I've always wanted to make the perfect Millionaire Shortbread, but my idea of perfection keeps changing. This week I finally found my new favorite square pan recipe. All three components work! The shortbread is soft enough to cut without crumbling, the caramel is deeply flavored and the topping is a thick layer of straight up milk chocolate.
8-Inch Square Pan
This recipe is better than others I've made, plus I personally like it because it only makes one 8-inch square pan. You can double it and make a 9x13 inch pan, but an 8-inch pan goes a long way. For this recipe you'll weigh out half a can of condensed milk, so in anticipation of that you may want to also have ingredients to make a half batch of Animal Cracker Seven Layer Bars or homemade No-Churn Ice Cream.
Millionaire Shortbread Crust Notes
Butter -- After testing so many different butters, Land o' Lakes is the winner. Plugra also works well, but other European style butters are hit and miss. And salted Land o' Lakes made the crust taste better even when salt was adjusted.
Salt -- Make sure to use enough. So many crusts are bland tasting from lack of salt, but with all the sugar the salt is a good counterpart.
Baking Powder -- Softens the crust a little without making it overly soft like cake flour or egg yolk. I'll be adding it to Millionaire Shortbread crust from now on.
All Purpose Flour -- Any kind of all-purpose flour is fine. Bleached flour does give you a softer crumb. Brands like Gold Medal and Pillsbury, especially. King Arthur works, but the crust will most likely be a little stiffer.
Millionaire Shortbread Caramel Layer
I read somewhere that some brands of condensed milk burn more easily based on the way they are treated. In my experience, this seems to be true, so I recommend using Eagle Brand. Store brands are fine, you just have to be a little more careful with stirring and keep the heat low and steady.
- You know you're not supposed to scrape the pot while making caramel, but it's just as important to use the right size pot so that there's less surface area making contact with the candy. I recommend a 2 quart saucepan with a heavy, nonstick surface.
- Use Eagle Brand condensed milk just in case it's true that other brands burn quicker. I can't confirm or deny this yet.
- Melt the butter gently. If you have time, let it cool. Stir in the brown sugar and condensed milk off heat so that mixture is homogeneous before you start cooking. Everything should cook at the same speed.
- Cook the caramel at a steady simmer -- low and slow so that it takes about 12 minutes to hit 230F.
Chocolate Topping
Millionaire Bars are great topped with straight-up milk chocolate. For this recipe I've tested with melted Dove Milk Chocolate Promises and a whole Lindt Bar which I just threw on top of the hot caramel. I like the method of putting solid chocolate on the hot caramel and let it kind of melt in best. Updating to say I am now using a bowl set over hot water. I love this photo of the Lindt on the caramel, but you'll get prettier layers if you let the caramel cool, then melt the chocolate gently and pour it over cooled caramel.
Here's the recipe!
Recipe
Millionaire Shortbread
Ingredients
Shorbread Layer
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams)
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cut in 1 inch chunks and softened (115 grams)
- ¼ cup sugar (50 grams)
Caramel Layer
- 9 tablespoons salted butter, cut into chunks (128 grams)
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed (100 grams)
- ½ can can sweetened condensed milk (196 grams)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅜ teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Layer
- 6 oz milk chocolate (170 grams)
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch metal pan with foil and grease the foil or grease and line with parchment paper.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Don't cream until light and fluffy, just beat until it comes together. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until fully blended.
- Break up the dough and scatter it evenly over the bottom of the pan, then use dampened fingers to press into an even layer. Tip: Lay a sheet of parchment or some butter wrappers over the dough, then press second smaller pan (another 8-inch pan that will fit inside works well) and press as hard as you can. Dock with a fork and chill dough for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325° F. Bake the chilled crust for 25 minutes, then let cool while you make the caramel layer.
- To make the caramel layer, put the butter in a heavy bottomed 2 quart saucepan and melt over gentle heat. Remove from heat, then add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Still off heat, stir in the condensed milk. Make sure everything is evenly blended. This should help prevent separation.
- Return mixture to heat and bring to a simmer. Cook over low to medium low (just keep it at a simmer with heat slowly rising), stirring often, until it reaches just about 230 degrees F. This should take about 10-12 minutes, so don't rush it. To avoid brown bits, use a heat proof scraper for stirring and don't scrape the sides of the pot if you can avoid it.
- When mixture is just about 230, stir in the salt and vanilla, then pour over the shortbread. Let cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate in a small bowl set over but not touching simmering water or chop it up and melt it in the microwave using one of the lower settings and stirring often. Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled caramel and let it set at room temperature. If you are in a hurry, you can put it in the refrigerator.
- To serve, lift bars from pan using foil. Cut into squares. If it's rock hard, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Anna says
Yes, they freeze well. I have a big bag of them in the freezer right now.
phyllis says
can they freeze?
thanks
Phyllis
Anna says
Sue, I would love for you to test it!
Sue says
Great notes! I look forward to making these!
Stephanie says
I love your notes on this! They are very helpful. Interesting about the butter, too.