I was craving some hot-from-the-oven homemade cookies this weekend so I decided to start baking. The problem? I don't have any counter space for my stand mixer and barely enough to roll out dough, which means I tend to gravitate toward bar and drop cookies. I really wanted to make simple sugar cookies, but don't have a recipe that doesn't entail rolling and freezing the dough (do you? please share!).

Instead, I made a family favorite: Magic Bars. Also known as layer bars, they're the simplest most sinful treat on the planet. You probably have some version in your own recipe repetoire. (The ones pictured seem to have butterscotch chips added to them.) Here's mine:

Magic Bars

makes 1 tray (depends how large/small you cut them)

Ingredients

1 stick of butter

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup coconut

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup walnuts (optional)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Melt the butter. Coat the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking pan (preferably metal) with the melted butter. Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly on the bottom of the pan to form the base. Layer with the coconut, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

3. Pour the can of condensed milk over all the ingredients. Bake for about 20-25 minutes (until the coconuts starts to brown).

Do you have a favorite layer bar recipe? Share your variations below.

photo: aliciagriffin/flickr.com