Congo Bars

The Recipe

Makes 16 small bars

Makes 16 bars

Recipe

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ¾ cup lightly packed light brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla

2 large eggs

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)

 ½ cup chopped walnuts (cut to medium size chunks not the very small)

1.  Place a rack in center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with parchment or grease it lightly with vegetable oil or butter

2. place the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl

2.  Cream the butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl with your electric mixer until blended and fluffy, a minute or two. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

3.  Add the eggs and continue blending until they are incorporated, stopping the mixer once to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

4.  Add the flour mixture with the mixer on low, stopping it to scrape the bowl a couple of times.

5.  Add the chocolate chips and the nuts and using the rubber spatula, fold them into the batter.

6.  Spread the batter into the pan using a metal spatula that you dip repeatedly into a cup of  warm water to facilitate the spreading. Place the bars on the center rack oof the oven and bake the bars until the top has gone through the process of puffing up and then settling down a bit, and the surface is lightly golden, 30-35 minutes.

Adapted from Rosie’s All Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book published by Workman Publishing in 2011.