Kongo Bars are thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies in bar form. These cookies require 1 bowl, 1 pan, and a half hour of your time. Perfect easy dessert for a crowd!
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I think technically these might be considered blondies. I read somewhere that Kongo bars contained coconut. But, my family always called them Kong bars so I will carry on that tradition.
These bars are pretty beginner level baking in terms of difficulty. In terms of tastiness, well, you’ll be lucky if you have any left in the pan to take home.
How To Get That Awesome Texture:
One of the best things about these Kongo bars is how thick and chewy they are. Almost fudgy. How do we do it? There are a couple factors.
- Brown sugar. Brown sugar has more moisture than granulated sugar, giving us added moisture to our finished product.
- Melted butter. Fat in liquid form coats the flour and prevents gluten formation. Gluten=toughness so if we prevent gluten formation, we have a more tender product.
- Eggs. The eggs provide structure but also tenderness to our finished baked good.
Ways To Customize:
I like to switch up my traditional recipes once in awhile. Here are some easy ways to do it.
- Use a different kind of chocolate chip-try using white chips or peanut butter chips instead of the semi-sweet. My family prefers me to use milk chocolate.
- Use a combination of chips-white chocolate and semi-sweet? peanut butter and milk chocolate? Butterscotch? Add in some Heath chips? The sky’s the limit. Just be sure you use a similar amount. Too many mix ins and your cookies won’t bake right.
- Add 1 cup of chopped, toasted nuts. I personally think walnuts would be nice but some toasted pecans also be a delight.
- Add in that coconut. Make them real Kongo bars. Add in 1/2 to 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut. The coconut will increase the chewiness and just add something a little…extra.
Kongo Bars
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup butter melted
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 12 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Stir together melted butter and brown sugar.
- Add eggs and vanilla and stir to combine. Add in baking powder and stir to combine
- Gradually stir in flours.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into greased 9×13" cake pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease 9×13" cake pan.
If you like making bar cookies (cause, hello, fast and easy cookies) you might want to try making these magic cookie bars or this peanut butter pizza.
Happy Baking!