Cookie Butter S'mores Bars
Bars layered with Lotus Cookies, white chocolate chip blondies, cookie butter and a toasted meringue topping.
Ingredients
Blondie bars:
- 14 Lotus cookies
- ½ cup butter browned
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ⅓ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup cookie butter
Meringue topping:
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the blondies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with parchment paper and then line the bottom with lotus cookies.
- Brown the butter. Over medium high heat, melt the butter. Cook for a few minutes, swirling the pan occasionally to prevent burning. The butter will foam up all at once and release a nutty aroma, you will see it start turning brown. Once you get that, swirl vigorously and remove from heat. Be careful, it will start browning very quickly.
- Add the brown sugar to the butter and whisk until combined. Scrape all the brown butter bits up into the mixture. Then put mixture into a heatproof bowl.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth and glossy. Then use a silicon spatula to mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Then fold in the white chocolate chips.
- Smooth batter into the baking pan over the Lotus cookies. Bake for 23-26 minutes. Cool then spread cookie butter over the blondies.
For the meringue topping:
- In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar, then set the bowl over a saucepan filled with just two inches of simmering water over medium heat. Do not let the bottom of the egg bowl touch the water. Whisk the eggs and sugar constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture has reached a temperature of 160°F (71°C), about 4 minutes. The mixture will be thick and tacky at first, then thin out and become frothy.
Transfer the hot egg mixture to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and add the vanilla bean paste. Beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Mound the meringue on top of the cooled blondies, swirling it decoratively. Serve immediately OR torch it with a kitchen torch for a delicious toasted marshmallow topping. (Do not place in the oven under the broiler– it will melt.)
Notes
