Guest post from Brigette Shevy
These bars are one of my all-time favorite holiday treats! If you want to meet new people and make new friends, just take a plate of these decadent candy-bar-like cookies to a Christmas party — you will have people begging you for the recipe! They are very rich (which means one pan goes a long way!), indulgent, and an amazing addition to a plate of assorted homemade Christmas goodies.
Even though I generally stick with recipes that use more “pure” ingredients (i.e. less packages and cans), I like these bars so much that I feel they more than justify a once-a-year splurge.
This is a simple, easy-to-throw-together recipe that will keep in the freezer for weeks – which means you can have treats ready at a moment’s notice the entire holiday season.
I will forever be indebted to my husband’s grandma for introducing me to this recipe! She simply called them “Mounds Bars,” but seriously, there is just no comparison between these and the packaged candy bars in the checkout lanes.
Better-Than-Mounds Bars
Makes one 9″ x 13″ pan.
Crust:
- 1 ½ – 1 ¾ cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup melted butter
- ½ cup sugar (I use less than this)
Filling:
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 package (7 ounces) shredded coconut
Topping:
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (use less if you’re not a chocolate lover!)
- 1 Tablespoon peanut butter
Directions:
For the Crust: Mix graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar together and press into a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
For the Filling: Mix the condensed milk and coconut together and carefully spread over hot crust. Bake for another 15 minutes. Cool.
For the Topping: In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave until melted, stirring every 20-30 seconds. Spread on top of cooled bars. Chill until set.
That’s it!
The only bad thing about taking these bars to holiday parties it that you’ll rarely ever have leftovers!
Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 5, 3 and 1). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.
Can I freeze this for later? If so for how long? How much time to thaw?
You absolutely can freeze them for later! They will stay good for several weeks in the freezer. You can enjoy them right out of the freezer, just like if you kept your favorite candy bar in there! Hope that helps! -Jordan, MSM Team
Made these tonite and received rave reviews! But, instead of chocolate/PB, I used Nutella for the topping.
Ooh! Good idea with the nutella. 🙂
I made these for my son’s piano recital and everyone loved them! My husband is allergic to all nuts so I omitted the peanut butter from the topping and just put the melted chocolate chips on. It’s hard to find good recipes that mimic candy bars that he can’t eat because of possible cross contamination. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Tanja
Awesome! I’m so happy you could make these work with your husband’s allergy, and that you liked them. Thanks for taking time to leave a comment to let me know. 🙂
Do you think these would freeze well? I would like some for now but also have them on hand for a big day in late January
Yes. I do it all the time. 🙂
I made these this weekend and they were so good! They were very easy…I followed the recipe….I wasn’t sure if I should use sweetened coconut or not, but that is all the store had so that is what I used.
I loved how easy the recipe was and how delicious! They are VERY rich and sweet…a small piece goes a long way. They are definately better than a mounds bar!!
Yay – so glad you liked them! And thanks for taking time to leave a comment to let me know. 🙂
These were so easy, and a hit! Thanks for the recipe! Although mine came out thinner, so I may add a tad more of everything, or bake them in a smaller pan next time. And most likely I will leave out the sugar in the graham cracker crust. Uber sweet.
here in Italy we don’t have graham crackers, do you think digestive biscuits or any plain cookies could work?
thanks a lot
Yes, either should work fine.
Yeah, those look totally amazing. My oldest boy is an almond joy freak… wonder if I could make these and put almonds on the top of some of him?
I definitely think you could!! See my above comment to Dacia.
Yum! I recently bought some Coconut Creme Spread at Costco. I’ll bet I could use it straight from the jar for the filling since it contains flaked coconut.
Seriously, Brigette, I have been DONE with my goodie/cooking list many times now…until you post…again. 😉 You have some really great ones! I might have to make them and then get them out of my house…ready Crystal?!
Oh yes, you definitely need to rethink being “done.” 🙂 And you totally sound like an AWESOME friend!!
😉
You’re probably right! That would be super easy!!
That sounds delicious!
I can feel the inches creeping onto my hips! HAHA Can’t wait to try this!
We make these, but we will melt the butter and graham crackers (no sugar), pour the condensed milk & coconut over (I double it because I like it that way) and bake it just the once. Then we put the peanut butter/chocolate top on. I think we have more peanut butter, but would need to check the recipe.
Instead of PB (can’t have it in our home), do you think a tablespoon of butter would be needed to make the chocolate chips spread well, or just skip it?
If you happen to have almond butter, that would work great and give it an Almond Joy taste!
Almond butter would be great! Otherwise, the easiest thing to do would be to sprinkle the chocolate chips directly on the coconut mixture right when you take it out of the oven. After a few minutes, they will be all soft and you can take a spatula and smooth them out. I like the flavor the pb adds, but this will still be good – plus it eliminates the melting-in-the-microwave step.
These could definitely be “real foodified”! Use ground almonds instead of the graham cracker crumbs, sucanat instead of the sugar, high quality chocolate chips without soy and other fillers and peanut butter with just peanuts. They sound yummy!
great suggestions as this would help those with gluten allergies too!
Great ideas!! And if you used the coconut milk/honey combo that Faith Storms shared above, instead of the sweetened condensed milk – why, these would practically be health food!!! 😉
So many yummy treats on this blog the last couple of weeks! I think I’ll wait to try these around Easter instead of coconut eggs!
Oh, great idea!
Mounds bars are my husband’s absolute favorite, I so am making these. Thanks for the recipe!!
So if I add almonds, does it then become, “Better than Almond Joy Bars”? Not sure if I would cook those in the coconut layer or just put on before spreading the chocolate. Hmm…ever tried it?
I’ve never tried it (I would love the almond addition – the rest of the fam… not so much :)). I would either sprinkle slivered almonds on top of the coconut mixture before baking and press them in with a spoon, OR sprinkle them on top of the chocolate instead (if putting them on top, you could toast them separately if that’s the flavor you are going for). I don’t really think you could mess it up – unless you put in so many that you mess up the “goo”/hold-together factor.
This looks dangerously delicious!
I might make them Almond Joy bars instead!
Looks delicious! We can’t have dairy. Any recommendations as a replacement for the sweetened condensed milk?
I make homemade sweetened condensed milk with Native Forest full fat coconut milk. Heat it slowly in a pan on the stovetop with 1/4 c. honey until boiling. Turn down to simmer and allow to condense for about 30 minutes. Store in the fridge and use just as you would sweetened condensed milk normally!
I LOVE this idea! I am going to have to try it like this – and we aren’t even dairy free! This would help me justify making this recipe more than once a year. 😉 Thanks!
I just googled “Dairy-free condensed milk,” and there were alot of homemade recipes that popped up. I haven’t tried any of them, but it looks like there are options out there that are pretty simple.
Thank you for sharing this yummy looking recipe. It looks fairly simple too. I may make these for my husbands cookie exchange for work on Tuesday.