Best Millionaire's Shortbread
Are you a fan of Twix candy bars? Because really, they’re just a variation on the time-tested Millionaire’s Shortbread. Here’s a recipe gleaned from ground-zero for shortbread – Scotland. I made it in the traditional bars, but if I were to do it again, I’d probably use a silicone mini-muffin pan to make them easier to handle. Either way, this makes a great shortbread – crisp, but not too crumbly – covered in homemade caramel and rich, dark chocolate. A small piece goes a long way.
Servings: 64 1" pieces
Ingredients
Shortbread:
- 7 oz Plain flour, or 200 grams I used 1/2 plain, 1/2 white whole wheat flour
- 3.5 oz Rice flour, or 100 grams Gluten-free flour can be substituted
- 3.5 oz Sugar, or 100 grams
- 7 oz Butter (about 14 tbsp), or 200 grams softened, but not melted
- 1/4 tsp salt
Caramel:
- 6 oz Butter, (about 12 tbsp), or 175 grams
- 6 oz Sugar, or 175 grams
- 2 fluid oz Golden syrup, or 60 milliliters See below how to make Golden Syrup
- 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk, or 400 grams
- 1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate Topping:
- 7 oz Dark Chocolate, or 200 grams Or any other chocolate you prefer. Dark chocolate helps cut down the sweetness of everything else.
Instructions
Shortbread:
- Heat oven to 350F or 175C
- Grease an 8″X8″ or 20cm square baking pan, including the sides all the way to the top.
- Mix the shortbread flours, sugar and salt in a large bowl with a whisk. Cut in the butter and mix with your fingers until the mixture is a sandy consistency.
- Press the dough into the baking pan and pierce liberally with a fork. Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges turn a golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Caramel Layer
- For the caramel, add the butter, sugar, condensed milk, golden syrup (click here to see how to make golden syrup) and salt in a medium, heavy pan and heat while stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Bring this mixture to a simmer and cook for at least 15 minutes, or until a candy thermometer reads 250F, or 120C. The sugar will caramelize into a medium brown color, and the mixture will thicken. You don't want it too thick to pour, however. (It's best to err on the thicker side, as the bars can be difficult to cut if the caramel is too soft.)
- Pour the caramel over the cooled shortbread and let this cool in the fridge for an hour or so.
Chocolate Layer
- Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave and pour over the cooled caramel. I gave this a little blast in the refrigerator to set the chocolate, then turned the whole thing out on a cutting board. I cut the bars into 1" pieces and wrapped each one in waxed paper for candy bars.
For Millionaire's Cups
- Instead of using a square pan, I used two silicone mini-muffin pans.
- First, I pressed the shortbread dough into each cup and baked normally. I had to rotate once in the oven as the outer cups were getting a bit more browned than the inner. It might be better to bake one pan at a time.
- Then I prepared the caramel and transferred the hot mass to a Pyrex measuring cup to allow for more precise pouring into the mini-muffin cups. Be very careful as the caramel is extremely hot!
- Finally, I melted the chocolate and spooned it over the cups. I wanted a round "dot" in the middle, rather than filling up all the way to the edges. Into some of the cups, I first pressed a toasted pecan.
- Let the cups cool in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, and they pop out easily! I wrapped in simple foil squares.
Notes
I’d try this again using a silicone mini-muffin pan – I think that would make some very cute candy cups, and it would be less fuss getting them into bite-sized pieces. You could even insert a nut or two into each one before you poured on the chocolate!
You can substitute gluten-free flour for rice flour if the gluten-free flour is composed mostly of rice flour (many are). Just check the ingredients label for "rice flour" or "brown rice flour". If it's among the first ingredient listed, you're good.