Hello Dollies recipe - Please help me!

[tuttebene]

I consider myself to be quite the kitchen goddess but when it comes to baking I'm hopeless. Have started with very basic recipes and have mastered 4 cakes in my reperatoire. Now I'm onto squares and have had 2 consecutive failures with variations of Hello Dollies - my crusts always crumble. Any great recipes with idiot proof directions?

[valerie]

These are foolproof! And always a hit....

http://www.eaglebrand.com/recipes/det...

[raygunclan]

when i make hello dollies, i sometimes make a "white" version with white chocolate instead of milk and macadamia nuts instead of pecans. i also sprinkle some toffee chips on top as well.
i also press the graham cracker crumb/ butter into the bottom of the pan and rarely have too much of a crumble problem.

[amyzan]

Is that what's also known as a seven layer bar or congo bar cookie? Are you mixing the graham cracker crumbs with butter and using sweetened condensed milk for the filling? Just not sure what Hello Dollies are...

[buttertart]

That's what they are - the recipe was attributed to / claimed by Carol Channing in the 60s. I've never made them myself but my mom did often.

[petitgateau]

I make a graham cracker crumb crust rather than sprinkling the graham cracker crumbs over melted butter. When you press the crust in, it ends up being more solid when the bars are all cooked. I also double the filling ingredients by eye ending with the nuts.