As I have mentioned, I try to maintain as healthy a diet as I can during the week. However, the weekends are when we reward ourselves with sweets. This usually means I am experimenting with new recipes to bake up something delicious like the recipe that I have for you today.
Those fans of pineapple will go wild over this simple to create bar cookie. This has a pie like bottom crust with a gooey middle layer of pineapple topped with a fluffy meringue.
So when you need to indulge your sweet tooth, I do hope you'll give my recipe a shot because I think you'll love it!
My Fluffy Pineapple Bars
Cookie Dough:
2 sticks (1 cup) of margarine (not spread)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 cups of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Cookie Topping:
1 large can crushed pineapple (1 lb. 4 oz.)
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
5 tablespoons of sugar
Meringue Layer:
4 egg whites (3 egg whites work, but one more puffs it to new height like a cloud)
1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch
4 tablespoons of sugar
To prepare cookie dough:
Cream together margarine, sugar and shortening. Add egg yolks and continue beating until light and fluffy textured.
Sift together: flour, baking powder, and salt. Add milk and vanilla. Add this to the creamed mixture and beat until well combined. (This mixture will be very sticky!)
Lightly greased your baking pan (approximately 15 x 11 x 2") and bake this dough for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
To prepare the topping:
Cook topping ingredients until thickened and clear colored. Spread over your baked cookie-cake.
To prepare the meringue layer:
Beat the egg whites with cornstarch, add the sugar, a very little at a time. Adding too much at once can cause the meringue to fail.
Once the meringue is fluffy spread on top of the topping layer. Bake again for about 3 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned.
