Last Christmas, my friend Stephanie posted a picture of these bars on my Facebook timeline, thinking I’d like them. Steph, you couldn’t have been more right! I did some research to find out what these bars were called, then I started to put together my recipe. But, last year I thought I’d make them in mini muffin cups. I made all of the cups, then didn’t get the time to fill them with the caramel and chocolate. So Husband and I decided we’d eat the delicious little cups with all kinds of other stuff like whipped cream and ice cream and sometimes just chocolate sauce. They were pretty tasty.
This Christmas, I’m following through with this recipe. I did decide to make it the traditional way though – shortbread base, caramel filling, chocolate topper. At Husband’s suggestion, I also decided to sprinkle some fleur de sel on top. It was a nice addition. That husband of mine really does come up with great ideas.
These bars really will give you a taste of how the upper class lives. Oh my, they’re good. Cut them small, since they’re so decadent.
[Recipe] Millionaire Shortbread
Makes 32 pieces
Shortbread Base:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Caramel:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
Chocolate Topping:
3/4 pkg milk chocolate chips
Fleur de sel or coarse sea salt (optional)
The first thing to do is assemble and bake the shortbread base.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Add flour and baking powder.
Pat into 8×8″ pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 10 minutes. Set the base aside to cool a bit.
Next, we move on to the caramel layer.
Mix all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Mix with a wooden spoon.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the mixture begins to bubble, lower heat immediately to low to allow caramel to continue to simmer. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and stir vigorously for 3-5 minutes, allowing the caramel to thicken.
Pour the caramel over the shortbread base. Refrigerate for about an hour to allow the caramel to cool and set.
Now for the final layer, the chocolate top.
Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 45 second intervals until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Poor the chocolate over the caramel layer, distributing the chocolate evenly.
Sprinkle the top layer with fleur de sel while the chocolate is still warm, if desired.
Note: I find these much easier to cut if you score the chocolate where you plan on cutting it while the chocolate is still warm. With the chocolate layer being this thick, if you cut through the layer of chocolate when it’s cold, it will most likely crack. It will still taste great, but it will crack. Scoring the chocolate while it’s warm helps a lot.
These are very decadent, so cut them small. I got 32 pieces out of this batch.
[Recipe] Millionaire Shortbread
Ingredients
- Shortbread Base:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Caramel:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- Chocolate:
- 1 pkg milk chocolate chips
- Fleur de sel or coarse sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Cream butter and sugar together.
- Add flour and baking powder.
- Pat into 8x8" pan lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Mix all caramel ingredients together in a medium saucepan.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the mixture begins to bubble, lower heat immediately to low to allow caramel to continue to simmer. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and stir vigorously for 3-5 minutes, allowing the caramel to thicken.
- Pour the caramel over the shortbread base. Refrigerate for about an hour to allow the caramel to cool and set.
- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 45 second intervals until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
- Poor the chocolate over the caramel layer, distributing the chocolate evenly.
- Sprinkle the top layer with fleur de sel while the chocolate is still warm, if desired.
