Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Seven Layer Bars


I have to admit, I was slightly afraid of making this one this year. My fears were finding the ingredients gluten free that didn't cost an arm and a leg. These are one of my husband's favorite cookies, and one that is usually eaten before any others when I make a tray and send it with him to work.

Traditionally, they would be made with a graham cracker crust on the bottom. Today, I substituted the Mi-Del Arrowroot Animal Crackers. Adding a touch of honey seemed to mimic the flavor nicely. Yes, I do know that somewhere out there is gluten free graham crackers - but I'm saving tracking them down for Nanaimo Bars (Recipe will come as soon as I'm confident they'd be totally gluten free - another of my husbands favorites).

I toyed with the idea of making my own gluten free graham crackers BEFORE making this recipe...but I quickly dropped it! :D

Please make sure to check the "gluten-free" status of all of your ingredients. This list can easily get you glutened if you don't read the ingredients. There are many NON Gluten Free brands out there - so make sure what you choose IS gluten Free. I used ALDI brand for all of mine. While they do not have a gluten free list, they have announced they will label if it contains Wheat, Barley and Rye...and I have not reacted from any of their products that are truly gluten free, so I gave them a try.

So...Here we go...


Seven Layer Bars

1 1/2 Cups cookie crumbs (I used Mi-Del Arrowroot cookies)
1 Tbs honey (do not use this if you use a fake grahm cracker cookie)
1 stick butter (1/2 Cup)
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Butterscotch Chips
1 Cup chopped walnuts
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Cup Flake Coconut (BE CAREFUL, there are MANY brands that use flour to keep it from flaking!)


Melt butter. Mix butter and honey and cookie crumbs in a bowl...press into the bottom of an 8" or 9" square pan.

Spread chocolate chips over top. Then the butterscotch chips, then the walnuts.

Pour sweetened condensed milk overtop in an even layer - cover as much as possible. I didn't end up using the whole can - but just about.

Sprinkle coconut overtop, spreading as evenly as possible.

Bake in a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely, the refridgerate. Cut into 1" squares. Enjoy!

They are VERY RICH... :D

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you see the recipe from the Food Network's 12 Days of Cookies Newsletter for Nanaimo bars. They look great, just have to substitute those graham crackers. I've looked at recipes to make gluten free graham crackers but they all call for bean flour. I don't care for the taste of the bean flours. I'm going to try sorghum as a substitute.

Carrie said...

YUM! Those look GREAT krista!!! I can't wait to try them! I'll definitely add them to the roundup!!

kbabe1968 said...

Anonymous - :) Wish I knew your name! :D

I LOVE Sorghum, or Teff when bean flour is called for. I'm not much for bean flours unless they are mixed with other lighter flours. I've been loving Teff lately. :D

Let me knwo if you try making your own graham crackers...I'd love a good reicpe for them!

Adopted Son said...

These are great! (Now for some Nanaimo bars...)

Anonymous said...

Just found this site ~ looks great! Wanted to let everyone know a cheap & easy way to sub graham cracker crumbs - Chex cereal pulsed in a food processor!! I used them for my 'magic cookie bar' (same as 7 layer bars) for Thanksgiving. Everyone raved, even the non g/f eaters :)
They'd probably work for cheese cake crust too. Chex has original, cinnamon & chocolate now too!
Hope this was useful info.