Magic Bar Truffles

Sometimes, things don't turn out quite the way you planned. But, that's okay because occasionally, they turn into something even better.

That was the case when I went to visit a good friend of mine. She was baking up a batch of Martha Stewart's Chocolate Coconut Bars (also known as Hello Dollies or Magic Bars) for a family dinner the next night. One look at all the assembled ingredients - Oreo cookies, graham crackers, condensed milk, pecans, coconut, chocolate chips AND butterscotch chips - and there was no doubt that this was going to be tastetastic.

Everything came together beautifully and the finished bars looked just like the ones in this picture.

(picture taken from Martha Stewart)

Then, we ran into a problem. Instead of using parchment paper, she had used waxed paper, and so the bars had completely stuck to the paper underneath and couldn't be removed intact at all. The best we could do was scrape as much as we could off of the paper, but that just left us with a bowlful of scraps and not a sign of the beautiful bars remained.

Are you kidding me? All that hard work for nothing? Besides, the scraps still tasted oh so good and it seemed a shame to have to waste them. Then, I got an idea. If people could turn a less than perfect cake into cake balls, why couldn't we do the same with this? I suggested that we form spoonfuls of the scraps into balls, roll them in our leftover graham cracker crumbs, and voila - Magic Bar Truffles were born.

We served them alongside a bowlful of Cool Whip for dipping and they were a hit! People loved how easy they were to eat and commented on how delicious they were. By the end of the night, they were all gone.

Yup, sometimes you gotta love it when things go "wrong" because the solution can be so right!

Magic Bar Truffles (adapted from Martha Stewart and created by Lisa of Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

3 cups finely ground cookies (12 ounces), such as graham crackers or chocolate wafers, or a combination (we used half graham crackers and half Oreo cookies)

1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. butterscotch chips (my friend added these)

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly splash a 15-by-10-inch rimmed baking sheet evenly with water, then line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter until combined. Evenly press onto bottom and up sides of prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating halfway through, until firm, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool, about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle cooled crust evenly with pecans, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Pour condensed milk over the top, spreading to cover completely (do not let it drip over the edges). Sprinkle with coconut.

Bake until coconut is toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Crumble everything up. Mold into small 1-inch balls and roll in graham cracker crumbs. Serve alongside some Cool Whip for dipping.

Makes 32 truffles