Ooey gooey vegan Seven Layer Bars are sprinkled with chocolate chips, marshmallows, nuts, and coconut before they’re finished with a drizzle of vegan sweetened condensed milk. Perfect for the holiday bake sale or any time of year!
Seven Layer Bars (also known as Magic Bars and Coconut Dream Bars) are a sweet lover’s dream. The buttery graham cracker base is sprinkled with layers and layers of chocolate, coconut, nuts, and marshmallows. The finishing drizzle of Vegan Sweetened Condensed Milk really makes this dessert taste just as delicious as the classic.
You can usually find these vintage cookie bars at bake sales, around the holidays, or for sale in coffee shops. The original recipe, which you’ve probably seen on the back of any sweetened condensed milk can, is made with dairy. All of us sugar-loving vegans have been missing out until now!
I think you’re really going to have a lot of fun with these cookie bars. Make sure you grab one at the party because they never last long!
What are the 7 layers?
Sweets, sweets, and more sweets! The magic bars have a graham cracker crust and plenty of sweets on top to bring all of the seven layers together. This is what I used:
- Crushed graham crackers (honey free for vegan)
- Vegan butter
- Chocolate chips
- Mini marshmallows
- Pecans
- Shredded coconut
- Vegan sweetened condensed milk
Feel free to customize this recipe any way you like. Maybe you’d prefer 4 layer bars or 10 layer bars! It’s a really fun recipe to play with.
How to make vegan 7 layer bars
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Mix the melted vegan butter and graham cracker crumbs together in a bowl. Pour them into your prepared baking pan and press into an even layer.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans, and shredded coconut evenly over the crust.
Finish by pouring the vegan sweetened condensed milk all over the layers. Use a spatula or spoon to make sure it’s evenly distributed.
Bake until the marshmallows look toasted and the edges turn golden brown. Let them cool in the pan before lifting them out and letting them cool completely. When ready, cut them into 24 small squares and enjoy with plenty of napkins!
Tips and substitutions
- Customize the layers – Add even more or swap the layers for anything you like! Dried cranberries or blueberries, chopped walnuts, peanut butter, vegan white chocolate chips, chopped peanut butter cups, or chopped pretzel pieces would all be delicious.
- Gluten free – The seven layer bars can be made without graham crackers if you’re gluten free. Just replace them with crushed gluten free golden oreos or gluten free gingersnap cookies.
- Vegan butter – Coconut oil can be used if you don’t have vegan butter at home.
- Condensed milk – If you don’t want to make vegan condensed milk, a can of full fat coconut milk will work as a substitute.
- Don’t skip the parchment paper! These bars put the “goo” in gooey and will be quite messy when lifted out of the pan to cut. The parchment paper will make removing the bars really easy while keeping the mess to a minimum.
Storing and freezing magic bars
Store the leftover magic bars in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
The bars also freeze well in a sealed container or bag for 3 months. Just let them thaw at room temperature or in the fridge before serving.
Hungry for more vegan cookie bars?
Seven Layer Bars (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (honey free)*
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
- 1 cup mini vegan marshmallows
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup Vegan Condensed Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper (trust me, things can get sticky and hard to clean).
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the vegan butter. Once melted, stir in the graham cracker crumbs until combined. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans and shredded coconut evenly over the crust.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk on top and use a spatula to make sure it's evenly distributed.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven.
- Cool completely in the pan before lifting the bars out using the parchment paper. You can stick the pan in the refrigerator to speed the cooling process, if desired.
- Cut in 24 small squares using a very sharp, large knife. The bars will still be very gooey and messy, so serve on a plate with a fork! Store leftover bars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Gluten free – Substitute gluten free golden oreos or gingersnaps, or graham crackers if you can find them. To make crumbs, simply blitz them in your blender or food processor.
- May use coconut oil instead of vegan butter, if desired.
- Other layers to use: dried cranberries or blueberries, chopped walnuts, vegan white chocolate chips or chopped pretzel pieces.
- The bars can be frozen if desired.
I LOVE Nora’s recipes but I’m sorry to say this one was a complete disaster for me. I used Andre Prost brand sweetened condensed coconut milk and otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I baked for 25 minutes and took it out early as it seemed a little overdone already (too brown on top and all melted together, no intact chocolate chips). When I cut it up after cooling completely and refrigerating for a little while, it was just a puddle of grease completely soaking the crust and through the parchment paper. I bake a fair amount and I’ve rarely had something turn out so surprisingly bad. Surprising because Nora’s recipes are so consistently great! I’ve used Andre Prost brand sweetened condensed coconut milk in other recipes without an issue, but maybe that was the problem here. Leaving a review so others don’t make the same mistake!
