These Millionaires Shortbread bars start with a shortbread base, then are topped with a homemade caramel and a chocolate glaze.
Darn those girl scouts….
Ok, so these bars have nothing to do with the girl scouts except for the fact that my husband and I have been stuffing our faces with girl scout cookies for the past 2 weeks. As I went to make something from this month’s Cookbook of the Month, I started wondering why I had chosen a baking book for this month – after all the cookies we’ve eaten, we need a diet cookbook!!
But the choice had already been made, the book purchased, and I’m actually excited to do some baking. So I decided that for the most part, these treats would be given away. In my church, I work with the teenage girls, and we get together every Wednesday night. I decided that this month, they will be the recipients of this month’s recipes!
I’ve made something similar to this recipe before. These actually weren’t my first choice to make – I had a cookie recipe I was going to make, but I didn’t read through the recipe soon enough and I found out the dough needed to be refrigerated for 6 hours. I would be cutting it close, so I looked through the book for something that I had all the ingredients on hand for, and these were the first thing I came across.
I really almost ran out of time with these, too. You need time for the dulce de leche, which took me a little over 2 hours. And then the chocolate layer needs at least 1 hour in the fridge, and I barely had that much time. The chocolate was still a little soft when I cut these, so they weren’t perfect when I cut through them. I did change the chocolate to semi-sweet instead of dark chocolate, since I was feeding them to teenagers.
My husband and I each tried one small piece before I whisked them off. We both liked them, but thought that the chocolate really overpowered the bar. I could barely taste the dulce de leche, and that is my favorite part! But the response I got from the girls was amazing! They all ranted and raved about them. I think for the next recipes, I’ll have the girls rate the recipe and average that score with mine and my husband’s, but for this week, I’ll have to just make up a rating based on their response combined with ours! I cut these bars pretty small because they are quite rich, so the amount of bars you get depends on how big you want to cut them.
Recipe Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Millionaires Shortbread
Ingredients
for the shortbread
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cups 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 /12 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg yolk slightly beaten
for the caramel filling
- 28 ounces sweetened condensed milk two 14-ounce cans
for the chocolate glaze
- 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes
Instructions
For the shortbread:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter together until blended.
- Add 2 cups of the flour and beat until well combined. Add the egg yolk and beat for a few seconds, or until just combined.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough and your hands with a little flour. Use your hands to gently work the dough into a 6-by-6-inch square. You will have to turn the dough and sprinkle the top with flour as you go. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup flour on the surface of the dough. Fold the dough over and knead until incorporated, then flatten the dough into a rectangle. Transfer the rectangle to the prepared pan and press it into the pan.
- Prick the dough all over with a fork and bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 22 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
For the caramel filling:
- Put the sweetened condensed milk in a medium heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of boiling water over low heat. Cook for 1 to 2 hours, until thick and caramel colored. Remove the bowl from the pan and beat until smooth.
- Pour the caramel filling over the cooled shortbread and place the pan in the refrigerator until cooled, about 2 hours.
For the chocolate glaze:
- In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the chilled caramel layer and use an offset spatula to spread it into an even layer.
- Put in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the glaze hardens.
- Remove the pan from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving so as not to crack the chocolate glaze. Cut into squares and serve.
Maria says
I checked Baked out from the library. I haven’t had time to make anything yet. The bars look awesome!
Tiff says
Are you serious? All my dreams would come true if I could win this cookbook. Every time I see a recipe from this cookbook, I want to 1. buy it and 2. make the recipe, and fast! I haven’t seen this recipe, and it looks just amazing! Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway!
Mary says
Well they look delicious! I’m surprised the chocolate overwhelms the dulce de leche. It looks like there’s a nice thick layer of it. Would making the chocolate layer thinner help? And yeah, I’m bookmarking them.
Grace says
although i like chocolate, i’d be disappointed that it overwhelmed the dulce de leche flavor too. very pretty bars, deborah!
kamailesfood says
I’m a chocolate lover so I think I wouldn’t mind it overpowering the caramel part. These look fantastic! 🙂
Andrew & Carlene Wood says
wow, they look super rich and tasty mm mm good
Andrew & Carlene Wood says
wow, they look super rich and tasty mm mm good
Dragon says
These look so incredible!
Carol Ann says
The shortbread look delicious. Dulce de leche comes ready made in a can in the hispanic section of my supermarket. That would really shorten prep time.
Can’t wait to try these.
Carla says
These look amazing and will be bookmarked. I looove shortbread. I just watched the new girl on FN make a 5 ingredient shortbread, which had me all warmed up and ready for your post, lol. Now I have it in my head that I need some shortbread.
thebrunettebaker says
Yum! My better half makes candies called Millionaires (similar to Turtles)…I wonder if the addition of nuts into the caramel would reduce the overpowering chocolate??
kat says
OMG, those sound amazing, all flavors I love!
Candy Girl says
Your site is one of the first food blogs I discovered and still love! You’ve got an award at my place, come check it out!
kristina says
Millionaires Shortbread is very popular here in England, but I’ve never made it myself. Those look perfect 🙂 The dulce de leche would be my favorite part, too! K x
Allison Holmes says
woohoo those look fabuolous
and darn those girl scouts for pushing my bikini ready bod further away from me!!!
Elyse says
Those Girl Scout cookies can be dangerous. Glad you got a chance to try out a different dessert. These shortbread lookf fabulous. These were some of my favorite treats when I studied in London! Yummy!