Congo Bars

...also known as, chocolate chip blondies, "the illegitimate offspring of chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and cake". But no matter what you call them, they're always a hit with the crowd. I've tried many variations of blondies in the past, but was never completely satisfied. And I had actually given up on ever finding the perfect blondie recipe...until I saw this particular recipe on Bakerella's blog. The pictures were just so appealing, and something inside of me kept telling me to give it a shot...maybe, just maybe, this is the recipe you've been looking for all along. So I decided to go with that little voice inside my head...or stomach.

Much to my dismay ...I did not have any milk chocolate chips handy. However, I did find some semi-sweet chocolate chips in the cabinet, hidden way behind the brown sugar and raisins. It wasn't the amount or type I needed, but I was so eager to make these, figured I would just half the recipe....which failed miserably. I was so caught up in figuring out how many tablespoons were in 2/3 cup of butter, that I forgot to use only half. I guess it was a sign. I then decided I would continue on with the full recipe, and send my brother to get me some milk chocolate chips. 91 degree weather = the chocolate chips almost about to melt and dissolve into one big chocolate blob. Thank god he made it back home just in time before that happened. And a couple of minutes later, these bars were finally on their way to the oven. 30 minutes later, I was taking a bite out of a chewy, moist, chocolatey, heavenly, congo bar.

And yes, that means I didn't wait for them to cool down. Have you seen what these look like..how could I?

Congo Bars

Ingredients:

2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 lb. light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

By mixer

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended.
Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition.
Add vanilla and mix.
Add flour and mix until combined.
Stir in chips and then pecans.

By hand

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.
Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake. (I set my timer to 30 minutes, thank god I checked at 27 minutes because they were well on their way to being burnt Congo bars. I guess my oven runs hotter. )