Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Congo Bars

I watched my friend Lupe's girls last week and this week for a day while she worked; and they are the cutest and craftiest kids.  Rebecca is allergic to eggs so the poor thing can't ever eat cake, cookies, desserts, food, etc with ANY egg product in it.

I am always looking for recipes without eggs for her and today while browsing a new cookbook I have and haven't used yet, we found that a lot of the "Bar cookie" recipes don't have eggs in them so we went crazy today.

Now keep in mind that I had a 7 and 10 year old here all day keeping me on my toes, so in the midst of all the crafting and baking and out to lunching, I forgot to get some pictures of the bars and being as I let the girls take most of them home, you'll have to trust me on the whole Yumminess scale of the day!  The first recipe I used from my new cookbook is Congo Bars.

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Here's what you need:

Crust
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 11 whole crackers, crushed)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
7 Tbs. butter, unsalted, room temperature

Topping
1-1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used ALL milk chocolate)
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup pecans, chopped

So here's what happened today.  I had already been crafting with the girls all day and by the time we got to baking, we were SOOOO excited to find some recipes without eggs that I wasn't really paying attention to the exact measurements, and the fact that the darn font is SO stinking small in this cookbook, that I put a whole can of sweetened condensed milk in the recipe so I had to double the rest of the topping ingredients.  So when you make these, and I know you will, don't be worried if yours aren't quiet as thick looking.  The above recipe is the correct one.

Spray a 9 x 9" baking pan with cooking spray (Pam) and set aside (I used a 9 x 12 disposable pan).  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the graham crackers into a resealable bag and zip closed.  Using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer, make your own graham cracker crumbs.
 
Measure the flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer or medium bowl.  Stir together.  Add the graham cracker crumbs and light  brown sugar.  Mix well.  Add the butter and mix until it resembles wet sand.  Pour into prepared pan and press into the bottom of the pan with your hands.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside.  
Mix together the coconut, chocolate chips, and the sweetened condensed milk in a bowl until combined.  Add the pecans and stir.  Spread the mixture over the crust and  bake for 20 minutes.  IF you do like I did and have to double the topping recipe add about 10 minutes to the cooking time.  
 
Before baking..........................................After baking!
 
Now I know they look like those seven layer bars, but for coconut lovers like ME, you'll appreciate the simplicity of less ingredients in the filling.  They are SOOO Yummy!

Cool completely before cutting.

Serves - 12 - 16 bars

Enjoy!

~Hugs~
Michelle
Here's the handy printable - Congo Bars
recipe adapted from :  Fat Witch Brownies:  Brownies, Blondies, and Bars by:  Patricia Helding

2 comments:

  1. Saw your post on 365 days of baking facebook page and had to swing by to check out the recipe. Pinned it and now I'm looking at adding it to my christmas baking schedule. Thank you!

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  2. Yum... I made something like this for my dairy/egg/nuts/peanuts/soy allergic daughter. I used coconut milk instead of condensed milk and used dairy free butter replacement. I think I just skipped the nuts.

    Thanks for posting, I'll try this because I LOVE coconut and chocolate.

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