This Millionaire’s Shortbread is the perfect trifecta: Sweet simple, crisp shortbread, rich chewy, homemade caramel, and thick dark chocolate ganache. Sprinkle everything off with a scattering of sea salt and you have a decadently rich treat that lives up to every penny of its lucrative name.
I don’t think (and I’m sure they’ll correct me if I’m wrong) I’ve ever given my siblings anything really bad to eat.
Sometimes they eat my recipe fails, but only the most edible ones (cupcakes that are just slightly too dense, cookies that are a tad too crumbly), and I never did anything as treacherous as trying to pass off bean brownies for regular brownies, which one of my sisters actually did do to me one time (a deception I’ll never forgive).
So it’s slightly insulting to me that, when presented with any dessert that isn’t an obvious cake, cookie, or cupcake, they proceed with severe trepidation. Forks hovering nervously over their plates, eyes narrowed, skeptical, seeming to suggest — It could be an anthrax pie, how can we be sure it’s not? So much for gratitude.
But after explaining for the fourth time to my fourth sibling what Millionaire’s shortbread even is (“It’s like a fancy, homemade, gourmet twix bar”) not a single one seemed the least bit disappointed when they took their first bite.
There’s nothing to be disappointed about when it comes to Millionaire’s shortbread. This is a recipe I’ve been wanting to try my hand at for a while now and after a lot of running around in the kitchen I’m very happy to share it with you.
I don’t think I need to reiterate the fact that it’s a rich dessert — in fact I suggested to my sisters and brother that they cut each giant square into quarters, because while big squares look pretty in these pictures, they’re so rich that it’s a challenge to actually eat a whole one.
The shortbread (a faux shortbread, more on that below) is slightly sweetened but serves as the crispy vehicle to transport chewy caramel and a blanket of chocolate ganache. To make things even more decadent, it’s all topped off with a sprinkle of sea salt. It’s not called Millionaire’s shortbread for nothing!
As attaining millionaire status can change a person, so it has changed our “shortbread” cookie crust here. Surprise, it’s not a “true” shortbread. When I decided to give this classic recipe my own spin, this is one of the first changes I made.
Classic shortbread is made of only three ingredients — butter, flour, and sugar, but this is Millionaire’s shortbread so we’re making sure it lives up to its name.
An egg yolk, some brown sugar, and vanilla extract all make this cookie crust extra flavorful, and slightly softer than standard shortbread as well. Because of the added ingredients, your finished millionaire’s shortbread will cut more easily than standard shortbread (which usually breaks unevenly with jagged edges and scatters crumbs everywhere) but is still crisp and snappy beneath the soft chocolate and chewy caramel.
Andi liked the cookie layer so much she asked me to make her a pan of just that alone, nothing else.
I really wish that I could photograph the processes for these multi-step recipes — a picture of how the crumbled cookie dough should look, the caramel at its peak just before pouring it over the shortbread, the glossy chocolate ganache, etc… but since I only have two days of the week to shoot 3-4 recipes, I usually have to prepare the food Friday night, and there’s no light to take decent pictures then.
To make up for this, I try to include very detailed descriptions in the recipe, and you can always shoot me an e-mail, leave a comment, or drop by my Facebook page if you have any questions.
That being said, I don’t really think you’ll have any problem with this recipe, the trickiest part is the caramel and it doesn’t even require a candy thermometer!
I hope you enjoy this Millionaire’s shortbread as much as my siblings ultimately did!
Millionaire's Shortbread
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 226g
- 1/3 cup sugar 70g
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed 70g
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 260g
Caramel
- 2 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk 825ml
- 14 Tablespoons butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces (198g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed (200g)
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup 80ml
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Ganache
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 340g
- 1/2 cup heavy cream 120ml
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 5ml
- sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Using an electric mixer, beat butter until well creamed.
- Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds.
- Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and stir well, pausing to scrape down the sides and mixing until ingredients are well-combined.
- Add flour, gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time), pausing to scrape down sides of bowl. Halfway through the addition of the flour, sprinkle in the salt with the beater still running.
