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Pumpkin Magic Bars is a 7 layer bar you can make with pumpkin puree! They’re a magic bar made with gingersnap crust, white chocolate, coconut and lots of pumpkin.
Make these bars for your family and they’ll be wowed – everyone who tastes them can’t believe how good they are.
Whenever I go shopping for clothes, I tend to stick to things I know. If I find something that works, I stick with it. For example:
I like wearing black shirts…so I own 7 of them. I like loose fitting dresses in summer, those ones from Old Navy…so I own one in every color…and so on.
Every once in awhile I like to add in a pop of something: maybe a new fabric or a print, but, for the most part, I’m happy in my wear-every-day clothing.
It turns out I do the same thing on this website:
I posted gooey bars. You all love gooey bars…so I made more.
I posted chocolate chip cookies that you all continue to devour…so I made more.
Over the years I’ve posted several recipes for magic bars. Again, it turns out you guys like magic bars; they’re consistently in my top search items that get you here. So…I made you more magic bars: in pumpkin flavor.
Pumpkin Magic Bars are an easy 7 layer bar recipe for fall!
What is a magic bar?
Magic bars are also called 7 layer bars or Magic Cookie Bars. They originated, I think, on the Eagle Brand website (Eagle makes sweetened condensed milk).
Seven layer bars are a throwback recipe and one of my favorite things to do is change them up to fit my mood.
I prefer calling these Magic Bars instead of 7 layer bars because they don’t always have 7 layers, at least in the recipes I’ve seen around the internet.
A Magic Cookie Bar has the following main components:
- A crust which is traditionally graham cracker but can be anything from Oreos to gingersnaps or even made with cake mix.
- Chocolate chips or some other sort of chips, like white chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter.
- Coconut
- Nuts
- Sweetened condensed milk
Why are they called magic?
When these cookie bars are baked in the oven the chocolate chips get soft and the sweetened condensed milk melts in all the nooks and crannies. As they cool, they harden and become a hand-held cookie bar!
The layers in my Pumpkin Magic Bars tie together all the flavors:
- Gingersnap Crust – pumpkin and gingersnaps go SO WELL together!
- White chocolate chips – again, pumpkin and white chocolate are paired together frequently. They’re BFFS!
- Pecans – you could also use walnuts.
- Coconut – coconut is always optional but adds some nice flavor.
- Toffee Bits – they add crunch and toasty flavor.
- Pumpkin – obviously! The pumpkin in these 7 layer bars is mixed with #7…
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – what brings it all together.
There you have it: seven layers of a magic cookie bar. They’re like pumpkin bars with crust!
Why are my magic bars too gooey?
If you make 7 layer bars and they’re too gooey, it’s probably because they’re not cooled properly. Try chilling them before slicing!
It’s important to let these cool completely before you try and slice them!
PRO TIP
Otherwise, you may have needed to use more chocolate chips – those are the binders of the recipe.
These are easy to make, not too gooey and they’re magic bars that don’t crumble…basically the perfect fall seven layer bar.
Other magic bar recipes:
- Cookies n Cream Magic Bars
- Brownie Peanut Butter Magic Bars
- Almond Magic Bars
- Samoa Magic Bars
- Magic Bar Bark
- Mini Magic Bar Pies
Other pumpkin bar recipes to try:
Pumpkin Magic Bars
Ingredients
- 25 Gingersnaps
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut from the baking aisle
- 1/4 cup toffee bits with or without chocolate, or chopped Heath bars
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk use regular, not low-fat
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Grind gingersnaps to a fine crumb in a food processor. Mix with a fork in a small bowl with sugar and melted butter. Press into prepared pan.
- Sprinkle white chocolate chips, pecans, coconut, and toffee over the top of the crust.
- Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl or measuring cup and pour over the top of the bars.
- Bake for 28-34 minutes, until the edges have started to brown. Cool completely before cutting. You may want to chill them before slicing if they seem gooey.
Recipe Video
Recipe Nutrition
Last Updated on October 6, 2019
Delicious, but unbelievably sweet!! Don’t add sugar to the ginger snap layer, I didn’t and the bar was still very, very sweet. Cut them into small bars.
Would I be able to double this recipe to fit into a larger pan?
You can double it in a 9×13″ pan, it’ll take a bit longer to bake because it will be a bit thicker.
Would I be able to use pre-made cookie dough for the crust instead??
Would the baking time change at all?
Yes you can. I’d bake the cookie dough about 10 minutes before adding the topping, to ensure it gets baked all the way through.
These sound so good! I’d like to make them for a potluck at work this week, but I don’t have a 9×9 pan … would an 8×8 work instead? Maybe just cook a little longer?
Yes that will work, but yes it may need a bit longer to cook.
These bars look AMAZING! I have some time off work and I am in a pumpkin kinda mood. I’m a Fall baby , so pumpkin is near n dear to my heart, but the rest if the family, muh. I cannot wait to make these! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Happy holidays to you?
Enjoy and thank you!
Oh Girl! You are a woman after my heart…and my taste buds too. I’m making these magical bars this week…and a great thing? I already have everything on hand. YAY! Thanks much for sharing your creativity with all of us!
I’ve converted recipes to gluten free before and have used gluten free ginger snaps in other recipes. I have to ask you, are these REALLY sweet? Between the cookies, sugar, white chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk, they sound really sweet. I’m wondering if I eliminate the sugar maybe they will taste just as good but not as sweet? I love magic bars and would love to try them with pumpkin!
They are very sweet. You can omit the sugar from the crust if you want. They’re as sweet as traditional magic bars.
Thanks! I’m definitely trying these with less sugar!
Alanna
Where can toffee bits be found? Thankyou
In the baking aisle with the chocolate chips. If you can’t find them, you can chop up a Heath bar!
This dessert is phenomenal!!! I made this dessert three times in the last two weeks. Maybe I’ll make them for Christmas too.
I’m so glad you liked them Jim! Yay!
Just made these last night and they were yummy. I did double the recipe and used a bigger pan. I wanted the bars to be thicker than the regular ones. I had to cook it another 25mins also. They have barely lasted a day. 2 lonely bars left just begging to be eaten. Lol Thanks for the recipe
I’m so glad you liked them Amberlyn!! Great notes about the baking time for doubling, thank you!
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