Seven Layer Cookies — 🍪🙌 These seven layer cookies are loaded with graham crackers, coconut, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips. Chewy around the edges, but soft in the center!
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Easy Seven Layer Cookies
I brought the flavors and texture of the classic Seven Layer Bars into these cookies, and they’re some of my favorite cookies ever. They have some chewiness around the edges but are soft, squishy, tender and moist in the middle.
All the textures and layers of flavors just do it for me. The more, the merrier, and these cookies are loaded with graham crackers, two kinds of baking chips, and coconut.
The cookies are a couple layers short of seven, missing nuts and sweetened condensed milk, but I don’t like nuts in bars anyway and always omit them. And sweetened condensed milk is just not cookie-friendly.
There’s something about the combination of butterscotch with coconut, chocolate with graham crackers, and tossing it all together in one recipe that’s so satisfying. Marriage of complementary flavors, at their finest.
The cookies remind me of the potlucks, church basement bake sales, Girl Scout troop meetings, graduations, and so many of the celebrations and parties I attended growing up in rural Minnesota. There was always a pan of Seven Layer Bars.
I’ll always have a soft spot for the original bars, but these seven layer cookies have my attention now. Soft, chewy, melty, tons of textures and flavors.
Ingredients in Seven Layer Cookies
To make these seven layer magic bar cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Graham crackers
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Butterscotch chips
- Sweetened shredded coconut
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Seven Layer Cookies
- Cream together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla until light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Then, mix in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, followed by the mix-ins.
- Scoop the cookie dough into balls, then flatten them slightly between the palms of your hands. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until the edges are set but the centers are still glossy. (Do NOT bake longer than 9 minutes for soft cookies because they firm up as they cool!)
Baking Tip
Keep a close eye on the cookies and don’t overbake. Coconut is prone to burning and the cookies taste best when they’re a bit underbaked, pillowy soft, and gooey.
Recipe FAQs
If you’re not a big fan of coconut, not to worry, it’s not a pronounced flavor and doesn’t dominate. It’s present but not overwhelming, and while you could possibly omit it and add more flour (I know I’ll be asked), it’s a key ingredient in Seven Layer Bars and something I recommend keeping for flavor, texture, and authenticity.
I’m sure you can! Chopped nuts, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, and dried fruit are all options. Just make sure not to add too many mix-ins, otherwise the dough won’t form balls.
Yes, you MUST chill the dough. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
Technically, yes, but it’s really hard to do. Once the dough is chilled, it firms up and becomes slightly crumbly (note that it doesn’t result in crumbly cookies though!). It’s a pain to form into balls once chilled, so I recommend scooping the dough into balls and then chilling it.
Once baked, these seven layer cookies can be kept on your counter in an airtight container for up to a week. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Yes, you can freeze the raw cookie dough as well as the baked cookies. If you freeze the dough, you can bake it directly from frozen.
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Seven Layer Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 cup coarsely chopped graham crackers and crumbs, about 4 full-size cracker sheets
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup butterscotch chips
- ¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the graham crackers (include the fine crumbs too, they act as flour here and are important), chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and beat momentarily to incorporate, less than 1 minute, or fold in by hand.
- Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two-tablespoon mounds (I made 22). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat, or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 9 minutes for soft cookies because they firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have chewy edges with soft, pillowy, gooey centers).
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- Store cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
- Recipe adapted from my Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies and Soft and Chewy Smores Cookies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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These do look delicious, and I loved hearing all about your mom bringing a pan along to pot lucks and bake sales. Sounds like you had a really sweet upbringing!
It was wholesome and family-oriented and just so different in rural MN then than what life is like today in urban San Diego – world’s apart! Both have great parts but they are sure different!
These look incredible. So decadent. My dad would love them–he’s a huge butterscotch fan!
I can tell this is your favorite cookie dough, Averie. All of your best cookies come from it! I love hello dolly bars. That’s what we called them growing up. Also 7 layer bars, but we never called them magic bars – even though I know that’s what most call them anyway. But I love that you put all of those flavors into cookies! How creative!! I love butterscotch and coconut, which is the main reason why I adore the bars so much. I love that you didn’t leave out the graham crackers. I made cookeis today rolled in graham cracker crumbs. :) YUM!
omg your cookies sound great! Can’t wait to see that post. I’ll want them, asap! :)
And yes this dough is so forgiving for me. I know the approx batch size I’ll get no matter how I tweak it, I know what to look for, and as you know, when you start adding things like coconut or graham crackers – you have to take into account how it bulks the dough as well as if it dries out the dough and if anything added will mimic flour (i.e. graham cracker crumbs), as to not over/under flour it. Lots to think about in the recipe development phase as you know!
I know you would love these cookies, Sally! I wish I could donate some to you!
I love that you chose to recreate this classic recipe in cookie form! More portable and less messy :)
You got that right on the more portable and less messy :)
Making 7-Layer Bars into cookies?!?! I can’t believe no one has thought to do this before, but….best idea you’ve had!!! Omitting the nuts is an even better idea, since I’ve always thought that they kind of ruined the bars. And I’m not even a coconut fan. (I’m warming to it though…the taste, not the texture of the shreds.)
As we’ve talked about in the past, these bars were constants in the Midwest potlucks, holiday dinners, bake sales, basically anytime people got together. o matter what, they were always the first dessert to go, beating out the chocolate chip cookies even. The only time they came in second was when there were peanut butter balls around.
It is such a classic midwest recipe – YES! From everything from a baby shower to a funeral to a h.s. graduation party to a going away party, these bars are always in rotation! And I had been toying with this in my mind for about 6 mos. Trying to figure out how to get it to come together. I really, really, really wanted to incorporate sweet cond milk but just couldn’t find a way to get it in there without turning the whole thing into a sloppy mess and the cookies did not lack for anything by omitting it. They are chock full of texture.
I know you’re not a coconut fan (shreds) and I will say that while I am okay with it, I am very particular about how much is used, where, when, etc. In these cookies it really acts so much more like OATS. It even surprised me! But in a good way. I dont know if there’s a way for you to make something like these given your GF situation b/c the graham crackers are really key (I know they sell GF ones but so $$), but I wish you could try these!
Averie, I swear you are the absolute queen of cookies. These look fantastic.
You are so sweet! Thanks Jocelyn!
Brilliant idea making magic bars in cookie form! I grew up eating the bars and they’ve always been one of my favorite things. Yum!
Glad you have childhood memories of them too!
Oh, cookies – come to me!! My stomach is rumbling for several of these beauties. :D Thank you for always omitting nuts!! xo
Other than 1 recent cookie, in 5 yrs, I think I have 2 singular desserts/sweets with whole nuts in them. Not a fan of the marbles in my softness either!
These look amazing! What a fun idea for a cookie.
Such an awesome cookie idea Averie!!! I’m so all over the soft chewiness of these!
7 Layer Bars are some of my favorites too!! I love that the most simple bar cookies can be the BEST! I just can’t resist them :)
Your cookies look marvelous. I know I would love them since I love love love seven layer magic bars. These seem much less messy to eat.
Way less messy! lol
You need to do a cookie recipe next, because your recipes KILL ME (in the best way possible)!! LOVE these Averie!
What a fun idea for a cookie! 7 layer anything is a winner, I say!
Oh em gee … my mouth is watering, Averie! Triple YUM!
Averie, these definitely are the perfect treat to bring to any potluck this summer. We actually have a few coming up and these are on my baking list! I love magic bars…reminds me of when I was little, too!
They are perfect for a summer potluck – yes!