Congo Bars

This site contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, check the Privacy Policy.

This past weekend was fantasy football draft weekend. The guys requested I make sweets for them to have. Specifically chocolate chip cookies and what they call blondies. I grew up calling them congo bars and they are a staple of my childhood. Quick, easy, and delicious congo bars can be made many different ways with slight adjustments. When December comes around we’ll talk about cookie swap recipes and Christmas cookie tins. Congo bars is one of my go to recipes that I always make for Christmas tins.

So what do I need for Congo Bars?

• butter
• brown sugar
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt
• semi sweet chocolate chips

Normally I give you pictures as I make the recipe. However, Eliza wanted to help so I didn’t think to take any until they came out of the oven. Honestly though, this is one of those recipes you don’t really need pictures. Yes it’s that easy.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and pull out a cookie sheet. You don’t want one of your air bake ones for this. Just your standard sized traditional cookie sheet or jelly roll pan that is shallow, like this one.

Now to get the batter together

Melt 2/3 cup butter and add to your mixing bowl. 1/3 cup is 6 tablespoons, so you will need a stick and a couple tablespoons of butter. Add 2 1/3 cup brown sugar and mix well. Now add 3 eggs one at a time and then 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. You’re already halfway done!

The recipe says to sift the dry ingredients together first but you can add it directly to the wet ingredients so long as you mix it up well. You will add 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour, 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Make sure to mix this up good. They are lighter and will not dry out as quick if you sift your flour before measuring it out. It takes a little longer to sift before measuring, but in the long run you’ll enjoy be happier with your congo bars.

Chocolate chips time!

The recipe calls for a 12 ounce bag of semi sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips. However I discovered something the other day. The Nestle bags of chocolate chips are now 10 ounces not 12 ounces! I had no idea! So normally you get 2 full cups plus some in one bag of chocolate chips. So I now add my 10 ounce bag, 1 cup, and about 1/2 cup more. I prefer to use the mini chips, but you can decide what you think you’d like to use.

This recipe lends itself to making different variations. I’ll list some we’ve tried and some I think would be good later on. However you can switch it up to give these a slightly different flavor depending on what you want to have. Just make sure to stay to the original quantities so you don’t end up with a batter that is too thick.

Add your chips to the batter and carefully fold them in. Grab your shallow pan, either spray it with Pam, Bakers Joy, or grease it with Crisco. Now the recipe says to pour it into the pan. It is thick enough that it is not going to pour. Grab a spatula and dump it in the pan. Do your best to evenly spread it around, but don’t stress about it. I try to make sure it is decently spread out but if it doesn’t get to all the corners or isn’t even it will be ok. Once it starts baking it will even out.

Place the pan in a 375 degree oven and wait to smell the goodness cooking. Cook for 22-25 minutes. However do not over bake it! These are best on the soft side and they will not appear done but they are. Below is a picture of mine when I took them out of the oven. I normally cook it for 22 minutes. If I have it cooking on convection with something else in the oven, then it has cooked a little longer.

Once they are cool cut them into squares and enjoy! They are great with a bowl of ice cream! It is best to underbake them, because they do tend to dry out after a couple days, if they last that long. Now wasn’t that easy? This recipe is also easy to use dairy free ingredients with as well.

Here are some variations I’ve tried and some that sound good

• White chocolate chips and pecans
• mint chocolate chips
• Peanut butter chips and milk chocolate chips
• Chopped candied orange slices (my Granny used to do this)
• butterscotch and chocolate chips
• Nestle has morsel and more packs that I’ve been meaning to try