Choco Banana Magic Bars



In the pan





This weekend , Rachel, (one of my besties) and her boyfriend David came to visit from NY state. Along with some other friends, we competed in a a 5k (3mile) race with 15 obstacles. It was very muddy, but a lot of fun.

After the race, the post race laundry (more challenging than some of the obstacles themselves), and some much needed David's Tea,  we were lounging around my apartment, feeling tired and lazy. We were talking about how Rachel and I are about the same level of cooking. We both love food and like to cook on occasion, but neither of us are really natural chefs. Rachel is a stickler to following the recipe and I am more open to making frequent substitutions when I don't have the exact ingredients. I also take shortcuts sometimes that cost me in the end.. I thing patience is a needed quality for baking and cooking.

At any rate, I remembered I had this recipe I wanted to try. It is from the side of a can of cendensed milk (eagle). It was such a simple recipe and didn't take long. While Rachel and I were making it, David prepared delicious pizza for us for dinner.  After dinner, our friend Andrei came over, and we played Settlers and ate these 'magic' bars. We pretty much devoured the entire thing. Andrei thought they were very sweet. It didn't seem to bother the rest of us, as we all had seconds.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups graham crackers

- 3/4 cup butter melted

- 1 can sweetened condensed milk (low fat or regular)

- 2 medium bananas mashed ( we added a 3rd)

- 1/2-1 cup chocolate and or caramel chips

- 1/2-1 cup flaked coconut

- chopped pecans ( we omitted because i didn't have any)

Directions:

Combine graham crumbs with melted butter. Press evenly onto parchment paper lined 13x9 inch baking pan (I only had a smaller pan so we had to reduce the recipe slightly). Combine sweetened condensed milk and mashed banana, pour evenly over crumbs crust. Top with chocolate, caramel, coconut, pecans. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool, and cut into bars.

Enjoy!