Red Velvet Seven Layer Bars.

There are 7 layers to love in these chewy, gooey, sweet red velvet bars.

These are for real. Just thought I should open with that.

We’re celebrating all things red velvet in Christmas Cookie Palooza recipe #5. These seven layer bars (also called magic bars or even hello dolly bars depending where you live– what do you call them??) are heavenly. The base is a soft, cookie-like red velvet layer. On top of that? A rich, sweet, chewy, gooey, and completely overloaded smorgasbord of toppings.

Go big or go home.

I’ve quickly learned how much you love red velvet after posting these cheesecake swirl brownies. Coming as no surprise, those brownies have a cult following. Another popular recipe of mine? Classic red velvet cupcakes. Red velvet cupcakes that are moist, soft, fluffy, and actually have flavor are few and far between. But that recipe nails it. I love them as much as you do.

And so when I learned that a red velvet exclusive cookbook was on the market, I knew I needed a copy. Just to share with all of you. Red Velvet Lover’s Cookbook is written by Deborah Harroun who blogs at Taste and Tell. Deborah wrote this cookbook for anyone madly in love with red velvet’s flavor. Yes, it’s a book of just red velvet.

I like your style, Deborah.

Today’s red velvet seven layer bars recipe comes from her cookbook. Deborah describes them as addictive and YES, she hits the nail on the head with that description. Being a huge fan of regular 7 layer bars, I couldn’t stop slicing off little squares for myself. Dare I say that this version of the classic dessert is better than the original? Seriously.

The bars are so simple to make. First, make a red velvet cookie/cake layer. This will be the crust of the seven layer bars. The dough for this layer is incredibly sticky and thick, so take your time spreading it out into the pan. After the crust pre-bakes, top with all sorts of goodness. Coconut, chocolate chips, pecans, white chocolate chips, and a drizzle of liquid gold. I mean sweetened condensed milk.

The recipe directs to bake the bars in a 9×13 pan, but mine was dirty (washing dishes in the middle of making seven layer bars? no.) so I just used an 11×7 pan instead. Using a smaller pan made my bars a little thicker than Deborah’s. I’ll include both bake times in the recipe below.

A little chewy, a lot gooey, buttery, chocolatey, coconut-ty, and sorta creamy all at the same time. If you love red velvet, your mind’s about to be blown.

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

Red Velvet Seven Layer Bars

Yield: 24-30 bars (depends on the size pan you use)

Total Time: 3 hours, includes cooling

There are seven layers to love in these chewy, gooey, sweet red velvet bars.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) all-purpose flour (measured correctly)


• 1 Tablespoon (6g) unsweetened cocoa powder


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/8 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature


• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar


• 1 large egg


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 Tablespoon (15ml) liquid red food coloring


• 1 and 1/3 cups (120g) sweetened shredded coconut¹


• 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips²


• 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips


• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk


• 1 cup (130g) Diamond of California chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Set your oven rack to the center position and preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking pan³ with aluminum foil (or use parchment), leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.


2. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside.


3. In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in egg and vanilla on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the food coloring until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The red velvet dough will be quite thick and sticky.


4. Using a rubber spatula, spread dough in an even layer into the prepared baking pan. It's very sticky, so take your time pushing it to each corner of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.


5. Sprinkle the coconut over the cookie layer, followed by the chocolate chips, then the white chocolate chips. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake until set, about 25 minutes³. Cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before cutting into squares.


6. Make ahead tip: Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bars can be frozen, up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Recipe Notes:

1. Different brands of coconut weigh different amounts; anywhere around 120g is fine.


2. Deborah's recipe calls for 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. I only had semi-sweet on hand, so I used 1 full cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. My bars are actually only 6 layers! Feel free to make them with milk chocolate as well, just as the original recipe directs.


3. I used an 11x7 inch baking pan. My bars took 32 minutes using this size pan.

Recipe from Red Velvet Lover's Cookbook

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*Giveaway has ended. Winner is entry #34 Jamie, who has been notified. 

Enter to win a copy of Deborah Harroun’s Red Velvet Lover’s Cookbook. A cookbook containing 50 red velvet sweets including red velvet layer cake, red velvet bundt cake, red velvet gooey butter bars, red velvet whoopie pies and this red velvet cake roll.

How To Enter

Simply leave a comment on this post describing the best red velvet dessert you’ve had. Was it a red velvet cupcake? A slice of red velvet cake? Or any of my red velvet recipes? Tell me about it!

*This giveaway is open to the whole world! Tell your red velvet loving friends.

*This giveaway ends Tuesday, December 16th at 12am EST. The winner will be chosen at random by random.org. The winner will be notified via email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. Winner will be listed in this post on December 16th. Thank you for entering and good luck!

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