- 2 1/2 pounds all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 pounds butter
- 1 1/2 pounds peanut butter
- 1 pound granulated sugar
- 1 pound light brown sugar
- 8 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 pounds semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks
Big Batch Peanut Butter Congo Bars
If you need to feed a crowd for a school bake sale, big party or, in this case, a kids' lemonade stand, this big batch recipe is for you! It comes from my childhood camp, Alford Lake Camp in Hope, Maine. These bar cookies taste every bit as good today as they did so many summers ago!
Yields three 17x11-inch baking pans (This translates into about (4 1/2) 9x13 pans or (9) 8x8 pans.)
Yields three 17x11-inch baking pans (This translates into about (4 1/2) 9x13 pans or (9) 8x8 pans.)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line three 17×11-inch baking sheets with sides with parchment paper or grease well. (You may also vary the pan size and/or bake in several batches.)
- In a very large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. (If you don’t have an extra large mixing bowl, you could use a large stock pot.)
- Using an stand mixer, cream the butter, sugars, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- At this point, I find it easiest to add about half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the stand mixer. Then I turn everything into my extra large bowl with the remaining dry ingredients and finished mixing by hand. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. It’s a great arm workout!
- Spread the cookie dough evenly into the prepared pans and bake 17-20 minutes or until just cooked. I like them just barely cooked through in the center to ensure a moister cookie, so check a minute or two early. When cooled completely, cut into bars.
Notes
- If you do not have a stand mixer, you may do this by hand. A fellow camper who has made this recipe melts the butter to make mixing by hand easier.
- Size-wise, you may bake in any combination of pans you prefer. Simply adjust the cooking time slightly if you use a smaller pan or choose to make a thicker bar cookie.