Congo Bars

This time of year it becomes painfully obvious when I have not been keeping up with this site. Especially when I choose to take photos outside. These photos were only taken a few short weeks ago and yet there is still fireweed in our yard and the trees are green. Since then we have gone to bright yellow and sadly this morning with a little wind most of the leaves have fallen leaving a bright yellow blanket on the ground.
Although I made these congo bars a few weeks ago, I think they are actually more appropriate for this time of year. I read somewhere that these were named congo bars in a marketing effort to make them sound exotic. I have always been a fan of chocolate chip pan cookies and honestly these are them, just with a fancier name. I prefer making this type of pan cookies as they are far less work. No endless scooping and swapping out pans. Not to mention they are great if you are feeding a crowd, but very bad if you are home alone! I used a mix of pecan and walnuts because I didn't have enough of one or the other. Feel free to choose one if you have a preference.

Amazon.com

Congo Bars
adapted from The Great Book of Chocolate

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled (you will also need a little additional unmelted to butter the pan)
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs
2 cups bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted and coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup toasted and coarsely chopped walnuts

Butter the bottom and sides of a 10 x 15 inch pan. Adjust oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix 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 flour and mix until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips and then the nuts.
Spread the batter evenly into the pan. This could be a little challenging as the batter is quite sticky and very stiff. I found an offset spatula worked like a charm.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until a deep golden brown color. Serve warm with milk, or it is said that they taste even better if you let them sit for 24 hours before eating. Let me know how that method works for you as I have yet to have the willpower to try that one.