Chocolate-Coconut Meringue Bars

And the obsession with meringue continues...today's recipe comes from another one of the books I brought from home: Cookies (The Little Guides Series). I remember flipping through these tasty-looking pages as a child, dreaming of the day where I would be old enough to make these cookies and desserts. Well, I guess that time has come and I'm starting with these yummy chocolate-coconut meringue bars!

Because I've been lazy, most of my previous posts that involved brownies had been from a mix. I remember I kept saying that one of these days, I would make the brownies from scratch - and today I have. The brownie recipe for these bars folds the shredded coconut straight into the batter to give it that flavor. I wasn't the biggest fan of coconut when I was younger, but over the years, I've grown to appreciate the way it complements chocolate. This recipe is a perfect showcase of that.

After the coconut brownies bake for awhile, a meringue is spread over it while it's still hot and sprinkled with pecans and more coconut. The whole thing is then baked for a little while more, and what you end up getting are soft chewy coconut brownies, juxtaposed with a crunchy meringue/pecan topping. I cut these into extra-small pieces so 1) more people can enjoy them, and 2) they can feel less guilty about breaking their New Year's resolutions.

Speaking of the new year, TV is back! Somehow without me noticing, Pretty Little Liars, Revenge, AND Sherlock all came back on air - and I still need to catch up! I probably didn't notice those shows coming back because I happen to be in the middle of marathoning Orphan Black right now (which I started after I blew through the entire series of Dollhouse). I'll have to catch up on those soon before I start running into spoilers (especially for Sherlock).

And I haven't really said anything about the Doctor Who Christmas special either. Why? I was a little let down by it, especially after the 50th Anniversary episode. It wasn't a bad episode, but if I was Matt Smith, I'd be disappointed that was how I ended my run as the Doctor. (I mean, for one thing, it was confusing as hell). But I'm looking forward to Capaldi and why must I wait until August?

Chocolate-Coconut Meringue Bars - (makes about 2 dozen bars)
Recipe from Cookies (The Little Guides Series)

Bars:

• 3/4 cup of unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup of brown sugar (packed)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1 cup of shredded coconut

Meringue:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 tsp of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1/2 cup of pecans (crushed or chopped)
• 2 tbsp of shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350C
2. Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Stir frequently. 
3. When melted and smooth, remove from heat and add brown sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla. Stir until just combined (do not overbeat).
4. Fold in flour, coconut, and salt. 
5. Spread batter in a 11x7-inch pan (covered in foil and greased with cooking spray) and bake for 25 minutes. 
6. For the meringue, beat egg whites (with lemon juice as a stabilizer) in a stand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. 
7. Beat in sugar and continue to mix until stiff peaks form. 
8. When brownie crust is removed from oven, spread meringue over the top while the brownie is still hot. Top with the pecans and coconut. 
9. Bake (at the same 350C) for 20 more minutes until the meringue starts to brown. 
10. Cool and cut into bars and enjoy!