Chewy Candy Squares

This recipe comes from Company's Coming "150 Delicious Squares". Since I had half a block of cream cheese leftover from my Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies, I decided to use it. I found another square recipe that calls for half a block of cream cheese. This time though, the cream cheese is just a small addition to the filling, and the taste doesn't really come through. I also needed to find a recipe without strawberries, because surprisingly, not everyone in the house enjoys strawberries. The only problem now though, is that these squares only use half a can of sweetened condensed milk, and now I have to find a another recipe to make that uses half a can. Oh well, I''ll just have to bake again soon! These squares are quite good and sweet. I really like the crust. The nuts or coconut in the filling get nicely toasted when baked in the oven uncovered, which brings out their flavor. The recipe calls for walnuts, but I don't usually bake with nuts, and I had coconut on hand, so I decided to try that instead. It worked very nicely. The chocolate icing is different from standard icings, it is actually more like a glaze. It doesn't contain any icing sugar, but it does have some cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Frosting the squares while they are hot works very well. These squares must be kept refrigerated.

Chewy Candy Squares
CRUST
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
FILLING
2/3 cup (150mL) sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces (125 grams) cream cheese, softened (that's half a block)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts or unsweetened shredded coconut
ICING
3 Tablespoons reserved milk mixture (from filling) 
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line an 8x8 or 9x9 inch square pan.
CRUST: In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients. Press into prepared pan.
FILLING: In a small bowl, beat the milk, cream cheese, and vanilla together. Reserve three tablespoons of this mixture. Pour over bottom layer. Sprinkle with nuts or coconut. Bake for about 30 minutes or until set. 
ICING: In a small saucepan, melt reserved milk mixture with chocolate chips. Add milk, one teaspoon at a time, to form an icing that can be drizzled from a spoon. Spread over squares as soon as they come out of the oven.

Paré, Jean. "Chewy Candy Bars." Recipe. 150 Delicious Squares, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 1981. 113.