Hello Dolly Bars Classic Layers (Printer-Friendly)

Chewy bars combining graham crust, chocolate, nuts, coconut, and sweetened condensed milk for a rich treat.

# What You’ll Need:

→ Crust

01 - 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
02 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

→ Layers

03 - 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
04 - 1 cup butterscotch chips (optional, can substitute with additional chocolate chips)
05 - 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
06 - 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
07 - 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

# How to Make It:

01 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
02 - Combine graham cracker crumbs with melted butter until thoroughly mixed. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
03 - Evenly sprinkle chocolate chips over the crust, followed by butterscotch chips if using, then the chopped nuts, and finally the shredded coconut.
04 - Pour sweetened condensed milk uniformly over the layered ingredients, ensuring complete coverage.
05 - Bake for 23 to 27 minutes, until the edges turn golden and the center is set.
06 - Allow to cool entirely in the pan. Once cool, lift out using parchment paper and cut into 16 bars.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • Everything goes into one pan, no mixing bowls full of batter or fancy techniques required.
  • The layers melt together into a chewy, golden bar that tastes like every childhood bake sale you ever loved.
  • You can swap in whatever chips or nuts you have on hand and it still turns out perfectly.
02 -
  • Press the graham cracker crust firmly into the pan or it will fall apart when you cut the bars; I learned this the hard way after my first batch crumbled into delicious rubble.
  • Don't skip the parchment paper unless you want to spend twenty minutes scraping sticky coconut off the pan.
  • Let the bars cool completely before cutting, even though the smell will tempt you; warm bars will squish and lose their clean edges.
03 -
  • Use a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts to get neat, bakery-style squares instead of ragged edges.
  • If you want extra chocolate flavor, use dark chocolate chips or add a handful of mini chips to the crust mixture before pressing it into the pan.
  • Toast the coconut separately for a few minutes before adding it to the bars for an even deeper, nuttier flavor.
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