The recipe is certainly an oldie, probably dating back to the 1950s, and while it has several different names, I prefer Hello Dolly Bars. I didn’t tweak this perfect recipe, and you can find it on the back of the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk can. But you can add any assortment of chocolate chips (white, semi sweet, milk, bittersweet, butterscotch), and nuts (pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts). Or you can leave out the nuts. The key ingredients are graham cracker crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and coconut. Don’t leave off the coconut, even if you don’t like coconut.
Hello Dolly Bars
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
pinch of salt
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips
1 ⅓ cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13×9 baking pan with nonstick spray.
Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Press crumbs into bottom of prepared pan.
Pour sweetened condensed milk over crumbs. On top of that, layer chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut last. Press down firmly with fork.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm for easy cutting, but let them cool completely before cutting. You can put them in the refrigerator to speed the process.
Cut diagonally into diamonds for prettiest presentation.
