips plus other things.  And they were good, but I am not a huge butterscotch fan. When I came across this recipe I had to try them. They immediately were a hit.

I make them all year round and 75% of the time you can find some hidden in the back of my freezer.  They were always and still are included in my holiday baking which I have done every year since 1990.

What originally attracted me most to this recipe was the quality of the ingredients.  I use only the best chocolates (white, bittersweet and milk), however I have altered the recipe a bit.  I make more crust than the recipe calls for and I like to toast my pecans prior to baking.  This book is worth the purchase just to have this one, very special recipe!

 
 
 

Dream Bars

Ingredients

9.5 oz. cinnamon graham cracker
8 oz. unsalted butter, melted
6 oz. white chocolate (I use Lindt), chopped
6 oz.  milk chocolate (I use Lindt), chopped
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I use Scharffen-Berger), chopped
3 cups(12 oz.) pecan, toasted, set 2 cups aside and chop
1 1/3 cups(4 oz.) shredded coconut
1 15 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

• preheat oven to 350*.  line a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil.
• in the workbowl of a cuisinart, fitted with the metal blade. pulse graham crackers until finely ground.
• put butter on baking sheet and melt in the oven.  when melted, mix in graham cracker crumbs.  spread crust evenly on the bottom of the pan.
• bake the crust for 8 minutes.
• remove from the oven and scatter coconut on top of crust.
• sprinkle chopped pecans over coconut.
• scatter chopped chocolate over pecans.
• top the chocolate with the remaining 1 cup of pecan halves.
• evenly pour the sweetened condensed milk over the bars. I zig zag back and forth and side to side, trying to cover it evenly.
• bake for 15 minutes. rotate pan front to back.bake for another 10 minutes.
• the bars are done with the ends are slightly brown and the whole thing is bubbly.
• cool completely on a wire rack.
• refridgerate until set(makes it easier to cut).
• refridgerate for up to one week or freeze, tightly wrapped in foil and stored in an air tight container can be frozen for 1 month.

The Urban Baker / SusanSalzman.com

Showing 6 comments
  • Ninette
    Reply

    Looks great!

  • Martha
    Reply

    Great recipe!!! do you use sweeten coconut?Thanks

  • Kate
    Reply

    Those sound fantastic. I’m not a big fan of the butterscotch chips either, and actually, I’d like this cookie without chocolate at all. I think a coconut pecan layer cookie would be great. Thanks!

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