Chocolate Chip Meringue Bars

I am baking for Zeke Hausmann's bar mitzvah. Now that I ditched kichel, we need new traditions!

I never bother baking chocolate chip cookies, since such good varieties are available commercially. These bars were a recipe my mom got from my friend Joan Wambheim's mother Carol. Apparently it's a popular recipe from mid-20th century church and community cookbooks, sometimes called Halfway to Heaven Bars. 

Mom's recipe calls for shortening, very mid-20th century for sure. Back to butter! Be sure to put the butter out to get to room temperature

I like to chop nuts with a big knife now, instead of a food processor or hand chopper.

Recipe says a 9 x 13 pan. That's very similar in size to a quarter sheet, and it worked fine.

Cookie base layer

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 c. flour (half or 1/4 whole wheat is fine)
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 egg yolks (you'll use the whites for the meringue)
1 T water (or more if needed)
1 t. vanilla

Mid Layer:

1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped nut (walnuts or pecans)

Meringue

2 or 3 egg whites (the extra egg white would give a little lift to the top layer).
1 c. brown sugar (white seems to be OK too)

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In large bowl, cream butter and sugars. It's not necessary to use a mixer, just a good spatula and some effort.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix til smooth. Spray the quarter sheet pan with oil and pat down the dough, with wet hands. 

Spread the chocolate chips and chopped nuts, pressing in gently.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until glossy with stiff peaks. The volume increases so make sure the bowl is big enough! Slowly add the sugar until incorporated.

Spread over the chocolate/nut layer. Drop it on in a few different places, as it's thick and a bit hard to spread.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 until browned. Cook and cut in small squares. I use a pizza cutter. Cutting 6 x 7, it made 42 bars.

One recipe says they don't freeze well -- we'll see!