Simple Savory & Satisfying: congo bars

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Congo Bars, Chocolate Chip Blondies, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars?

I totally learned something new making this dessert. Originally I found a recipe on Pinterest for Congo Bars. Like most recipes I find there, I was attracted to the picture; I had no idea what a Congo Bar actually was. If you know me, I google everything. So I look up Congo Bars: basically blondies with chocolate chips and toasted coconut, at least traditionally. The recipe didn't call for coconut so I guessed it was really a blondie? Not a big deal. However, I've always stayed away from blondies simply for the fact that I thought they were just brownies without the cocoa powder, and being a chocoholic I prefer brownies. But as I'm making this recipe, it occured to me that I'm really making chocolate chip cookie bars. My mom used to make them every Christmas when I was a kid so I'm fairly familiar with them. I go back to Google and ask the search engine what's the difference between blondies and chocolate chip cookie bars. Answer: other than chocolate chips being optional in blondies and a prerequiste for the cookies, nothing really.

So whatever you want to call these bars--congo, blondies, or chocolate chip cookies--they are delicious.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter, room temp

2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix. Gradually pour in flour while mixing until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the bars are a golden brown. Allow bars to cool before cutting.