Hello New Year, Hello Dolly!

   Yawn.....I'm tired.....

   Last night we went to a friends house for New Years Eve, and we played some games, chatted, and ate a lot (a lot!) of food. It was good though, we just got back really late. So, I'm starting the new year a smidge pooped. No worries though, I feel satisfied knowing that some of my friends now know what a Hello Dolly is! 

    Because my husband, a neighbour, and 2 girl friends had NO IDEA what a Hello Dolly was (I made them for last night), I will assume more people also don't know. For starters, it is a wonderful musical, but I'm not talking about that. Here's a direct cut-and-paste from the Eagle Brand website: "the most popular recipe in Eagle Brand history, this easy, one-pan  treat debuted in the 1960's as a "Hello Dolly"...." There you have it. 

Barbara Streisand in "Hello Dolly" the 1969 movie musical (directed by Gene Kelly). It's a good one, you should watch it while eating one of these squares. P.S. The squares have nothing to do with the musical, as far as I could find out!

Hello Dolly (gluten free edition)
This is my gluten free adaptation of the bar.
p.s. Some people call this the 7 layer Magic Cookie Bar. 

Ingredients:

The crust:

• 1 cup minute (quick) oats
• 1 cup flaked coconut  
  
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
  
• 1 egg white

The Rest:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  
• 1 1/3 cups chopped pecans
  
• 1 cup butterscotch chips (optional)
• 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
• 1 ⅓ cups flaked coconut
  

Preparation:1. 

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease, and line a 8x11 pan with parchment paper. Give yourself some parchment overhang to be used as handles to pull the squares out of the pan later. 

2. In a bowl, combine the oats, 1 cup flaked coconut, butter, and egg white. Press into pan.

3. Pour sweetened condensed milk over crust as evenly as you can manage, reserving about     1/4 of the can. If your sweetened condensed milk isn't pouring nicely, sit it in a bowl of hot water for a bit to get it soft and flow-y.

4. Sprinkle with pecans, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and coconut; press down into the sweetened condensed milk. Drizzle reserved condensed milk over the whole mess. 

4.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until lovely, golden brown on edges, and a little on the top.

 Let these ladies cool before cutting into them! Once they are fully cooled, pull the bars out of the pan using the parchment overhang, and cut into squares (or bars).

Look at that yummy, golden, sweetened condensed milk edge.

   These bars can (obviously) be sticky and a little messy, so I put the squares into a pretty muffin cup before plating to bring to the party. 

     Happy baking in 2014!