What is a Millionaires Shortbread?
Millionaire’s Shortbread is a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie, topped with delicious soft salted caramel and followed by a layer of rich dark chocolate. If you enjoy Twix candy bars, this recipe will be your new best friend. Seriously, imagine the best cookie of all time covered in a generous layer of caramel and topped with a rich chocolate. You have to learn how to make millionaire’s shortbread as soon as possible. This is the Lamborghini of all desserts.
It’s a bit time consuming to make as you have to wait for each layer to set, but it’s so worth the effort put in. I like to prepare the shortbread the night before, chill it in the fridge and bake it the morning I make the caramel. It only takes about 45 minutes of actual prep time. The rest is impatiently waiting for each decadent layer to be ready in order to continue to the next step.
Now, before we go any further: resist the urge to place the layers in the fridge or freezer to hurry up the process. This can lead to a tough, improperly set caramel and chocolate with white streaks and condensation. After, you can chill the desert to make it easier to cut and remove from the pan. But until then, hands off that icebox!
Step By Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the shortbread crust
In a large bowl, beat softened butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth. If your butter is salted, omit the salt.
It should look like this when you are ready for the flour. You don’t want a lot of air in shortbreads.
Now, add in your flour. If it has lumps, sifting is ideal as you want a smooth and tender crust.
You only want to stir until it resembles wet sand or bread crumbs. When you squeeze the dough together, it will hold its shape but can easily come apart when moved. Do not overmix for a tender crust.
Pour the dough into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
Now press down firmly until it compacts and you have a solid base. You want to chill the crust while the oven preheats. Do not use a glass pan for this dessert for safety. Extreme temperatures can crack, shatter or break glass bakeware due to thermal shock. If you are pressed for time, you can chill the shortbread several days in advance prior to baking.
Bake until just the edge is a light golden brown. Don’t over-bake for the best flavor and texture.
Step 2: Make the Caramel
Now we are going to make the caramel layer for the millionaire’s shortbread recipe. Add the cream, butter, brown sugar and white sugar to a large sauce pan. Ideally, the pan will have a heavy bottom and be least 3 quarts. Stir until sugar begins to dissolve. You may find it easier to add the butter after this step.
Turn on low heat, simmer covered 5 – 10 minutes and then remove the lid before turning up the heat. If the mixture begins to spatter, turn down the heat. Be cautious around hot caramel.
Never leave the stove at this point. You will want to stir constantly and adjust the heat up or down as needed to prevent burning, spattering or separation. Take your time with this part. It can go fast as you gain experience, but expect to be around 25 – 45 minutes your first few tries.
Once the caramel thickens and it is pulling away from the sides, you want to check the temperature. Turn off the heat when it reaches the correct temperature and let it stop bubbling.
Pour the hot caramel very carefully on top of the shortbread crust and spread evenly with the back of a metal spoon or offset spatula. NEVER touch or attempt to eat hot caramel! It will burn you. Let it set until the caramel is firm and cooled completely. This can take a while. Sometimes an hour or more. If desired, sprinkle the top with sea salt 1/2 hour after pouring the caramel. It will really help balance out all that sweetness.
Step 3: Add the Chocolate Layer
Pour melted chocolate on top of the cooled caramel. The easiest way to have a shiny top is to start out with candy bars, but you can use baking chocolate as well. If you need more help tempering chocolate, read this tutorial.
Spread into an even layer. The chocolate will set as it cools down.
Do not be tempted to place the bars into the fridge to speed up this process. The chocolate will not set properly and you will not get this nice lovely and shiny texture. Chilled chocolate can take on a chalky or very flat finish.
Once properly set, the chocolate should have a nice shine like this. Remove it from the pan and place on a cutting board to slice into squares or bars. Using a serrated knife in a sawing motion for the chocolate layer will help you have nice crisp lines.
Dark chocolate will offset all that sweetness in the caramel and is the easiest chocolate to temper. However, you can use any type of chocolate you like. These are your millionaire’s shortbread, after all. You should enjoy what you are making and if you love milk chocolate, that’s what you should use.
A softer set caramel will be more stretchy like pictured below. Which one do you prefer?
Substitutions & Tips
Here are some common substitutions and tips on how to make this millionaire’s shortbread recipe.
- Never, ever walk away from candy making. Plan to spend the time watching the mixture carefully the entire process.
- Margarine is an excellent substitute for butter in this recipe. Make sure it is margarine (80% fat content) and not vegetable oil spread or shortening. If the butter substitute does not state margarine, it will yield unpleasant results.
- Evaporated milk can be used in place of the cream for this recipe. It will result in a firmer texture overall and is more prone to splitting so heat the caramel mixture slowly.
