Food For 'Tauk

Five Layer Bars

With Genevieve Salamone

Photo by Genevieve Salamone

Sometimes a recipe comes along and I think to myself, why didn't I think of that! This week's recipe is one of those. It came from my aunt who lives in Las Vegas. We were talking about recipes one day (what else is there to talk about, anyway?) and she was telling me about these Five Layer Bars that Kaitlyn, my 5-year-old cousin, adored. It was one of Paula Deen's recipes, and if you've ever seen Paul Deen cook on the Food Network, you know what I'm talking about when I say that southern lady knows her stuff!

So my aunt is describing these bars to me, talking about gooey layers of coconut, pecans, butterscotch and chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, all smothered in sweetened condensed milk and then baked...I barely let her finish before I was demanding the recipe.

So I get all of the ingredients (for a double batch, of course!) and I bake the bars off, set them aside to cool...and promptly broke my own rule and cut into them before they were completely cooled. I couldn't help it. They smelt beyond divine, and they tasted positively sinful. As my mother described it, it created "a party in her mouth in places she didn't know existed!"

So thanks to Paula Deen for creating them, Aunt Franny for sharing them with me, and Kaitlyn for telling me how delicious they were!

Paula Deen's Five Layer Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together in a small mixing bowl. Press mixture into a greased 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Then layer on your pecans, butterscotch and chocolate chips and coconut. Then pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top, and smooth it down so everything is coated. Bake for 25-30 minutes, and let COOL COMPLETELY before cutting into bars. Enjoy!

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