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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Congo Bars with Sea Salt a/k/a Unspeakable Badness

My new goal is that I'm allowing myself once per week to eat some unspeakable badness called dessert. I'm not going overboard here, but I'm gonna eat what I want, just once per week. It still follows the Dukan Diet, 1-2 celebration meals per week. And I'm going to try to stick to that, but once a week?

Unspeakable badness.


Last night I pulled out my 'WANT' folder where I stick all the badness I find online and have to have, but can't eat all the time, cause I'd gain all my weight back.

I decided on Bakerella's Congo Bars, but I had to change them a bit. Of course.
I have to be me.
Congo Bars are like blondie brownies, or chocolate chip bars. But saying Congo Bars makes them sound more fancy. So, that's what we're going to do here.
I like fancy.

Besides, it was my friend Jana's birthday. And I wanted to make her a sheet-cookie. But I didn't think I could mail it to her.

So, Happy Birthday, Jana!
First, you cream the margerine and sugar. It's all brown sugar, yessssss.....
I used a mixer.
Until the margerine's fully incorporated.

Then, you mix in the eggs, one at a time.
Smooth! With bits of buttery goodness flaked in.

Then, add your vanilla, salt, baking powder and start working your flour in. I used a spoon for this, because I didn't want to overmix it.

We want, soft, ooey gooeyness.
Hello lover.

Let's add more chocolate chips, dark and rich.
Yeah, probably enough.

Just mix enough to incorporate these.
Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Don't overbake!

Wait! Before you bake, shake a little sea salt over the top. It's outa this world!
Done!

I will tell you that this is still a little gooey in the middle, but not like undercooked gooey. More like ooey gooey.

Yes, that's a technical description.

It's listed in the Joy of Baking as an optimal cookie or bar doneness technique.

Can you see? Can you taste? No, cause that would be weird. Can you imagine the weird flavors you would get off the internet if they had tasting? Besides, the screen would get all gross and over-flavored, besides, then everyone would be licking their screens and the bacteria infestation would occur.

Sorry, I got off topic.

There, that's better.

This is very sweet, but it's a warm sweet. Deep and rich. The sea salt bits punch through and make it savory and delicious.

The top has a sweet crispy shell and the insides are rich and gooey. I ended up sprinkling with extra sea salt on my plate.

The edges are a little cakey and not my favorite, but there's only 1/2 inch of cakiness that didn't cut my unspeakable badness dessert loving.

When it comes to desserts, it has to be over the top good. Otherwise... why bother? If you're going to do it, do it right! If you're going to take those calories/fat/carbs in your body, they'd better be totally, entirely worth it.

And these are.

Unspeakable

Badness

The Recipe:
Congo Bars with Sea Salt a/k/a Unspeakable Badness
3/4 cup margerine (1 1/2 sticks)
1 whole entire lb dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 2/3 cup flour
1 whole entire 12 oz package of semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar, mix in eggs one at a time. Add salt, vanilla, baking powder, and some of the flour, mixing by hand. Stir in just until incorporated, barely. Then, add in your chocolate chips, and anything else you want to stuff in here (ie. nuts, coconut, chopped cherries, candybars). Sprinkle with sea salt and bake at 350, 30 minutes, or until browned.

If you're a scairdy cat and are worried about them being too gooey. Well, I don't know what to say to you, but you could cover with foil and cook another 5-10 minutes until they are more set, but then they won't be Unspeakable Badness with the ooey gooey.

But they'd still be alright.

I guess.







7 comments:

Jana said...

Unspeakable badness. hehe LOVE. IT.

And awe...for me?? THANKS. I need some unspeakable badness on my hips...err, my lips. ;-D

These really do look amazing. A lot better than the congo bars my mother used to make when I was a kid. Those were a dried out mess. These look melt in your mouth goooooood.

Jana said...

Oh, question about sea salt...what kind do you use? I bought some at Dollar Tree and it looks and tastes like regular iodized salt. Not a fan. So are there, like, different kinds of sea salt?

Of course, most things bought at Dollar Tree aren't exactly like the rest of the world. lol

JenMarie said...

Sea salt comes from the evaporation of sea water, from the ocean. Whereas table salt is a mineral, it's mined. I have a sea salt grinder that is used like a pepper grinder, the sea salt is in larger chunks. It still is larger when ground on top of food, which is what I really like about it. It doesn't taste different when absorbed in foods, but when sprinkled on top and eaten, it tastes different, mainly because of the texture and it melts in your mouth slower. How's that for nerd-speak? LOL
I especially notice the taste difference on eggs, not sure why.

And yes, I definitely was thinking of you when I made them! Isn't that funny? I even told my kiddos.
The next time you want to eat unspeakable badness, you should def try these, no dried out messes! :)

Chelsea @ Naturally Sweet Recipes said...

Oh these look soo good!!! Love that title too. :) And we gave you an award on our blog! Hope you check it out. :)

JenMarie said...

Wow! Awesome, Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Yeah- these are really good, everyone in the house loved them. Duchess and Willow would probably love them too, if they had thumbs to cut their own (too bad). But more importantly- where the heck is the post and pictures of your new bike. Beautiful in the kitchen and on two wheels- I'm a lucky man.

JenMarie said...

:) *big cheesy grin*
That, folks, is my fireman.
Duchess and Willow are our pets, dog and cat, respectively.
I guess I'd better get off my behind and post those bike pictures...
And no, babe, I'm the lucky one...