Tropical Magic Bars Easy recipes 2022

Tropical Magic Bars are soft, chewy, and perfect for snacking or gifting! Loaded with dried mango and pineapple, shredded coconut, and white milk chocolate on a golden graham crust, they’re sure to hit the sweet spot!

Magic bars are one of my favorite sweet treats. They’re a type of dessert wherein the ingredients are layered one on top of the next in a pan and then baked until soft and chewy with a bit of crunch.

With toasted nuts, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, and condensed milk piled over a buttery graham crust, these cookie bars are pretty hard to resist. They’re seriously addictive!

The cookie bars are not only delicious but versatile, too. While the buttery graham crust that acts as the base and the sweetened condensed that glues everything together are essential components, the rest of the ingredients are fair game.

While the recipe below is fantabulous as is and dried mangoes, pineapples, coconut shavings, and candied lime peels do work well, you can definitely experiment with other options. Check out my suggested substitutions below and pick your favorite combinations!

Ingredient substitutions

Dates, golden raisins, or sultanas
Dried fruits such as papaya, jackfruit, or guava
Toasted nuts such as walnuts, pecans, pili, or cashews
Replace the condensed milk with caramel sauce or dulce de leche
Swap the shredded coconut with 1/4 cup quick cook oats what makes these tropical cookie bars extra special in my opinion is the candied peels. The delicious medley of sweet and sour provides a refreshing contrast to the rich, chocolatey flavors.
You can buy them at specialty stores or make them from scratch. Try various citrus fruits such as calamansi, orange, dalandan, or lemon.

How to make candied citrus peels

In a small pot over medium heat, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the lime peels and boil for about 10 minutes.
Drain the water and repeat the process 2 more times.

Fill the pot once again with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar and stir to combine. Boil over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved.
Add the lime peel. Continue to cook for about 5 to 10 minutes or until syrup is reduced and peels are soft.
Drain the peels and cool. Toss in ¼ cup of sugar.

Remove the coated lime peels from the sugar and arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet to cool and dry completely.
Cut into small pieces to use in the recipe or store in an airtight container.