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The easiest Oatmeal Cookie Magic Bars. These are some of the best bars, rich and decadent, heavy on the chocolate, and oh so gooey! Made with an oatmeal cookie base, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, and peanuts, for a cookie bar that’s addictingly delicious. Oh, and let’s not forget those pretzels, such a DELICIOUS addition! Absolutely nothing not to love about these salty-sweet Magic Bars. Simple ingredients that take only minutes to prep. These bars are deliciously easy and, well, magical!
I know we’ve only just entered into August but I feel like everyone is already talking about back-to-school and the fall season. I’ve even seen products for Halloween decor popping up!
To me, we still have all of August as summer – summer, not fall! No Halloween talk until at least September, you know? People start earlier and earlier every year.
Sorry, I’m just not there yet. But I do understand that many of you are needing to get into that mindset of kids heading back to school. It’s definitely that time of year!! And it’s crazy the differences in when kids go back to school. I’ve seen it from August 1st (Atlanta area) till after Labor Day (NYC area).
Back when I was in middle school, my mom was always in need of quick dessert recipes to make for my brothers and me to bring to school events.
So many parent-teacher conferences, back-to-school nights, and even bake sales are happing this time of year.
I love a back-to-school event that allows everyone to have a little fun baking in the kitchen.
But it’s a busy time of year, so simple and easy recipes are what we need. And very few things are easier than a magic bar. I’m excited to share my oatmeal cookie variation here today.
Details
Step 1: make the cookie base
I use the word cookie loosely. Technically this is just a base of oats, butter, and vanilla. Regardless, the oaty base tastes just like a crisp oat cookie once it’s baked up.
All you do is mix instant oatmeal with melted butter and vanilla. Then take the mix and press it into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Step 2: layer the bars
My magic bars are not traditional with the ingredients I use. I usually leave out the graham crackers and butterscotch chips. But I do double the chocolate!
So layer as follows: first the sweetened condensed milk, then the shredded coconut. I use unsweetened, but the sweet stuff works too.
Next comes the chocolate chips followed by roasted peanuts, but any nut will work. I do think peanuts are especially yummy, however! But you do you.
Step 3: push everything down
Next, take your hands and push down on the bars to help submerge the ingredients into the sweetened condensed milk. These might seem dry but they bake up beautifully!
And then you bake.
Step 4: one last sprinkle of chocolate.
As soon as the bars come out of the oven add a handful of chocolate chips and sprinkle some sea salt (if desired). The chocolate melts into the bars.
So easy and totally no-fuss, you can’t mess these up!
They’re chocolatey, salty, sweet, gooey, and have just the tiniest bit of CRUNCH.
I love to double the recipe, then cut up the second batch and send them off with friends or family to enjoy. A little goodie treat!
Oh, and I have to mention that these will be amazing for the upcoming football season! Game treats are always welcome.
Looking for more quick desserts? Here are a few to try:
Lunchroom Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Lastly, if you make these Oatmeal Cookie Magic Bars, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Oatmeal Cookie Magic Bars
Servings: 24 bars
Calories Per Serving: 270 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk
- 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 cup roasted peanuts (or any other roasted nut)
- 1 cup pretzel sticks
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. In a bowl, combine the oats, butter, and vanilla. Press the mix into the prepared baking dish. Gently pour the condensed milk over the oats in an even layer. Sprinkle the coconut flakes evenly over the condensed milk, then add 2 cups of chocolate chips in an even layer. Then layer on the nuts. Sprinkle over the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Add a handful of pretzel sticks, if desired. Press down with your hands to help submerge everything.3. Bake the bars for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt (if desired). Let cool before slicing.
Delicious! We used almonds and also added butterscotch chips. So easy and good!
Thanks so much! xT
Firstly the pros, these taste delicious 9.5/10 everyone loved them, and they’re pretty easy/fast to make. Now the cons and why I only gave it a three stars. After baking I left them out to cool but even after several hours they were too soft to cut. I attempted it and the chocolate chip mixture in the middle just wanted to ooze out and pretzels were popping off. I placed them in the fridge for a full day and this definitely solved the problem of oozing chocolate but now it was too hard.While cutting them the pretzels/chocolate chips on top kept flaking off. Cutting them was also problematic as the bottom oatmeal layer kept coming apart from everything. Even after leaving them at room temp for a bit I was still having issues with it falling apart. As much as I wanted to love these, the fact that I lost a good portion of these bars to breakage and looking unsightly I will not make them again.
Thank you for your feedback Anne! I appreciate it! xT
Really good! Definitely satisfied my salty/sweet craving, and was easy enough for my 3.5 year old to help me make. Thanks!
Thank you Maggie! xT
Delicious, but fell apart. I used old fashion oatmeal, not instant, do you think that was a factor??
Oh no I’m so sorry about that! Is there anything else you did differently? xT
The only other thing is I took them out of the oven at 23 minutes because they were getting very brown around the edges.
These are fantastic! Absolutely divine! These will be my go to from now on whenever I want a showstopper desert! Thank you Tieghan for another stellar recipe. You are amazing!!!
Thank you Susan! 🙂 xT
These are delicious. I used about 2/3” can of condensed milk to cut sugar. I used about 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and added a 1/2 cup butterscotch chips.
I used a smaller pan as well. Yes a little crumbly but really good!
Thanks for sharing!! xT
Can I mix in mashed banana? Would that change anything?
I haven’t ever tried these with banana before so I can’t say for sure! So sorry! xT
Would these work without coconut? They look amazing—excited to try them!
Hi! I haven’t ever tried these without coconut, but let me know if you give them a try! xT
So delicious and very easy to make. Only con is that I couldn’t get them to set up like bars… even tried refrigerating and they’re too soft to eat with your hand.
Thank you! I’m so sorry they didn’t set for you!
Can you freeze these?
I made these with a few alterations, less chocolate chips and skor bits as a sub and it was great but too many to eat right now 🙂
Hi Nicole! I think freezing them should be fine! xT
This recipe tastes delicious but the consistency was a flop for me. The bottom is gooey and soft after baking for 30 mins, the top is hardened chocolate with hard pretzels. So when you cut it, the bottom squishes out and it’s just a lumpy mess of ingredients. Tastes great just not pretty!
Thanks for the feedback, Lo! xT
Can’t wait to make these! Any tips on how to store? Do they need to be refrigerated?
Hi there! I would just store covered at room temp! xT
These are delicious! Grandbabies are allergic to dairy and peanuts. I substituted with vegan butter, condensed coconut milk, non-dairy chocolate, and almonds. Amazing! 🥰 New family favorite. Thank you!
Too gooey not cookie And hardly a bar waste of chocolate chip
Illiterate gibberish. 🙄
Awesome! Love to hear that! xT
Love so much about these bars. The oatmeal base, less sugar than similar bars (used unsweetened coconut), but they are still yummy and delicious! So easy to make! Made them for a family reunion and they disappeared quick!
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! I hope you loved it! xT
So quick and easy. They just cooled down and are delicious. I love these bars. Thank you!
Sooo glad you loved these bars Lee Anne! xT
These are delicious! Grandbabies are allergic to dairy and peanuts. I substituted with vegan butter, condensed coconut milk, non-dairy chocolate, and almonds. Amazing! 🥰 New family favorite. Thank you!
So glad you were able to sub out some ingredients that worked out for you! xT
I have horrible acid reflux with chocolate. So I switched out the chocolate chips for butterscotch and white chocolate chips and boy howdy! Traded out the peanuts for candy pecans. The office joked about diabetes but I brought home an empty dish! Lol. Thank you Tieghan!
Lol! Awesome! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! xT