I’m sorry these didn’t turn out well for you Marianne! That doesn’t seem right and I’m not sure what happened. What kind of vegan butter did you use? Make any substitutions at all? I’m not familiar with that brand of sweetened condensed milk but I don’t know why it would be a problem.
I used Country Crock plant butter sticks, same as I do in all my baking. No substitutions. All I can think is maybe the canned sweetened condensed coconut milk was just too fatty. Liquid evaporates but fat melts and soaks in, and might explain why it browned so fast too. Anyway, I couldn’t bring myself to toss them so we ate them on top of more graham crackers for structure. Still tasty 🙂
Would these work for a cookie exchange (ie. do they travel okay and would I just wrap them individually in parchment?)
I would wrap them individually but I think they will travel okay, yes.
This recipe is so DELISH. I also added some chopped up vegan caramels (Cocomels brand) to replace that butterscotch flavor from the traditional non-vegan recipe. It was SO GOOD. I also added pretzels, as suggested in the footnotes. It was yummy. I might 1.5x the graham cracker crust when I make it again. Amazing recipe Nora!
Hi Evan. Your bars sounds AMAZING! Thank you for taking time to share your recipe ideas and experience, as well as your stellar review! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Another delicious treat…you can’t just have one! Using what I had at home I ended up substituting Biscoff cookies for the Graham crackers (I have a hard time finding Graham crackers w/o honey) and maple-flavored mini marshmallows. Received many compliments from my non-vegan friends and there weren’t any leftovers to bring home. Mission accomplished! Thanks Nora!!!
Thank YOU, Lisa, for sharing your fun and fabulous review and feedback! I’m so glad the bars were a hit! Wishing you happy cooking!
I’m looking forward to making these phenomenally delicious & sweet bars again for the holidays. Thanks so much Nora! ❤️💚
All my favorite things in one bar!? YES!!! These were so good and so easy.
Dang it Nora! These are so good and I ate more than I should have lol! I added butterscotch chips since I had them laying around and only used half the called for coconut for personal taste. I had a can of oat condensed milk I have been waiting to use and it worked great. I will be making these again. Good job as always 🙂
Hi Jen. They are easy to eat! Thanks for your fabulous review and feedback!
where did you find vegan butterscotch chips?
Can I make thiis regular bars that is non vegan?
Could I skip the marshmallows for something else since I don’t have them? Or this recipe won’t work “)
Thanks
You could skip the marshmallows. It should still be good.
These are phenomenal!!! I used slightly salted unsweetened coconut chips (I couldn’t find a vegan or organic sweetened version) and added broken pretzel pieces on top. I could eat these again and again. Nora’s one millionth amazing recipe. Thank you for sharing!!!
Hi Sara. Thank you for sharing your wonderful and fun feedback! I’m glad you are loving the bars! Thank you for using my recipes!
Hello! These taste great but the graham cracker layer is a bit too soft and greasy feeling. Would less butter do the trick to make the crust like more traditional seven layer bars? Great recipe just trying to work that part out. Thank you!!!
You can try adding a little less vegan butter if you want, I did not find them greasy though. Could have something to do with the brand you use as well.
So yummy!
Thank you for sharing your terrific review!
oh my oh my, really good! I made the vegan concentrated milk- really decadent.
the base was a bit too crumbly. Would adding dates be a problem?
I made these earlier in the week and they turned out really good!! Thanks Nora
You are welcome! I’m so glad that you loved them! Thank you for sharing your review!
I’m so excited to try this, but I can’t find organic sweetened coconut shreds, or certified vegan sweetened coconut shreds. Could unsweetened still work?
Your name is spoke with reverence in our household, by the way. Love every recipe we’ve tried, and there have been countless! Thank you for all of them!!
Aww thank you so much! I think unsweetened would be okay, since there is plenty of sweetness. 🙂 Enjoy!
I make something similar but with cornflake crumbs instead of graham cracker (tastes yummy, kinda sweet-savory), but I’ve never used marshmallows! Genius. I will try this. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you love the bars!
Where do I find vegan marshmallows?
Dandies are my favorite, which I can find at Whole Foods and many other stores near me, or online. I also like Trader Joe’s marshmallows, which are vegan friendly.