These Milky Way Magic Bars come together so easily and they are so ooey gooey delicious! This is a great spin on the original seven layer bar recipe.
These Milky Way Magic Bars have long been a very popular recipe here. They are the simplest of recipes, but are incredibly addictive. I love making them for friends and families around the holidays, but they are perfect for summer time backyard BBQs too!
How to Make Milky Way Magic Bars
This is a brief overview of how to make this easy recipe. For the full recipe with all of the measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Make the cookie layer base. Mix together the cookie mix from the pouch and press into a 9 by 13 inch pan. (See note below for a from scratch alternative.)
- Add the Milky Way layer. Top the cookie dough with cut up Milky Ways and chocolate chips.
- Pour on the sweetened condensed milk. All good magic bar recipes use sweetened condensed milk. Top with that.
- Bake the magic bars. Allow for them to cool before slicing into bars.
Making the Cookie Layer from Scratch
This recipe was originally made using a store-bought cookie mix. If you would rather make homemade cookie dough for this layer, you can do as I did in my Strawberries and Cream Magic Bars.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add in the vanilla and the egg.
- Add the flour mixture until the butter/sugar mixture and beat until just combined.
- Press the dough into the bottom of the 9 by 13 inch pan and follow the rest of the instructions as written.
Storing
After the bars have completely cooled, cut and store in an air tight container for up to one week.
Freezing
These bars freeze very well. Cut them into individual pieces and freeze them in a single layer for one hour. Then they can be stacked and stored in an air tight container and frozen for up to 3 months.
Milky Way Magic Bars
Ingredients
- 1 pouch of sugar cookie mix and what you need to make it 17.5 oz (read here for how to make this layer from scratch)
- 2 large milky way bars (1.84 ounce sized bars) chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375. Spray a 9 by 13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Mix the cookie mix and press it into the bottom of the pan.
- Top the cookie dough with the Milky Way bars and the chocolate chips. Then pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the bars.
- Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until the whole top is a golden brown and the edges are deep golden.
- Let cool. Cut into them and enjoy!
Heather @ French Press says
the pukes are the worst – and why do they ALWAYS happen in the middle of the night? these will be on my must make list for sure
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
Pukes, not so fun. These bars? Fabulous! And they have given me so many ideas!
dahlyn says
Mine stuck to pan even though I used spray…Bummer. tasted good though!!!
Lisa Longley says
Oh no!! I’m sorry they stuck!
Nancy says
Try putting parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. Hope this helps.
Jan says
Try parchment paper next time. Works great no sticking.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Holy moly these bars are beautiful! I’m hoping everyone is feeling much better and are able to enjoy these fabulous bars! Pinned!
Emily says
those look incredible, yum, yuM!!! SoOOO good. I love milky ways!! Emily
Lindsay @ Life, Love and Sugar says
These bars sound awesome! Anything with caramel and chocolate has my vote :)
Andi @ The Weary Chef says
I can’t resist using cookie and cake mix sometimes too! These bars look incredible, Lisa. I’m going to raid my kids’ Halloween candy and pick up some cookie mix to make these this weekend. Thanks for sharing this at Saturday Night Fever! I’m excited to have you join us :)
Melanie says
Yum, yum, yum, and YUM! These look delicious! Would love to see you link this up over The Weekly Creative – 6 blogs, a ton of fun!
http://www.reasonstoskipthehousework.com/the-weekly-creative-33/
Lisa Longley says
Thanks Melanie!! These are SOOOO good!!
Karen Crawford says
Sorry for my ignorance, how large are the Milky Way bars ? Is this a family size or individual size?
Lisa Longley says
It’s the full sized one. Actually called 2 to Go from Target and is 3.63 oz to be exact :) Have fun making these! They might be my favorite thing on the blog :)
Cheryl Bosley says
This is exactly the answer to my question, and it’s exactly what I bought! : ) Just didn’t seem like it will be enough. Can’t wait to take these to a cook out tomorrow! Thanks!
Cheese with Noodles says
I’m so sorry, but I’m still not sure about the size of the Milky Ways. Do you mean 4 Milky Way bars sold in packs of 2, or 2 normal sized Milky Way bars that you can purchase singly or in a 2 pack? I try not to ask asinine questions on food blogs, but this one does have my puzzled and having the wrong amount of chopped Milky Ways could significantly change how the recipe turns out. I want to take these bars to a gathering in a couple of days because they look so good.
Thank you :) If I don’t hear back, I’ll just try with 4 Milky Ways since I’d rather have too much tasty candy than not enough.
Lisa Longley says
Hahaha! This cracked me up! You can ask any question you like here :) Two large normal sized bars that you buy alone.