Paleo Magic Cookie Bars (Gluten Free + Vegan)

★★★★★ from 12 reviews

(Last updated February 19, 2021)Bars· Desserts

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These Paleo Magic Cookie Bars are just as rich and delicious as the classic seven-layer bars you know and love! This gluten-free, vegan, and refined sugar-free version has an almond flour crust and homemade coconut milk caramel.

Let’s talk about my favorite childhood dessert for a minute: Magic Cookie Bars. Also known as Seven Layer Bars or Hello Dolly Bars, these pieces of chewy, chocolatey dessert art are truly delicious and are remembered with great fondness by all who have tried them.

I really don’t know that I’ve ever had someone not love them. The combination of so many delicious things thrown on top of a buttery graham cracker crust and topped with sweetened condensed milk just really can’t end up as anything but insanely delicious.

My mom and I would make batches and batches of these for Christmas every year growing up, and when I was little I would constantly be sneaking outside to grab a bar (or three) out of the freezer in our garage where my mom would attempt to hide them from us.

Magic Cookie Bars always bring back the best memories for me. Creating a healthier version of the classic, that tastes just as good, has been on my mind for a good long while now.

These bars aren’t low-calorie and you still need to eat them in moderation. However, in this version, the calories come from more natural sources that aren’t loaded with preservatives and empty sugars. My dad, one of the Magic Cookie Bars biggest fans, couldn’t keep his hands off these and said they were even better than the original!

They do require a bit more effort than the originals. Instead of opening a can of sweetened condensed milk, you’ve got to make your own homemade paleo + vegan version by reducing down the coconut milk and coconut sugar. But, it’s a process that doesn’t require a lot of thought, just a distant eye and the occasional stir to keep it from burning.

If you ask me, that’s not a lot to do to cut out the major amounts of sugar that would’ve been in that can of sweetened condensed milk. Besides that, everything’s pretty much the same in terms of effort.

The crust is made out of crushed nuts instead of crushed graham crackers. With a little bit of cinnamon stirred into the nut mixture, you won’t even notice the difference!

The toppings are super similar to the classic recipe, with the exception of leaving out the butterscotch chips. I couldn’t think of a reasonable substitute, and the original chips weren’t too much of a loss for me. The bars are still plenty sweet and decadent without them!

What’s the best way to store them?

My personal preference is keeping them in the refrigerator or freezer. It keeps them super chewy and absolutely delicious. They’ll last a week or two in the refrigerator, or a few months in the freezer!

They’ll be good at room temperature for a few days, if you choose to keep them that way.

I’ve been making this new + improved version of my favorite magic cookie bars for a while now. They’ve now become a new staple at Christmas! My sister and I fight over who gets to devour them…I’m totally in love with this recipe and truly impressed with how much they taste like the original. It’s become seriously hard to me to resist eating all of these paleo magic cookie bars once I know I’ve got some stashed in the freezer!

I’ll definitely be making these again and again, and I guarantee they won’t last too long around here! Sooo many of you have let me know you’re loving this new version as well since I posted them. It puts the biggest smile on my face to know I can help you enjoy magic cookie bars, no matter whether your diet requires no gluten, or no dairy, or no grains. If you want Paleo and vegan in the most decadent way, whip a batch of these up. You won’t regret it! Enjoy :)

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Remember to #bakerita if you try the recipe!