Caramel Shortbread Squares aka Millionaire Cakes

It was a lot easier to get these in England than to make them but they are definitely worth the effort. I'm still tweaking the recipe that I got from allrecipes.com submitted by Julia. However, I'm getting there. She says ready in 35 minutes and I laugh my butt off.

Making the shortbread layer takes 5-10 minutes of prep followed by 15-20 minutes of cooking time. Then while that cools in the freezer you work on the caramel sauce over the stove which takes around 15-20 minutes and you pour over shortbread. Ideally you would put this in the refridgerator for a while before doing the next step (a while being 15-20 minutes). Then melt the chocolate chips. I don't recommend doing this in the microwave because the first time I did, I killed chocolate. Which is a sin and should not be done. So doublebroiler if you have it, otherwise metal bowl over boiling water in saucepan. This will take between 5-10 minutes. Then you pour that over the cooled caramel. You have to work fast and have enough chocolate to spread the top over and not accidentally mix it with the caramel layer. After some time (I have yet to get this step down properly), score the chocolate and then refridgerate until completely cool and cut into bars. All in all you are talking about at least an hour of prep time including some waiting time between steps. I'm sure you could make the shortbread at one point and then wait to make the next step and wait to coat with chocolate. So here it is.

Like I said I still have a little tweeking to do...a little more shortbread for the jelly roll pan. The chocolate is the amount for the bigger pan, but who doesn't love more chocolate. :)

Caramel Shortbread Squares Recipe


Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup butter, softened

½ cup white sugar

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

23 oz bag of milk chocolate chips



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).

2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1-1/3 cup butter, white sugar, and four until evenly crumbly. Press into a 13X9 baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes. Alternatively for thinner treats, press into jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. After cooked, cool in freezer while preparing the caramel sauce.

3. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine 1 cup of butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condense milk over low heat until blended. Increase to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over baked crust. Cool until begins to firm. Put in refridgerator while preparing chocolate

4. Melt chocolate in a double broiler. Once chocolate is completely melted pour over the caramel layer and spread evenly to cover. After a few minutes, score the top of the chocolate in about 1-2 inch squares. Let chocolate completely cool in fridge. Take out of pan using parchment paper and cut using a sharp knife on lines formed in chocolate.

5. Serve.