- Sea salt is optional. You can use regular table salt or coarse salt instead. Use the same amount of coarse salt. If using table salt, use 1/2 tsp (2.5g) and place it in the pan with the cream, sugars and butter prior to cooking.
- By using candy bars, you are more likely to have the chocolate stay in temper instead of losing its shine. For more help in tempering dark chocolate, check out our tutorial.
- A metal cake pan is best for this recipe. A glass dish can crack, break or shatter under thermal shock from the extreme changes in temperature and is not recommended.
- Electric glass stove tops are never recommended for candy making due to the potential of surface damage from hot milk or sugars. Hot milk and sugar can permanently etch or pit glass stove tops and is not covered under most warranties. This pitting can create a weak spot in the glass which makes it more prone to breaking in the future. Please refer to the owners manual before deciding to make any candy on an glass stovetop. It’s much cheaper to by a small hot plate for candy making than to replace a stove.
- To melt chocolate without a microwave, use a double boiler. Add 1 inch of water to the bottom of a pan and bring to a simmer. Add a heatproof bowl to the top and place in 3/4 of chocolate. Stir occasionally until melted. Carefully remove and dry off the bottom of the bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 chocolate and stir to temper.
- The baking temperature for the shortbread can be raised to 325F (160F) and baked for 20 – 25 minutes. This will affect the color and texture slightly. We do not recommend any higher as it will make the crust darker, harder and more crumbly in texture. The change in texture will make the shortbread harder to cut and more likely to break into crumbs or chunks.
Storage
Millionaire’s shortbread can be stored on the counter in an air tight container up to 5 days. They may also be kept in the fridge up to 2 weeks and stored tightly wrapped in the freezer up to 3 months. If storing in the refrigerator or freezer, be sure to bring the shortbread to room temperature before attempting to eat to avoid a trip to the dentist!
Millionaire’s Shortbread
Ingredients
For the shortbread crust
- ½ cup (113g) sugar
- 1 cup (226g) butter
- 2 ¼ cups (339g) flour
- ½ tsp (2.5mL) vanilla
- ¼ tsp (1.25g) salt
For the caramel
- 2 cups (480mL) heavy cream
- 1 cup (226g) brown sugar
- 1 cup (200g) white sugar
- ½ cup (113g) butter
- ¾ tsp (3.5g) sea salt
For the chocolate topping
- 3 bars (340g) dark chocolate
Instructions
For the shortbread
- Line a 9×13" (23x33cm) cake pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Do not use a glass dish.
- In large bowl, beat softened butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth. Mix in flour until it starts to come together and looks like bread crumbs or wet sand. Spread an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Press down firmly until it becomes compact. Chill 1/2 hour or until dough is firm to the touch.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 300F (150C.)
- Bake 35 – 40 minutes until the edges are turning a light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
For the caramel
- In a large heavy-bottomed sauce pan, combine cream, sugar and butter. Stir until sugar starts to dissolve.
- Turn heat to the lowest setting and allow mixture to simmer covered for 5 – 10 minutes. The longer your patience here, the better the caramel will taste and less likely it is to split or burn during the cooking process. Next, remove the lid and clip on a thermometer.
- Turn up heat to medium high and allow mixture to come to a boil while stirring constantly. Failure to stir will result in mixture splitting or burning.
- Once the mixture begins to boil, turn heat down to medium low, maintaining a soft boil. Adjust heat up or down as necessary while stirring constantly. Be careful as the caramel will spatter at higher temperatures, especially as it reaches around 220F (104C.) Cook 15 – 30 minutes or until thickened and boiling slows down and you reach soft-ball stage. The temperature should be between 240 – 245 F (115 – 118C.) The higher the temperature, the firmer the caramel will be.
- Remove from heat, allow the caramel to stop boiling and carefully pour over cooled shortbread crust. Oven mitts are strongly recommended. Spread the caramel out evenly using the back of a metal spoon. Do not touch or attempt to eat hot caramel!
- Let caramel set for 30 minutes and sprinkle on an even layer of sea salt. Allow caramel to finish cooling at room temperature before adding chocolate.
For the chocolate
- Chop or break chocolate into small pieces. In a microwave, melt 3/4 of the chocolate slowly. Heat for 15 seconds at a time, stirring for several seconds in between cycles until chocolate is melted. Add in the remaining 1/4 chocolate and stir.
- Spread chocolate over set caramel in an even layer. Allow to rest until chocolate sets, about 1 hour.
- Once firm, cut shortbread with a serrated knife to avoid cracking the chocolate. Cut into 36 equal portions.
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