Millionaire’s shortbread is both candy and cookie in a delicious layered bar. The cookies start with a simple buttery shortbread layer followed by a caramel made with sweetened condensed milk. Melted semisweet chocolate chips cover the top, making this a sweet treat reminiscent of a candy bar.
Recipe Variations
- Salted Caramel: Add a sprinkle of flakey sea salt to the caramel layer to add a salty contrast to the sweetness of the bars.
- Nuts: Stir chopped nuts into the caramel or sprinkle finely chopped nuts over the chocolate topping before it sets. Chopped pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts are excellent choices.
- Chocolate: Use white chocolate for the topping instead of semisweet. Or swirl some melted white chocolate through the semisweet chocolate for a decorative topping.
- Shortbread: Try making the base with chocolate or brown sugar shortbread or flavor the shortbread with vanilla or another extract, such as bourbon or rum flavoring, butternut, or a nut-flavored extract.
Millionaire’s Shortbread
Satisfy your sweet tooth with millionaire’s shortbread. This delicious layered bar combines buttery shortbread, creamy caramel, and rich chocolate.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 24 servings 1x
- Category: Brownies and Bars
- Method: Bake
Ingredients
Scale
Crust
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
Caramel
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup (or Lyle’s Golden Syrup)
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
- 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or 4 ounces semisweet chocolate)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8-inch square pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup of butter until crumbly. Press into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake the shortbread for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
- In a heavy saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add the corn syrup and the sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil and cook for about 12 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns a nice medium caramel brown color. Do not let the mixture scorch.
- When it’s very thick and just begins to stick to the bottom of the pan as you stir, it’s time to remove from the heat; add the vanilla. Stir to blend and pour over the crust.
- Melt chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl over simmering water; spread over the caramel layer. Chill until set, then cut into squares.
