Shortbread cookies have always been a favourite of mine, but for some reason, I only recently thought of making Millionaire’s shortbread. It’s all the goodness of shortbread, but with caramel and chocolate on top. Basically a homemade Twix bar. What’s not to love? For these bars, I used my Aunt Pat’s shortbread recipe for the bottom cookie layer, a modified version of this caramel recipe from foodandwine.com, and a classic ganache for the topping. And I topped them with fleur de sel, as was suggested in the recipe from Food&Wine, because sweet + salty is heaven.

INGREDIENTS
makes 32 cookies

for the shortbread cookie crust;
75 g cornstarch
65 g icing sugar
125 g flour (use T55 in France)
150 g unsalted butter, room temperature

for the caramel filling;
115 g unsalted butter
115 g heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
200 g sugar
40 mL water

for the ganache topping;
200 g chocolate, in pieces
100 g heavy cream
15 g butter, room temperature
fleur de sel or flaky salt, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 175°C (~350°F), and line a 9″ square baking pan with two strips of parchment paper so that the paper overhangs all sides.

Prepare the cookie base;
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, icing sugar, and flour. Add the butter, and mix with your hands until the dough comes together. Press the dough into the prepared pan, and bake for ~18 minutes until golden brown. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the caramel;
Combine the butter, cream, and salt in a glass jug, and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until the butter has melted and the mixture is steaming. Set aside (and make sure it stays relatively warm).

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Cook over medium heat, while swirling not stirring (stirring will cause it to crystallize), until a caramel forms. (First the sugar will dissolve, then the clear liquid will boil, and then it will go from clear to caramel in colour quite quickly). At this point, pour the warm cream mixture into the caramel, while stirring. Continue to cook until the mixture reaches 230°F.

Pour the liquid caramel over the cooled shortbread crust, and allow the caramel to set up. (You can put it in the fridge to speed the process up).

Make the ganache;
Combine the chocolate and cream in a microwaveable container, and microwave for ~20 seconds at a time, stirring well each time, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the butter to incorporate.

Spread the ganache over the caramel layer, and sprinkle generously with salt. Allow the chocolate layer to set up completely.

Use the overhanging parchment to remove the entire shortbread from the pan. Use a large knife to cut into pieces.

Enjoy!