Millionaire Shortbread Recipe

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Restaurants are bound to be fully booked and I'm sure many of you are going to spend it indoors this year. So for all the lovers out there, why not bake a homemade dessert to show your S.O. your appreciation for them! This recipe only requires 5 basic ingredients, so no excuses here.

This is a recipe for Millionaire's Shortbread. Basically, it comprises of a shortbread base, a layer of sweet caramel goodness, and topped with melted chocolate. Don't ask me why it's called Millionaire's shortbread, I don't make the rules here. But maybe because this dessert is so rich it makes you feel like a millionaire? Or because it has a million calories?

If you're attached, you could make this for someone special to let them know they're one in a million. If you're single, (and didn't happen to cash out from GME or AMC recently) make these to feel like an overnight millionaire :P

Notes on this recipe:

I found that a purely caramel layer was a little too sweet for my liking. I'd recommend adding nuts like peanuts/almonds/walnuts/cashews or other crunchy add ins like maybe cornflakes to give this treat more texture as well.
For the chocolate topping, feel free to use dark or milk chocolate to your liking. I prefer dark so the overall dessert is not too sweet, but just use whatever plain chocolate you like to eat!
If you want to dress these up further, feel free to add more toppings while the chocolate is not hardened yet. You can also melt white chocolate and mix it in with the dark chocolate so you have a streaky contrast.

Millionaire's Shortbread Recipe

Serving size: 8-12 pieces

Step #1 Caramel:

1 can condensed milk

1. In a large pot, place your can of condensed milk and fill the pot with water until it covers the can. Cover with lid.

2. Bring water to a boil then turn down to a simmer.

3. Simmer with the can in the water for 3.5 to 4 hours.

4. When done, remove can from water using gloves or tongs and leave to cool.

5. When you open the can with a can opener, it will be caramelised like magic.

Step #2 Shortbread:

100g unsalted butter, softened

25g icing sugar

115g all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 170C.

2. Prepare a loaf pan by lining with parchment paper as shown below.

3. Cream butter with whisk or spatula or large wooden spoon until creamy.

4. Add in sugar and cream together till light and fluffy.

5. Add in flour and fold until combined.

6. Spread dough into loaf pan in an even layer.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 30 minutes in the pan or until the middle is no longer soft to the touch.

Step #3 Assembly:

150g chocolate

Toppings (peanuts/cornflakes/whatever)

1. Melt the chocolate and set aside.

2. Mix about half of the caramel with your toppings of choice. Spread this mixture onto your shortbread.

3. Now pour your melted chocolate over the caramel layer and spread it evenly. (You can tilt the loaf pan around until the chocolate reaches the edges)