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Indulge in rich, gooey vegan magic bars! Layers of graham cracker crust, coconut, chocolate, and nuts make a dreamy, plant-based dessert everyone will love.

This recipe makes 9-16 vegan magic bars, depending on how you cut them.

Table of Contents

(click the links below to skip to the section you’re looking for)

• Graham Cracker Crust
• Magic Bar Filling
• FAQ
• Ingredient Substitutions
• Video
• Nutritional Information
• Contact Me with Questions
• Similar Recipes

I know a lot of you have probably had magic bars in your childhood but the first time I ever had one was when I was an adult. I blame my dad for this because he was a healthy hippie, and I never got delicious things that other kids got. Now I get to make up for it in my adulthood.

The first time I had a Magic Bar was in 2016 at Fomu ice cream in Boston with my friend Skott. I’ve basically been thinking about them ever since.

Ingredients for the Coconut Layer in Vegan Magic Bars

• ¾ cup - 1 cup (100g) chopped nuts
• ½ cup (90g) vegan chocolate chips plus 3 more tablespoons (34g) to sprinkle on top
• 2 ¼ - 3 ⅔ cups (180g) coconut shreds or threads
• 11 oz (320g) vegan sweetened condensed milk

How to make the Chocolate Chip Coconut Layer

prep time: 7 min | bake time: 34 min

Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).

Prepare an 8-inch square pan. First spray it with oil using an oil sprayer or a silicone basting brush (or just use your hands like a neanderthal/like me). Next, cut 2 pieces of parchment paper that are the width of the bottom of your pan and set them into the pan criss-crossed like a plus symbol (+).

Chop ¾ cup - 1 cup (100g) of nuts if yours aren’t already chopped. You can do this with a knife and a cutting board. Or you can use a food processor fitted with the S blade and press the pulse button as many times as needed until the nuts are roughly chopped.

Transfer the chopped nuts to a large mixing bowl.

Add ½ cup (90g) vegan chocolate chips to the nuts.

Spread 2 ¼ - 3 ⅔ cups (180g) coconut shreds or threads evenly on a baking sheet with edges. I line mine with parchment paper so it doesn’t stick to the pan.

Toast the coconut in the 325°F (165°C) oven for 9 minutes. Remove the pan every 3 minutes to stir it and put it back in. Remove it from the oven when it’s golden. (In my oven, this is 9 minutes, but in yours it could be a bit longer.)

Make the crust next and come back to the other filling steps once that is done. I usually make the crust while the coconut is toasting.

Pour the toasted coconut into the large bowl with the nuts and chocolate chips.

Open an 11oz (320g) can of vegan condensed milk. Pour it into the bowl.

Mix all the filling ingredients together.

Transfer the filling into the pan that has the graham cracker crust. Use a silicone spatula to spread it out evenly.

Add 3 tablespoons (34g) of additional chocolate chips or baking chips to the top. When I made these for a vegan holiday market, and for the ones pictured here, I topped them with Supernatural holiday baking chips.

Bake at 325°F (165°C) for 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let it come to room temperature. Once it’s done, transfer it to a fridge.

Ingredients for the Vegan Graham Cracker Crust

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• ¼ cup (44g) vegan butter or margarine, melted
• 6 ounces (172g) vegan gluten-free graham crackers
• 2 tablespoons (33g) vegan sugar
• 2 large pinches of salt

How to make Graham Cracker Crust Using a Food Processor

prep time: 8 min | cook time: 30 sec

Melt ¼ cup (44g) vegan butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Process 6 ounces (172g) vegan gluten-free graham crackers, 2 tablespoons (33g) vegan sugar, and 2 large pinches of pink sea salt in a food processor until there are no more pieces. I use the high button.

Drizzle the melted vegan butter through the hole in the top of the food processor while it’s running. Stop the food processor as soon as it looks like the consistency of wet sand.

Build a sand castle with the graham cracker sand. Just kidding haha. Transfer it to the square pan you lined with parchment paper and press it all down tightly. The tighter you pack it down, the less chance the crust will crumble when you cut the bars (and eat the bars).

Chill the pan. Return to the filling instructions.

Questions and Answers

Can I double this recipe and make it in a larger pan?

When I made these for a bake sale, I doubled the recipe and make it in my 9x13 glass baking pan. Then when I cut them, I cut them into 24 pieces, by making 3 cuts vertically and 5 cuts horizontally. The baking time didn’t change.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Nuts: Magic bars are traditionally made with pecans. I have made them with walnuts, almonds, and pecans, and all of them are delicious. I tend to think the almonds are a little too crunchy, but David liked them crunchy, so I guess it’s just a personal preference. For these, I used half walnuts and half pecans. Since all nuts weigh different amounts and they’re all different sizes, you can use anywhere between ¾ cup and 1 cup.
• Chocolate Chips: I’m always buying different kinds of vegan chocolate chips, depending on what’s on sale when I’m at the store. I like Guittard because they write vegan on the package and they’re fair trade, so I used those in this recipe. In the past, I’ve used Nestle plant-based chocolate chips. Once, I used their dark chocolate chips and it worked great. But when I used their semi-sweet chocolate chips, they disintegrated and turned the entire coconut layer brown. They were still delicious, but they didn’t look as pretty.
• Coconut: Shredded coconut comes in so many different sizes! I never realized it until making this recipe. You don’t want desiccated coconut, because the shreds are too tiny. Look for either shreds or threads. If you’re wondering why the measurement range is so large, it’s because 2 ¼ cups of shredded coconut is the equivalent of 3 ⅔ cups of coconut threads.
• Butter: If vegan butter or margarine is hard to find or not something you have in your house, you can use ¼ cup (52g) melted coconut oil instead. Another option is to use ¼ cup (37g) melted vegan shortening. If you do make one of these substitutions, double the pinches of salt you add to the crust.
• Graham Crackers: I used Partake graham crackers because I wanted this recipe to be gluten-free. The crust took about a box (minus 1 or 2 cookies). If you don’t need these magic bars to be gluten-free, you can use the Must Love brand of graham crackers, which are completely vegan. You can also buy the red box of Nabisco graham crackers. They are what vegans refer to as “accidentally vegan” because they’re vegan except for maybe the sugar. I’ve also used ginger snaps in place of graham crackers and that’s good too.
• Vegan Sugar: I use organic granulated sugar because it’s cheap at Costco. You can use organic sugar, granulated vegan sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, or sucanat. Just be careful of conventional granulated sugar, because it’s sometimes not vegan. You can also omit this ingredient entirely.
• Vegan Condensed Milk: I used Thai Coco condensed coconut milk because it’s organic, but you can use any vegan condensed milk.

Video

Here’s a live stream where me and Caroline made these together.

Nutrition Facts

This nutritional information is for one serving. I’m assuming that you’re cutting this into 9 large square bars, instead of 12 or 16.

• Servings: 9
• Calories: 554
• Fiber: 5g
• Saturated fat: 22g
• Total fat: 39g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 171mg
• Sugars: 37g
• Total Carbohydrates: 52g
• Protein: 4g
• Calcium: 234mg
• Potassium: 579mg
• Iron: 2mg

Comments or Questions?

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you’d snap a pic, post to instagram, and tag me @vegandollhouse. It seriously makes my day/week/month!

Please message me (instagram or email) if you have any questions or feedback about the recipe.

Similar Recipes

If you like making cookie bars, you might also like my cheesecake brownies and my vegan brownies.

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