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Happy Birthday Animal Crackers!
April 19th is the official birthday of the Animal Cracker. In honor of this childhood treat I’m posting a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Chewy bars ( a close relative to the Magic Bar). I swapped out the usual graham cracker crumb base with the ever popular Animal Cracker.
Here ya go…
- gather ingredients together and measure them out.
- grind the crackers in the mini-chopper. I used an 8oz bag of crackers. Usually I wack the crackers in a ziplock with a meat mallet, I didn’t have the heart to do it to those poor little guys 🙁
- poured melted butter inside a disposable baking pan ( I used a slightly smaller pan than recommended)
- pressed the crust down into the butter with a fork, then added the chips, and then the coconut. I pressed down on all the ingredients as I went.
- poured the condensed milk over the entire mix. First used wide vertical strokes then wide horizontal strokes – filling in the gaps as I went along.
- Popped in the oven for 25 minutes. I added an extra 5 minutes and moved the pan to the top rack because it didn’t look ready. Then took out and let cool.
NOTE: The original recipe said to use 1 cup of the chips at first, then layer the coconut, and then add the remaining chips. But apparently, I don’t read directions well, and added them all in the beginning, oopsy!
At this point you let the bar cool, cut and transfer to a platter. An additional step would be to melt a little chocolate and drizzle it across the top. 
Happy Birthday Animal Cracker – you will surely put an extra smile on our face in the coming days 🙂
I got the original recipe from the Hershey’s Chocolate Lovers cookbook.
Thanks for visiting and check out some of my other recipes while your here!
Chippy Chewy Bars
Ingredients
- 1 stick margarine melted
- 1 1/2 cups animal cracker crumbs*
- 1 bag of peanut butter chips**
- 1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 oz
- 13 x9" baking pan
Optional
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- pre- heat oven to 350 degrees F
- Melt butter and pour into a baking pan/bar pan
- Add cookie crumbs on top of the butter and spread out evenly using a fork
- Layer 1 cup of the chips over the crumbs
- Spread the coconut over the chips
- Add the remaining chips over the coconut
- Drizzle the condensed milk over the entire mixture evenly
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned
- Let Cool
- Optional: Once cool - melt 1 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave ( I prefer to do on half power so as not to burn the chocolate). Then drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the mixture.
Notes
** I used a combo of peanut butter chips and chocolate chips