Chocolate Meringue Bars

Submitted by justcallmetoni

"I love layered bar cookies and this one appealed to me because the use beaten egg whites instead of the more common condensed milk looked quite interesting. The resulting cookie is a soft thin blondie-like bar with with a gooey layer of chocolate topped with a crispy shell."

 

• Ready In: 44mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 24

ingredients

• Cookie crust

• 1⁄2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1⁄4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons milk or 3 tablespoons water

• Bar topping

• 6 ounces chocolate chips
• 3 egg whites
• 2⁄3 cup brown sugar or 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Beat butter, sugars, egg yolks, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until soft and creamy. Mix dry ingredients together and add into the butter-sugar bowl along with the milk. Spread evenly into 9"x13" pan. Sprinkle with a laer chocolate chips.
3. Beat egg whites to soft peaks, beat in brown or white sugar and vanilla. (Brown sugar yields a slightly more tawny flavor.) Fold in nuts (if using) and spread over the chocolate chips.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Reviews

[charisse649]

Very thin and undercooked while topping gets too dark. Should of used a smaller pan maybe? Followed directions exactly. Waste of ingredients. Bummer.

 

[tss4334]

I found this recipe which sounded like the same one my mother used for years. Its a good recipe but they seemed underbaked and I didn't want to try baking them longer after pulling them out at 32 min and leaving them sit. The recipe should have said 45 min. so people don't waste time and ingredients for under baked dessert.

 

[LonghornMama]

So yummy! I used brown sugar in the topping but white would be good, too. Next time I'd bake these longer, maybe 45 minutes as they were a little doughy in the middle. The family inhaled these bars, so I can't comment as to how well they store. None of the bars made it that long. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

 

[I'mPat]

I made these with a mix of white and milk chocolate chips other than that made as per recipe. I had to cut it into 16 squares because I was having trouble with the meringue crumbling (I used white sugar option). The DH took some for morning/afternoon tea which really surprised me as he normally spurns meringue dishes. The rest went to the DS's recreation group were they cut the pieces into half again and most commented they were extremely sweet and you wouldn't want much more than that and they enjoyed the gooey base (don't know if was supposed to be that was how they turned out). Thank you justcallmetoni, made for 123+4 Hit Wonders.

 

[weekend cooker]

DELICIOUS. Only problem I didn't have any walnuts. Next time I will. Great recipe.