Congo bars are easy dessert bars packed with chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut baked in a 9x13 pan. You start making this bar cookie on your stove top by melting butter in a large sauce pot or dutch oven. You can mix the dough together with a spatula--no electric mixer needed.
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The trick to these bars is to not over bake them.
If you stick a toothpick or other sharp objects in the center of the pan, it should come out gooey with dough on it.
If you bake it until the toothpick comes out clean, these bars will be over baked and potentially inedible.
Remember baked goods continue baking for a couple of minutes after you've removed them from the oven.
More cookie bar recipes you might like are M&M Bars, S'mores Bars and Frito Bars.
Another essential tool in making these chocolate chip walnut bars is parchment paper. Use metal binder clips to attach parchment to your baking pan.
These bars are full of brown sugar, chocolate chips and flaked coconut. Toasted walnuts take the edge of the sweetness and make them hard to stop eating.
I took these into the office and they were gone in a morning.
The recipe for these old-fashioned Congo bars came from an old book called The Joy of Christmas Cookies. You may need to hunt for your own copy at a second hand book store.
Recipe Notes
What's fun about these Congo bars is that you mix them up from start to finish in a big pot on your stove instead of a mixing bowl.
You'll melt butter in the pot and then remove from heat.
Of course, no one makes ovens the way they used to so if for some reason your range isn't working, you can melt the butter in a microwave and proceed from there. The only thing you have to do on a stove top is melt the butter.
The rest of the recipe is similar to making a drop cookie dough.
Add brown sugar and stir together until the brown sugar has combined with the butter into a thick brown sludge like mixture. adding the remaining ingredients.
Another thing you'll appreciate about this recipe is that because you start with melting butter, you can mix Congo bars together with a spatula, no need for an electric mixer.
Your arm will get a bit of a workout at the very end when you've added the chocolate chips and walnuts and must stir in the coconut.
Making a recipe like these chocolate chip, walnut, coconut bars is just like making a drop cookie dough.
But you'll be spreading the dough into a parchment-lined 13x9 pan instead of dropping cookie dough by spoonfuls on a baking sheet.
When you check the bars for doneness, be aware that the middle will still be a bit gooey when you pull them out of the oven.
If you bake them until a toothpick comes out clean, the bars will be significantly overbaked and may be inedible.
Ingredients s
How to Make This Recipe
Before you do anything, toast the walnuts in a skillet on your stove top for five to six minutes over low heat or on a parchment lined cookie sheet in the oven at 350° F.
Remove from pan or cookie sheet to let cool before chopping into pea-sized pieces with a sharp knife or smashing with a rolling pin.
Measure ingredients and set aside.
Melt butter over low heat in a good size stock pot (I used a 5.5-quart pot). You could also use a similarly sized dutch oven..
Remove pot from heat and add brown sugar.
Using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, stir butter and brown sugar together until the mixture is thick, brown and glossy.
Add vanilla extract and eggs.
Be sure to break eggs one at a time in a separate cup or bowl before adding to the mixture to be sure eggs are fresh. (You don't want to add a bad egg to a bowl of ingredients).
Combining the eggs with the butter/sugar mixture will take a minute or two. Be sure you've broken the egg yolks and thoroughly mixed the Congo batter. Be sure no streaks of egg yolk or egg white remain.
Add baking powder and flour and stir until no white streaks of flour remain. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the pot as well as the bottom.
Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Then add toasted, chopped walnuts and finally coconut.
Too much flour or not enough can ruin your batch of cookie dough. Weighing flour is best using a kitchen scale but failing that, use the dip and sweep method to measure your flour. Pour flour into a bowl and fluff it up with a spoon. Now spoon flour into your measuring cup until slightly heaped. Then slide a butter knife or a bench scraper across the top of the measuring cup to remove the excess.
Step by Steps
Steps for Congo Bars
Once the dough is all mixed, drop by spoonfuls into a parchment lined pan.
You may have to spread the dough out a bit with your spatula to even it out.
Baking Congo Bars
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Recipe
Congo Bars
Congo bars are chewy, decadent dessert bars packed with chocolate chips, toasted, chopped walnuts and coconut.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (two sticks or 8 ounrces)
- 2 ⅓ cups packed dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
- 1 ½ cups walnuts, toasted and chopped into pea-sized pieces
- ½ cup flaked or shredded coconut (optional)
Instructions
Toast the walnuts in a skillet on your stove top for five to six minutes over low heat or on a parchment lined cookie sheet in the oven at 350° F.
Remove nuts from pan or cookie sheet to let cool before chopping into pea-sized pieces with a sharp knife or smashing with a rolling pin.
Measure ingredients and set aside.
Melt butter over low heat in a good size stock pot (I used a 5.5-quart pot). You could also use a similarly sized dutch oven..
Remove pot from heat and add brown sugar.
Using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, stir butter and brown sugar together until the mixture is thick, brown and glossy.
Add vanilla extract and eggs.
Combining the eggs with the butter/sugar mixture will take a minute or two.
Be sure you've broken the egg yolks and thoroughly mixed the Congo batter. Be sure no streaks of egg yolk or egg white remain.
Add baking powder and flour and stir until no white streaks of flour remain.
Be sure to scrape down the sides of the pot as well as the bottom.
Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Then add toasted, chopped walnuts and finally coconut.
Line a 9x13 baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use spatula to drop dough onto the parchment paper lined pan and try to spread the dough into an even layer. This doesn't have to be perfect.
Bake in a 350°F oven for 30 to 40 minutes paying attention to how the bars smell. IF you smell cookies baking, the bars are probably done baking.
They will turn a golden brown. If the edges of the dough are pulling away from the sides of the pan, the bar are done and probably nearlly overdone.
Inserting a toothpick in the middle of the pan should yield a slightly gooey cente. If not, if the toothpick comes out clean, the bars have been overbaked.
Let the bars cool in the pan for five minutes then carefully remove by grabbing either end of the parchment paper and moving to a wire rack.
Store at room temperature for up to three days well-covered in the pan.
Freeze for up to two months after slicing into bars and wrapping
Notes
The trick to these bars is to not over bake them. If you stick a toothpick or other sharp objects in the center of the pan, it should come out gooey with dough on it.
If you bake the bars until the toothpick comes out clean, these bars will be over baked and potentially inedible.
Remember baked goods continue baking for a couple of minutes after you've removed them from the oven.
These bars are sturdy and travel well. They are perfect for shipping to a child who has moved away from home or for taking to a potluck or a picnic.
More bar recipes:
Smores Bars
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Nutrition Information
Yield 18 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 433Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 68mgSodium 101mgCarbohydrates 54gFiber 3gSugar 35gProtein 6g
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