The first time I ever had these bars was at my elementary school's "World Fest." In Switzerland, I attended an International school, meaning English was the main language that all classes were taught in and that everybody spoke. Faculty and students at the school were from all over the world, literally. My best and closest friends alone were (and still are) from Spain, South Africa, Italy, Sweden...the list goes on.
Each year, my favorite event to go to was the World Fest which is where basically every country represented at the school had a booth or two to share traditional clothing, jewelry, and most importantly, food. There were also shows, such as belly dancers, face painting, student bands... My mom helped out at the Italian booth, which was a crowd favorite. The Italians would hire a "pizzaiolo" (a pizza man) who had a brick oven built into the back of his van, and he would bake hundreds of pizzas throughout the day. They were so good, I still remember them. As delicious as they were though, the World Fest is where I was introduced to the amazingness that the Millionaire Shortbread is. The Scottish booth sold them among many other of my favorite British candy bars, but these stood out to me the most. Just imagine a Twix candy bar. That you can make at home. And it's raised up a notch. It's insane.
Each year, my favorite event to go to was the World Fest which is where basically every country represented at the school had a booth or two to share traditional clothing, jewelry, and most importantly, food. There were also shows, such as belly dancers, face painting, student bands... My mom helped out at the Italian booth, which was a crowd favorite. The Italians would hire a "pizzaiolo" (a pizza man) who had a brick oven built into the back of his van, and he would bake hundreds of pizzas throughout the day. They were so good, I still remember them. As delicious as they were though, the World Fest is where I was introduced to the amazingness that the Millionaire Shortbread is. The Scottish booth sold them among many other of my favorite British candy bars, but these stood out to me the most. Just imagine a Twix candy bar. That you can make at home. And it's raised up a notch. It's insane.
Essentially, that is what Millionaire Shortbread is. Twix in bar-form. A buttery, biscuity layer of shortbread, topped with a gooey caramel, and finished off with a rich and intense dark chocolate ganache. Could that get any better?
The first time I ever made these bars at work, pretty much everyone went crazy. They are a pain to make in large quantities (we feed about 1500 people on a daily basis), but an original batch is completely doable and totally worth it. It had almost been a year since I made these that first time at work, so when I put them back on the menu this past week, my coworkers in the kitchen knew exactly what they were when I started putting them together. They were pretty darn excited to say the least.
Beware, these bars are intense. But so great.
The first time I ever made these bars at work, pretty much everyone went crazy. They are a pain to make in large quantities (we feed about 1500 people on a daily basis), but an original batch is completely doable and totally worth it. It had almost been a year since I made these that first time at work, so when I put them back on the menu this past week, my coworkers in the kitchen knew exactly what they were when I started putting them together. They were pretty darn excited to say the least.
Beware, these bars are intense. But so great.
Millionaire Shortbread
For the Shortbread:
125 g All-purpose flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
4 oz Butter, softened
1/4 cup Sugar, granulated
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.
Press dough into a 12X12 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake until lightly golden brown, about15 minutes. Allow the shortbread to cool completely.
For the Caramel:
4 oz Butter, softened
10 g Sugar, granulated
2 Tbs Light corn syrup
14 oz Sweetened condensed milk
1/8 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Vanilla
Combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk in a pot over medium heat. Heat while stirring until butter is completely melted.
Slightly increase the heat and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue stirring until the mixture reaches an even caramel color and thickens. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
Pour the caramel over the cooled shortbread layer and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or until set.
For the Chocolate Topping:
4 oz Semisweet Chocolate chips
2 oz Butter, softened
1 tsp Light corn syrup
Sea Salt (optional garnish)
Combine all of the ingredients over a double boiler and mix until melted and fully combined.
Pour over the chilled and set caramel layer and spread with a spatula to smoothen it out. Allow the bars to cool, then sprinkle with sea salt and chill for several hours. Cut into bars and serve.
*These bars freeze well if stored in an airtight container. Otherwise, store the bars in the refrigerator.
For the Shortbread:
125 g All-purpose flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
4 oz Butter, softened
1/4 cup Sugar, granulated
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.
Press dough into a 12X12 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake until lightly golden brown, about15 minutes. Allow the shortbread to cool completely.
For the Caramel:
4 oz Butter, softened
10 g Sugar, granulated
2 Tbs Light corn syrup
14 oz Sweetened condensed milk
1/8 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Vanilla
Combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk in a pot over medium heat. Heat while stirring until butter is completely melted.
Slightly increase the heat and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue stirring until the mixture reaches an even caramel color and thickens. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
Pour the caramel over the cooled shortbread layer and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or until set.
For the Chocolate Topping:
4 oz Semisweet Chocolate chips
2 oz Butter, softened
1 tsp Light corn syrup
Sea Salt (optional garnish)
Combine all of the ingredients over a double boiler and mix until melted and fully combined.
Pour over the chilled and set caramel layer and spread with a spatula to smoothen it out. Allow the bars to cool, then sprinkle with sea salt and chill for several hours. Cut into bars and serve.
*These bars freeze well if stored in an airtight container. Otherwise, store the bars in the refrigerator.