Jiffies
Are you drooling yet?
As the name implies, you really can make these in a jiffy. There are only three ingredients and they are so easy to put together that even a two year old could do it. Mine actually did--this was a recipe I often reverted to as a late afternoon treat (read bribe) to keep little people from taking naps and then bouncing off the walls at 10:00 p.m. It worked well for me because I have three kids and each one could do a different step--but you could always add more ingredients if you have more kids--it's that kind of a recipe!
Anyway, the origin of this comes from a friend of mine who was one of ten kids and whose mom needed easy-to-make inexpensive treats that could feed at least twelve for dessert. I have been making this for years, as anyone who knows me well can attest. This is a perfect dessert to bring to a casual party (we just brought them to my daughter's post-soccer game) or to make for a bake sale.
There are only three simple ingredients here (other than the butter to grease the pan) and they combine in a marvelously chewy, chocolatey way. The sweetened condensed milk magically transforms while cooking and you would swear that there was some sort of hard-to-make caramel sauce involved here, but happily you'd be wrong.
All you do after generously buttering the pan ( and I mean generously, these little suckers will stick like crazy glue and you won't be able to get them out of the pan) is to break up two sleeves of graham crackers (you can use regular, lowfat, cinnamon--any kind you like), throw them in the pan, scatter a package of chocolate chips across the top (again, any kind) and then pour a can of sweetened condensed milk evenly all over, press down gently and bake them. That's all folks. I've also experimented with adding chopped nuts, toasted coconut, dried cranberries and they've come out delicious too. The possibilities are endless.
Graham crackers and chocolate chips
With the sweetened condensed milk
One note of warning: Do NOT leave these in the pan too long or they won't come out no matter how much butter you used. Take them out while they are still warm and don't worry about whether they fall apart a little. No one eating them will mind!
Jiffies
Makes about 20-24 bars
Prep Time: 5 minutes; Bake Time: 1/2 hour
Ingredients
- 2 sleeves graham crackers--any kind
- 12 oz package chocolate chips--any kind
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- softened butter for greasing pan
The Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Generously butter a 13"x 9" baking pan.
3. Break up graham crackers into small pieces and put in pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over that. Using rubber spatula, press down gently.
4. Bake in middle of oven for 30 minutes till golden brown.
5. Cool on wire rack for about 20-30 minutes. Cut the jiffies into squares and place on serving plate to continue to cool. Don't worry if they fall apart a little bit--you can nibble on the crumbs, which everyone knows experience the magic of calorie leakage.
6. When cool, store in an airtight container up to 5 days.
