Today’s the day! In just a few hours, I’m going to pile into a car with three of my girlfriends and set off for a rustic island off the coast of Maine! I can’t wait.

We won’t reach our destination until tomorrow evening though. It’s a ten hour drive from Brooklyn, so we’re stopping overnight in Connecticut and saving the long-haul for Saturday. We’ll spend those hours planning our grocery list and listening to music, getting psyched up for our week off. And of course, since ten hours is a looooong drive, we’ll have snacks. I’m bringing these Magic Blondies. 

What makes these blondies so magical? Well, if you’ve ever had Magic Bars (aka 7 Layer Bars or Hello Dollies), you know the amazing things that happen when you bake a combination of sweetened condensed milk, shredded coconut, pecans, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips over a graham cracker crust. The sweetened condensed milk caramelizes, the coconut and pecans get toasty, and the butterscotch and chocolate chips get super soft. The gooey combination is insanely good over buttery graham cracker crust! 

But graham cracker crust is crumbly, and therefore not great for road tripping. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend ten hours picking crumbs out of upholstery! That’s where the blondie part comes in! I swapped the traditional graham cracker crust for my favorite blondie base before pouring over the sweetened condensed milk and all the toppings. Everything bakes into the batter, leaving you with a soft, brown sugary blondie topped with a layer of gooey, melty, nutty magic!

These Magic Blondies are perfect for picnics, cookouts, and obviously, road trips! Wherever you take them, they’re sure to be, well, magical 😊

What are you doing this weekend? 

 Magic Blondies
makes one 9×9″ pan,* about 16 blondies 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish. Line with parchment, leaving a little overhang on the sides for easy removal from the pan. Butter the parchment. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and light brown sugar. Stir in the egg and vanilla, followed by flour and salt. Transfer batter to the prepared baking dish.

Drizzle sweetened condensed milk over the top of the blondie batter. Top with shredded coconut, followed by pecans, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips. With a clean hand, press down lightly to get toppings to slightly adhere to the sweetened condensed milk.

Tap pan on the counter five times to release any large air bubbles. Bake for 30 minutes, tenting with foil if anything begins to brown too quickly. Blondies are done when the sweetened condensed milk layer just barely jiggles when the pan is jostled.

Let blondies cool completely in the pan. Use the parchment to lift them out of the pan. Slice into 16 squares. Serve room temperature or cold.

Magic Blondies will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Note:

An 8×8″ pan may be used.