- Don't over-beat the dough, you want it to be slightly crumbly to make it easier to press into the pan.
- Drop dough over prepared pan and gently, firmly, evenly, press dough into the bottom of the pan. To make it easier, I usually lay a piece of wax paper over the dough and use the palm of my hand to smooth the surface (and then discard wax paper).
- Bake on 350F (177C) for 20-25 minutes -- edges should be lightly golden brown.
- Allow to cool while you prepare your caramel topping.
Caramel
- Combine condensed milk, butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir frequently until butter is melted and ingredients are well-combined. Continue to stir constantly until mixture begins to boil (this could take several minutes, but you don't need to increase the heat).
- Once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer (slowly bubbling), still stirring constantly. Continue to stir 10-15 minutes until mixture turns a rich caramel color and has thickened (should begin pulling away from the sides of the pot as you stir).
- Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vanilla extract and salt.
- Pour evenly over prepared shortbread, use a knife to spread evenly if needed.
- Allow to cool at room temperature for several hours or in the refrigerator for 1 hour before topping with chocolate.
Chocolate Topping
- Combine chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir frequently until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Allow chocolate to cool just slightly for about 5 minutes, and then evenly spread over prepared caramel layer. Wait several minutes and then sprinkle with sea salt.
- Allow chocolate to harden (I recommend placing in refrigerator for about 30 minutes -- my family prefers these treats refrigerated anyway) before cutting and serving.
Nutrition
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Tia says
Hi! I just tried out this recipe, and I was really nervous about doing caramel for the first time, but everything worked out so well according to your instructions! The finished product is SOOO rich and yummy, and I’m so excited to share it with everyone I know. Thank you!!!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Tia! 🙂
Laura Bibby says
I only have salted butter in the house. Can these be made with salted butter?
Sam says
Hi Laura! That will work fine, just omit the salt called for in the recipe. 🙂
jeancen says
thank you for this yummy recipe..hope i cook it perfect.
Sam says
You can do it! Good luck! 🙂
Rondi says
Made this in 2 8×8 pans. The caramel took longer to set up than recipe stated but, with patience, came out beautifully. Took them to a family dinner and they were a huge hit!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed them, Rondi! Thank you for trying my recipe and commenting. 🙂
Roskarin says
Butter seemed to separate with condensed milk, what do you do? Stir until your arm falls off how long is it expected for it to turning to the right consistency?
Sam says
I am so sorry this happened! It may have gotten too hot too fast. 🙁
Darlene says
I’m wondering how well this cookie sits out in the summer heat. Would it get all melted and messy? Does the caramel start to run?
Sam says
Hi Darlene! I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out in the heat, both the chocolate and caramel would get a bit messy.
Michael says
Hi haven’t made this yet but wondering if the cookies can be frozen?
Sam says
Hi Michael! I think you could probably freeze this. My only concern would be the caramel layer getting messed up when thawing. 🙂
Farrah says
Hi! Love this receipe – I want to make it again but with double the shortbread, would the cook time change?
Sam says
Hi Farrah! It will probably need to bake longer. 🙂
Marina says
Absolutely delicious!!!!! Very very rich but the entire family loved them, we’ve been sending them to other family members as well, and have gotten many compliments. This was my first time making “shortbread” and caramel and the instructions were so clear and helpful. I plan on making this again soon.
Sam says
I am so glad everyone has enjoyed them so much, Marina! 🙂
Stacey says
By far the best dessert ever! I’ve made it twice and once I made just the shortbread layer amd we devoured it all by itself. So yummy.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Stacey! 🙂
Camilla Barker says
Can I use honey instead of corn syrup?
Sam says
Hi Camilla! I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure if it would work here. 🙁
Alice says
You can use golden syrup
Debra says
Hi Robyn, the shortbread came out perfectly however, I just turned off the caramel and butter is just floating on the top! I’ve made caramel before from other recipes and have never experienced this before. I’m just hoping for a good outcome as I’ve followed the instructions to a T, but nowhere did it mention floating butter 😔
Sam says
Hi Debra! Sam here: You may have heated your mixture a little too quickly. I hope this helps. 🙂