This is my lovely friend Laura. She is elegant, classy, weird, and wacky and that is why she is the best. She lives in a quirky apartment in downtown Santa Barbara. This is her tiny kitchen, complete with glass shutter doors. I absolutely love her eclectic collection of dishes, mixing bowls, and glasses. Her collection is made up of flea market finds, gifted wares, and Anthropologie sales.I am going to give Laura the name "Marshmallow Queen" because she loves making anything fluffy with whipped egg whites. She has a kitchenaid mixer but we decided to whip the egg whites by hand. What, you say? by hand? well yes you can whip egg whites by hand. They might not achieve the stiffest peaks but they will definitely fluff up. Laura practically had to convince me that this was possible, but it is! We took turns whisking frantically for maybe 10, 15 minutes.[gallery ids="3324,3325,3326,3329" type="columns"]This is a fabulously easy dessert that you can practice some egg white whipping skills with. The base is essentially a chocolate chip cookie dough recipe/blondie recipe that we added chocolate chips, walnuts, and butterscotch chips to. Not many people are fond of those too-sweet butterscotch chips, but I admit I can eat them straight out of the bag.Recipe comes from Sarah Kieffer over at Handmade Charlotte.

Meringue topped Blondies

1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3 cup butterscotch chips
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the blondies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat together butter and sugars with hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add egg and yolk and vanilla. Mix until combined and well incorporated.
Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix till just combined.
Fold in chocolate chips, walnuts, and butterscotch chips.
Bake in a 9x13 pan, or 6 tart pans and a loaf pan, 2 cake pans - get creative! Bake until lightly golden brown but do not overbake, you want these to bee gooey.

For the meringue - 2 options

Option 1: Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean bowl. Whisk with whisk attachment of stand mixer or whisk by hand until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar as you keep whipping. Continue until stiff peaks form. Spoon on top of baked blondies. Bake for another 30 minutes at 250 degrees
Option 2: Place egg whites and sugar in bowl of a standmixer. Place over a simmering saucepan filled with 1 to 2 inches of water. Whisk continuously until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Remove from saucepan and whisk with standmixer for about 8 to 10 minutes until soft, thick, and glossy. Add vanilla. Spoon on top of blondies. Torch for that crispy brown look.