Hello Dollies - by Lisa

It took me forever to remember the name I know these treats by - Seven Layer Bars!!! I remember my mom would make these from time to time and I absolutely loved them! I had forgotten all about them until I saw the photo in this cookbook.

In my quest to rediscover the Seven Layer name, I noticed this recipe is missing what may be a critical ingredient: butterscotch chips. So I decided to be a bit of a rebel and added butterscotch chips to half of the pan. This way I can stay true to the recipe but also instantly taste test the difference. (In the photo above, the butterscotch versions are on the right.)

This recipe was extremely easy to follow. It's mostly just assembling a bunch of packaged goods. It turns out I didn't have quite enough graham cracker crumbs, but it was no big deal as we have an ample supply of graham crackers on hand at all times. I speedily processed the remaining crumbs and proceeded to assemble the rest of the dish. I'd say the most time consuming part was drizzling the condensed milk over the whole concoction. It is thick and heavy, so it took its sweet time draining out of the can. I kept myself amused by making all sorts of little designs and watching them blend into one another.

The foil trick (lining the pan with foil first) didn't seem to work quite as smoothly this time around. I think a combination of the condensed milk and somewhat thin crust contributed to difficulties in getting the bars separated from the foil. I even made sure to let it cool for about 45 minutes.

In the taste test comparison, I definitely like the ones with the butterscotch chips better. They added a bit of extra sweetness. The non-butterscotch side definitely felt a little lacking without 'em. One other thing that stood out was the salt factor. The author has you add 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt to the crust. I normally like a sweet/salty combo, but I think this was a little too much salt for my tastes. Overall tho, the bars are pretty much as yummy as I remember! I will definitely make these again but with butterscotch chips on the whole thing and less salt!