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Divine 6 Ingredient Magic Cookie Bars: Made with salted butter, coconut, roasted cashews, sweet chocolate chips, quick-cooking oats, and a can of sweetened condensed milk. Simply layer and bake – no bowls, no mixing – simple as that! These bars take only a few minutes to prep. Then pop them in the oven, and just like magic, you’ll have cookie bars. They’re a bit messy but will absolutely leave you saying, DIVINE!
Baking can be tricky. I’ll be the first to admit that. It’s hard to make a loaf of banana bread the exact same way twice. Depending on the time of year, the weather, the oven, and the ingredients, you may get a completely different-looking loaf of bread! Sometimes, it drives me just bonkers. Baking really is, as they say, an exact science.
With some recipes, I’ll get lucky and get it right on the first try. Other times, like with a bread I’m currently working on, getting it right can take many rounds of testing!
My mom made a lot of magic cookie bars as a kid (I think she used a recipe from the back of a can of sweetened condensed milk). So when I’m looking for a quick and easy dessert and don’t feel like messing around with a fussy recipe, I make magic cookies!
A few weeks ago, I shared my 5-ingredient magic cookies, and we’ve all been loving them. They’re the world’s easiest cookie and yet so delicious! You can’t mess them up. They may not be the prettiest, but flavor-wise, they really hit the spot!
So I took my magic cookies and, if you can believe it, made them even easier to make. All you need to do is layer and bake—no mixing, no dirty bowls—none of that!
Simple and just the yummiest! My new word is divine, and I think it fits just perfectly with these bars!
Jumping to Details
Ingredients
- salted butter – this is a new addition to my original recipe
- unsweetened fine shredded coconut – I like the Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
- roasted cashews – make sure these are dry roasted cashews with nothing else other than possibly salt. You don’t want any weird oils on the nuts!
- semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- quick cooking rolled oats – this is what my mom used growing up, but I imagine regular oats probably work fine too
- mini salted pretzels twice – these are optional. Add them if you enjoy, otherwise leave them out
- sweetened condensed milk – the magic ingredient
Special Tools
You need just a square baking dish and parchment paper – just two things!
Steps
Step 1: melt the butter
Line your square baking dish with parchment paper. I like to use organic brown parchment paper to avoid any chemicals. Add the butter and put the pan in the oven to melt it. It takes about 5 minutes.
Step 2: layer
The final step before baking is layering. Over the melted butter, layer the oats, the coconut, half the chocolate chips, the cashews, and then the remaining chocolate chips.
If you enjoy salty pretzels, just add a small handful!
Pour over the condensed milk and bake!
Step 3: slicing
Make sure you let the bars cool completely before slicing. They’ll be easiest to cut while cool!
Some Tips!
These are honestly so easy, you can’t mess them up!
My only tip is regarding the chocolate. If you want the chocolate chips to look more like mine, add a few directly on top of the bars just after you pull them out of the oven. The chips will get melty on top!
I also ignored my own advice and cut the bars while warm. I don’t recommend this, but I have no patience!
Looking for easy party desserts? Here are a few ideas:
Toasted Marshmallow Caramel Rice Krispie Treats
Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Blondies
Homemade Vegan Peanut Butter Twix Bars
Caramel Butter Cake with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
Retro-Style Chocolate Sheet Cake
Lastly, if you make these Divine 6 Ingredient Magic Cookie Bars, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Divine 6 Ingredient Magic Cookie Bars
Servings: 16
Calories Per Serving: 320 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 cups roasted cashews
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 8 mini pretzel twists (optional)
- 1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×9 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. Place the butter in the prepared pan. Melt in the oven for about 5 minutes. Over the butter, layer the oats, coconut, 1 cup chocolate chips, cashews, and 1 more cup of chocolate chips. If desired, arrange a few pretzels on top. Evenly pour over the condensed milk. 3. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely, then cut into bars. They'll be a bit messy, but so delicious!
This post was originally published on March 21, 2025
What can I use instead of coconut. I am not a fan of it.
Hi Jenn,
No worries, you can omit the coconut and use another nut, dried fruits, white chocolate, candies, doesn’t really matter:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
My mom always used to make these too! Likely from the recipe on the can and always in a 9×13 pan. But, I was never a fan of the coconut in it. What can be a substitution?
Hi Laura,
You can omit the coconut and use another nut, dried fruits, white chocolate, candies, doesn’t really matter:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
What would be a great alternative for coconut? Could you double the oats?
Hey Brandi,
You can omit the coconut and use another nut, dried fruits, white chocolate, candies, doesn’t really matter:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
This was so delicious. My son-in-law lives the 5 ingredient magic cookies. I like both recipes. The pretzel in the bars are a great addition.
Hey Kate,
Thanks so much! Love to hear this recipe turned out well for you! Have the best weekend:) xx
I sure wish the full nutritional information was provided for all your delicious recipes (even if rough estimates for calories, carbs, fat, protein)…it makes macro tracking so much easier.
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, Kelly! We can definitely look into adding this info in the future. Have a great weekend! xx
Hi! I have a kiddo who is allergic to coconut. Could I just leave that out? Any suggested substitutions? This sounds so good! Thanks!
Hey Liz,
Yes! You can omit it and use another nut, dried fruits, white chocolate, candies, doesn’t really matter:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
A well-written recipe generally ensures that the result will be great and the same every time. I’ve never heard of weather and different times of year affecting how a bake turns out. Which recipes do you suggest only be baked in the spring?
Hey Jenna! There are no recipes to make in ONLY the spring. I just mean the moisture in the air or the air temp can affect the baked treat! I would recommend googling for more information. Hope that helps you! Thank you so much! Have a great Sunday!
For 9×13 please??
Hi Debra,
For this recipe, I used a 9×9 dish. If you wanted to use a 9×13 dish I would do this recipe plus a half. I hope this helps! Happy Friday! xT
Looks delicious! Just a note- it’s spelled divine, not Devine
Thanks so much, Kristen!! Got that fixed:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
Don’t you mean to use the word “divine”?
Hi Claire,
Yes, that is correct:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
It is spelled divine, not Devine!
Thanks so much, Laura!!
My daughter is allergic to cashews. Do you think I could do this with almonds?
Hey Jennifer,
Totally, that will work nicely for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try! Have a great weekend! xx
Have you tried making these with nuts, other than cashews?
Hi there,
Sure, you could use another nut that you enjoy! I hope you love this recipe! xx
Can the cocnut be omotted?
Hi Denise,
Yes! You can omit it and use another nut, dried fruits, white chocolate, candies, doesn’t really matter:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
Is there something that I can use instead of coconut?
Hi Karen,
Yes! You can omit it and use another nut, dried fruits, white chocolate, candies, doesn’t really matter:) I hope you love this recipe! xx