Gooey, Chewy Bars with Graham Cracker Shortbread Crust

If you made the Arroz con Leche in my previous post (and, hopefully you did, and enjoyed its soothing, creamy goodness), then you will have found yourself with a half cup of unused sweetened condensed milk, as I did.  Do not despair!  As someone who just cannot stand to see anything go to waste, I developed this cookie recipe to make use of the remainder, delight your sweet tooth, and satisfy those cookie cravings.

It’s simple, really.  Basically, it is the rather ubiquitous bar cookie that employs the use of sweetened condensed milk, to “glue” all of the ingredients together, but with a crust that makes these far from ordinary.

Gooey, Chewy Bars with Graham Cracker Shortbread Crust

2-1/2 whole graham crackers

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup walnut pieces

¼ cup golden raisins

½ cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2” overhang on the long sides for ease of removal.  Lightly coat parchment with cooking spray.

In the work bowl of a food processor, place the graham crackers and pulse until they look like meal.  Add butter, confectioners’ sugar, flour, and salt and pulse again until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Dump mixture into the prepared loaf pan and press firmly and evenly into the bottom.  Bake for 18-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove from oven and scatter with, in this order: chocolate chips, broken walnuts, and raisins.  Drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly over all, and then cover with coconut.  Press down lightly.  Bake an additional 18-20 minutes until coconut is lightly browned.  Remove to a wire rack and allow cooling before lifting out of pan with your parchment paper handles.  Place on cutting board and cut into 2” squares.

Yield: 8 delicious squares of chewy goodness 

This post is linked to:

Marvelous Mondays

Inspire Me Tuesday