Raspberry Snow Bars

Wednesday is my favorite day for the newspaper, it's the day the food section comes out, which is also the only section of the paper I read. This week, the food section of the paper was all about cookies. I had to try some out right away, and we happened to have all the ingredients (except for the raspberry preserves, mine had seeds and there wasn't quite a cup left in the jar) for these raspberry snow bars. You can find the recipe on the Washington Post website.

Start with Crisco.

Add the sugar, salt, egg yolks, and almond extract.

Mix it all up with the flour to form a dough, or so the recipe says. Mine was more like crumbles that I pushed into the bottom of the pan to form a crust and not at all like a cohesive dough. It worked though.

After baking the dough, spread it with the jam (I zapped mine in the microwave for 30 seconds to make it easier to spread). Next time I am adding more jam, definitely more jam is needed. Sprinkle the coconut on top of the jam.

Meanwhile (if you have a stand mixer that you can delegate to) beat the egg white with the sugar until it reaches the stiff peak stage. I love how brightly white and glossy it gets.

Spread the egg whites over the coconut. This is more difficult than it seems, at least for me it was. The egg white stuck to everything but what it was supposed to, if you persevere it will eventually get easier.

Bake the bars, let them cool and voila!

Raspberry Snow Bars (from The Washington Post, Dec. 9, 2009)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for the meringue
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup seedless red raspberry preserves
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (preferably glass).

Combine the shortening, salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, then add the almond extract and egg yolks, beating to incorporate. Add the flour and beat to form a dough that just pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Transfer to the baking dish; use your hands to pat the dough evenly on the bottom of the pan, creating a slight (1/2 inch or so) edge along the sides. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden.

While the crust is baking, beat the egg whites in the (clean) bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer on low speed, until foamy, then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar; increase the speed to high and beat to form stiff peaks. Do not overbeat.

Remove the crust from the oven; spread evenly with preserves, then sprinkle the coconut over the preserves.

Spread the egg white mixture over the coconut, making sure to cover the preserves completely. Bake for 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the meringue has picked up some color.

Let cool completely before cutting into 24 bars.