Mom's 7-Layer Dessert Bars

In my childhood home, the scent of coconut, chocolate, and butterscotch was the smell of Christmas Eve night. Almost every year, as my sister and I would sit in the glow of the Christmas tree lights, my mom would make what we only knew as her 7-Layer Dessert.  It would waft over the kitchen and into the living room, down the staircase and into the den, and all of us would just bask in the warmth and wholeness of the smell.

 It was all we could do to wait long enough for it to cook and then cool down to a temperature my mom could serve it.  Some years, we wouldn't have any that night. We would cut a piece for Santa and then wake it the morning to find a thank-you note in its place and some crumbs on the plate.  Then we would have a piece each between breakfast and lunch - or as a dessert with the Christmas meal. Other years, when we would section off a piece for Santa, the rest of us would get a piece, too. Those were the years it was rare for  even a piece of 7-Layer Dessert to make it to Christmas morning.

Now my sister and I can make 7 Layer Dessert, too, and we often will try to treat Mom to it on a cold winter's evening - especially around Christmas.  It's more than a recipe to us, silly as it seems. It's a memory.  It's of family and tradition and a warm kitchen looking out onto a neighborhood of Christmas lights. It's only to be shared with people and never to be kept solely to one's self.  It's Christmas spirit in a bar form for us, I guess. And now it's transcontinental!

Mom's 7-Layer Dessert Bars

Servings: Dependent on size of pan used.
Bigger pan = thinner bars and more servings.
Smaller pan = thicker bars and less servings.

For the following recipe, we used four casserole-size baking dishes, and got approximately 70-80 1-inch squares out for our respective co-workers.

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs or 20 crushed digestive biscuits
• 140 grams melted butter
• 140 grams butterscotch chips*, fudge chips*, or chopped caramel-flavored chocolate (must be able to melt entirely at oven temperature) *For UK readers, please see chefs' note at bottom for sources.
• 180 grams chocolate chips/chunks (dark bakers' chocolate is often best)
• 70 grams chopped nuts (pecans, peanuts, or walnuts)
• 172 grams dessicated coconut
• 1 can light OR regular sweetened condensed milk (405 gram can)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F and lightly grease a glass or ceramic pan. This will be VERY sticky  so I don't recommend using a metal or foil-lined pan.

2. Blend crushed digestives/graham crackers with melted butter and press into pre-greased pan with a fork or spatula. Keep the crust as even as possible.

 3. One by one, sprinkle the butterscotch (or caramel) chips, the chocolate chips, and the chopped nuts over the digestive/graham cracker crust. Again, keep as even as you can. The layer effect makes it!

 4. Sprinkle the preceding layers with the dessicated coconut. It doesn't have to cover everything entirely - but the more even coverage you have, the better!

 5. With an old-school can opener, pop two holes in opposite sides of the top of the condensed milk can. Pour evenly over the coconut layer, making sure to get into the corners and along the edges.

6. The condensed milk holds all of it together, so the thicker it is, the less likely it is that the bars will crumble when served.  Coverage should be at least as thick as in this picture.

 7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

8. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving so that the milk and chocolate will have time to thicken up. Otherwise, dig straight in. And bring a napkin!

Chefs note: Finding a UK alternative to my mother's beloved American butterscotch chips can be quite tricky.  The best option we found was a caramel flavored milk chocolate sold at Hotel Chocolat for a time. However, when they stopped selling these, we found the next best thing: Sainsbury's brand butterscotch chips (click the link for more information and availability). Silver Spoon's mini fudge chunks are also comparable but we find they get very, very sticky and then harden into sugary layers of fudge cement in the pan once they have cooled. If you love your pan (and your serving utensils) try to find a caramel flavored chocolate or the Sainsbury's butterscotch chips first, and only use the mini fudge chunks as an alternative.