Back when we younger, it was an almost unspoken rule that when it was your birthday you had to bring in celebratory treats for the whole class to enjoy. We remember some kids taking the easy way out, buying a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and calling it a day, but there were always a few crafty parents that would stay up late the night before making homemade goodies for the birthday celebrations. As a dessert connoisseur from a young age, we cherished these delicious desserts and found ourselves longing for a particular friend’s birthdays to come around just so we could enjoy the treats they brought. One of our good friend’s moms was an especially good baker and would make Magic Squares for her daughter’s birthday, which were out of this world.

As a kid, Magic Squares combined all of the best parts of dessert, the graham cracker crust from cheesecake, chocolate and butterscotch chips from chocolate chip cookies, and toasted coconut flakes from coconut cream pie. The result was, well, magical! And now that we’re adults we’re still crushing hard for these bars. We’ve upgraded the classic recipe with Tahini Tea Cookies in the cookie crust and a touch of tahini to bring out all the sweet sesame goodness. We also swapped out the butter for heart healthy coconut oil which adds a nice flavor compliment to the tahini. Lastly, we used mini chocolate chips to top off the squares because everything tastes better when it’s mini!

Magic Squares make the best dessert to bring in for birthday treats but also make an extra special surprise for school (or work!) lunches.

Tahini Magic Squares

Ingredients:

2 boxes (10oz) Tahini Tea Cookies

80 g melted coconut oil

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3 tablespoons tahini

14oz unsweetened coconut flakes

8.8oz semisweet chocolate chips (mini if you can find them)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8 x 8” baking pan with parchment paper overhanging the edge for easy removal from pan. Grind up the tahini cookies until fine crumbs in food processor or in plastic bag with rolling pin. Combine cookie crumbs with melted coconut oil in bottom of pan and use fingers to press into a crust in an even layer. In a small bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk with tahini. Pour condensed milk over cookie crust layer. Spread coconut flakes then chocolate chips over condensed milk and tahini layer.

Enjoy!