Double Chocolate Cranberry Magic Bars

Behold the gooey perfection of these Double Chocolate Cranberry Magic Bars! These bars feature a layer of sweet shortbread crust topped with white and semi-sweet chocolate, chewy cranberries, shredded coconut, and crunchy pecans that are then covered with sweetened condensed milk and baked to gooey perfection. 

Double Chocolate Cranberry Magic Bars

There’s just something about baking with sweetened condensed milk that makes sweet treats irresistibly scrumptious and this recipe for chocolate cranberry bars is no exception. The soft buttery crust and the sweet, tart, and chewy filling complement the condensed milk’s sweet and creamy taste and texture. 

Chocolate Cranberry Magic Bars

Perfect for the upcoming holiday season, school party, or office potluck, these magic bars are bound to be a big hit with everyone. Best of all you can customize them to suit your tastes with what you’ve got on hand.

If you love this holiday cranberry magic bar recipe, you are sure to love these too: Holiday Biscotti,  Hot Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies, or these Peppermint Meringues. 

Delicious Cookie Bars

These cranberry magic bars are a nice alternative to traditional magic bars, also known as Hello Dollies or Seven Layer Bars. Adding white chocolate chips and dried cranberries makes the bars more festive and adds a holiday twist to a classic cookie bar. 

Ingredients for  cranberry chocolate magic bars

Find complete ingredients and instructions by scrolling to the bottom of this post for the full printable recipe card. 

For the Crust:

• Butter: I used unsalted butter, cold and cubed. 
• Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioners’ sugar, this adds sweetness and texture to the crust. 
• Flour: Use all-purpose flour to create a soft and chewy crust. 

For the Filling:

• Chocolate chips: I used a combination of semi-sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.
• Dried cranberries: Dried tart cranberries make these magic bars chewy. You can use sweetened or unsweetened depending on how sweet you’d like your bars to be.  
• Shredded coconut: Shredded coconut adds texture and flavor. I always use sweetened shredded coconut.
• Pecans: Toss in chopped pecans for added crunch.  
• Sweetened condensed milk: Make sure to use condensed milk and not evaporated milk. 

Be sure to keep reading to find tips and tricks, substitutions, and answers to questions you may have about these seven-layer cranberry magic bars.

How to make cranberry chocolate bars

These magic cookie bars come together easily and quickly. 

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper and leave some overhang up the sides for easy removal. 

Prepare the crust by combining the cold cubed butter, powdered sugar, and flour with your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles brown sugar. 

Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool a bit before adding the chocolate chips.

Sprinkle the semi-sweet chocolate chips over the crust, followed by the white chocolate chips. 

Next, sprinkle with dried cranberries, then shredded coconut, and finish with the chopped pecans.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top of the bars, covering the entire surface evenly.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top of the bars are lightly golden brown and the edges are bubbly.

Cool the bars in the pan in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to ensure the layers are completely firm.

When the bars are set, remove from the pan with the parchment paper and place them on a cutting board to cut into 12 large bars or 24 smaller bars to make them go further.

To store leftovers, transfer the bars to an airtight container and store them at room temperature on the kitchen counter for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw on the kitchen counter until soft enough to eat. 

Love it? Pin it!

If you love this magic cookie bar recipe make sure that you don’t lose it! Pin it to your favorite Pinterest recipe board before you go!

Substitutions

Remember that when it comes to making substitutions in recipes, you don’t need to be afraid to get creative and use ingredients that suit your personal taste and dietary preferences. Make it your own!

• Swap the semi-sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips and make dark chocolate cranberry magic bars.  Or use milk chocolate chips if that’s what you have in your pantry. 
• Instead of flour for the crust make a graham cracker base with crushed graham crackers. You can buy a box at the grocery store and crush them in the food processor or use store-bought graham crumbs. 
• Try almonds or walnuts instead of pecans. 

What are magic bars made of?

Traditional Magic bars or Seven Layer Bars like you see above usually have a graham cracker crust layered with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, nuts, and coconut and topped with a can of sweetened condensed milk. 

Why are they called Magic Cookie Bars?

Different theories exist as to why they are called magic cookie bars. Some say the name magic may have come from the company that makes the sweetened condensed milk; Eagle brand, and some say they called them magic because the bars are so delicious they magically disappear. 

Tips & Tricks

• You can place the ingredients in the food processor to get the right crumbly texture of the base.
• Cool the bars completely before attempting to cut them, or they will fall apart. The chocolate and condensed milk need to be hard for easy cutting. If time is of the essence, you can always put them in the freezer to firm up. 
• Use a clean knife to cut the bars, wiping it off after each piece to ensure the bars stay intact. 

This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and Susannah of Feast + West. Every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes to make and give.

This year we are raising money for Cookies 4 Kids’ Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative, and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.

Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.

Help us raise money for this important cause! Donate through our fundraising page.

Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2024, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!

More Recipes to Love Next Time

If you are looking for more layer bars this holiday season you may like these Salted Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bars,  (above) these Iced Snickerdoodle Bars, or these S’Mores Cookie Bars. If you prefer fruit-based bars then these Glazed Lemon Bars or these Fresh Orange Bars would both be good options. 

It’s that time of year again, my favorite time to share seasonal treats and decadent desserts. I hope these white chocolate magic bars are a big hit with your family.