Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars with Brown Sugar Meringue
Ingredients:
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Topping
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup brown sugar
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan with foil and coat with vegetable spray.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the cold butter and process until the butter is in pea-sized bits. If you do not have a food processor, I would just use a fork or a pastry blender to do this. Add egg yolks and vanilla and pulse three or four times until the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Pat the mixture into the pan with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Add the chocolate chips, pressing them into the bottom layer so that the meringue doesn't shift them all over when you add it on top.
- For the topping, place the egg whites in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer at the highest speed until the egg whites hold a peak when the mixer is lifted. Add the brown sugar and beat at the highest speed for about 4 minutes. Spread the meringue over the bottom layer and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely and cut into squares.