The Dessert of Generations: Congo Bars
- Haley Carter
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
When I was a child, winter was signified by the construction paper Christmas trees replacing the homemade hand turkeys on the fridge. In my family, snow season means eating the chewy, brown sugar and chocolate delight famously known as the Congo bar.
Congo bars originated in the 1970s and my grandmother, Judy Huffman, received the recipe from her ex-sister-in-law Carol Huffman. While Carol’s marriage to my great-uncle Jerry did not last, her legacy remains in the enchanting scent of an oven full of sandy-colored Congo bars.
Imagine Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 1970s or early 1980s. When Judy Huffman hears of impending snow on the TV, she immediately takes off to the local White Grocery Store, now known as a Food City.
When she returns, she begins making the Congo bar batter while tending to a pot of chili as her young children, James Huffman and Paula Carter (my mother), watch the local news, hoping to hear Knox County Schools cancel school.
To begin, combine three-fourths cup of oil and three eggs in a bowl.
“You have to do the wet ingredients first or it doesn’t work,” said Paula Carter.
Inspired by one of our favorite shows, “The Pioneer Woman,” my little sister Sophie and I took baking Congo bars seriously. I would crack the eggs and carefully inspect the bowl for shells while my mother measured the dry ingredients.
After combining the first ingredients, Huffman’s hand mixer whirs as it trudges through the batter.
I would watch the creaking white KitchenAid stand mixer as it churned the brown sugar and released a sparkling sugary smell.
Next, add one box of light brown sugar (about two cups) and two and three-fourths cups of self-rising flour.
The brown sugar and flour make a dense batter. To combat this, Carter suggests using a KitchenAid stand mixer, as a hand mixer is more difficult, as proven by her mother’s past hardships.
Later, my Uncle James and Aunt Elizabeth would gift my granny a white KitchenAid stand mixer intended for the arduous task of combining Congo bar batter, which would then be given to my mother for her family.
Giving the hand mixer a break, Huffman adds a bag of carefully selected semi-sweet chocolate chips and pure vanilla.
“You need to get good chocolate chips,” said Huffman.
Add 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the mixture along with one teaspoon of vanilla.
“Do not mess around with nothing else, because that batter is just too sweet,” said Carter. “And you have to use real vanilla, no imitation vanilla.”
Meanwhile, Sophie blanketed the pan with Crisco, blowing the golden curls out of her face while she worked.
“Heavily grease it with Crisco, do not spray it because it does not work,” said Carter.
After a quick mix, Huffman pours the mixture into a well-greased 9-by-13 aluminum pan and places it in the oven for 30 minutes. She waits for the top to be golden brown and the middle to cook through.
“You don’t want it too hard; it has to be soft in the middle,” said Carter.
As the Congo bars bake, bowls of chili are consumed and the air fills with the cozy, indulgent scent of warm sugar and rich chocolate.
As we waited for the Congo bars, we would feverishly eat chili embellished with all the fix-ins like cheese, sour cream and Fritos. By the time we were ready to eat it, it resembled our hometown’s famous dish from the 1982 World’s Fair, the Petro.
Carter would eventually be entrusted with the sacred job of making Congo bars for her own family and get-togethers.
Growing up, the pantry was always stocked with the ingredients for Congo bars. If the cows in the pasture behind my house were laying down, it meant snow was on its way and our favorite dessert was too.
If we were lucky, the snow season would venture into late February and school would be called off for my older brother Bryce’s birthday.
However, if it was Bryce’s birthday, we were at mercy of whatever he picked for dinner, which was usually a layered taco bake. His birthday cake would take a different form due to the snow.
My mother would turn the oven light on so Sophie, Dutch, our overweight beagle, and I could watch as Bryce’s special birthday cake baked. We stood patiently behind her as she readied to test them with a knife.
Once the timer finally goes off, Huffman pulls the pan from the oven, taking in the smell as she sets it on the counter. She pokes the middle with a butter knife as James and Paula’s eyes eagerly peer over the counter, hoping to see its clean return.
The smell of the oven caused the emergence of my dad, who always asks what is for dessert, and my brother waiting for us to sing him happy birthday.
When the knife emerges covered in gooey chocolate, clean of batter, Huffman serves the portions. Sitting on the couch with eyes fixed on the television, Paula and James take a bite. The sweet sensation of caramelized brown sugar and warm chocolate is almost as satisfying as the announcement of no school and the sight of snowflakes falling from the sky.
“For me it’s the memories, that’s why they are so good,” said Carter. “They pull you right back to snow days with family.”
Once Happy Birthday has been sung, everyone tears into their Congo bars, while Dutch patiently awaits below the table for my little sister to drop crumbs so he too can delight over the fudgy goodness. The Congo bars will be gone before the snow melts and we will be lucky to have them the next night with dinner.
“They are something that you just go back and eat a little bit more of and a little bit more of,” said Carter. “Then you are like, ‘Oh! The pan is gone.’”
Now, my dorm room’s mini fridge at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, is without seasonal paper crafts and my pantry is filled with instant Ramen and Progresso chicken noodle soup. In the chilly months of the spring semesters, 103 miles away from home, I long for the taste of a warm, heavenly Congo bar and the even more enjoyable company they bring.
Ingredients
• ¾ Cup Oil
• 1 Box or 2 Cups Light Brown Sugar
• 2 ¾ Cups Self-Rising Flour
• 3 eggs
• 12 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9 x 13 aluminum pan. Set it aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the oil and eggs.
3. To the mixture, add the light brown sugar and self-rising flour.
4. Stir the mixture with an electric mixer until everything is combined, and the batter is thick.
5. Add in the semi-sweet chocolate chips and vanilla.
6. Mix until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed.
7. Transfer dough into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is crunchy, and the middle is cooked through.
8. Let cool and set for around 5 minutes. Enjoy!