Cranberry Congo Bars
Bringing the Bog Home: Grower Favorite Cranberry Recipes
“I’m sharing my mother Nina (Natalie) Atwood’s recipes. They originated initially from my grandmother, preserving them for our multi-generation grower family. My mother and I both have often typed our favorite recipes on old-school typewriters, a treasured method of documenting these holiday season star dishes.”~ Susan Gilmore, Gilmore Cranberry Co., Carver
Source: Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association & Susan Gilmore, Gilmore Cranberry Co.
Ingredients
2¾ cups flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
⅔ cup butter or margarine, softened
2¼ cups light brown sugar
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped fresh or sweetened dried cranberries
½ cup nuts of choice, coarsely chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a bowl with a hand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by flour mixture, until thoroughly combined. Stir in chocolate chips, cranberries or sweetened dried cranberries and nuts, if desired.
Spread into a greased 9x13" baking pan, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when pressed into the center of the bars.
Cool to room temperature and cut into bars or squares. Store up to 3 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.
Cranberry Impact
Cranberries are native only to North America and southeastern Massachusetts is the birthplace of the commercial cranberry industry.
Cranberries are the No. 1 food crop in Massachusetts. The industry supports nearly 6,400 jobs and contributes an economic impact of $1.7 billion annual.
Cranberry growers farm more than 11,500 acres of cranberry bogs in southeastern Massachusetts. With 3-5 acres of support land for every acre of active bog, the cranberry industry protects 60,000 acres of open space.
Learn what's happening on cranberry farms this time of year:
Cranberry blossom season starts mid-June and growers hope for sunny days. Migratory and native bees pollinate the flowers and tiny fruit pin heads begin to form. With the warm weather, frost events lessen. Berries start to size in July and nutrients are applied to support the growing fruit. Growers irrigate as necessary and monitor for pests and rot. Cranberries will continue to grow in size and growers are monitoring for fruit quality. By late August the berries are starting to blush (turn red).