How to Make Millionaire’s Shortbread | It’s Super Rich!

I was inspired to make this shortbread after seeing it posted on Instagram by my most prolific baking buddy Lan. If you have spent some time in my YouTube comments section or on our Flickr group, you’d know her pretty well. She’s living proof that all my recipes work.

But she bakes much more than just my breads and cakes and that is where this shortbread comes in. I’ve had millionaire’s shortbread before, but I had never made it though. Caramel is something I love a lot, so finally I decided that it was time to try and make it, and while I’m at it make a video about it too.

There are a couple good lessons in this recipe – the shortbread base and the caramel. Each can be used for many applications, so they’re great skills to learn. Both can be a challenging if you don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m sure that after watching this video you will be able to make them.

Here is the ultimate handmade shortbread recipe which the recipe in this video is based on. I’ve simplified the process here slightly because the base of this treat does not need to be as light and crumbly as a standalone shortbread biscuit.

This recipe fits perfectly in a 22cm (8.5in) x 16.5cm (6.5in) baking tray.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the pastry –

50g (1.75oz) sugar

100g (3.5oz) soft butter

150g (5.3oz) white bread flour

For the caramel –

120g (4.25oz) butter

100g (3.5oz) sugar

40g (1.4oz) syrup (golden, corn, etc.)

400g (14.1oz) tin of condensed milk

For the chocolate layer –

120g (4.25oz) dark chocolate

5g (0.17oz) syrup (golden, corn, etc.)

60g (2.1oz) butter

Sea salt to sprinkle on top before serving.

Method

1. Make the base. Combine the sugar and butter. Beat until pale and fluffy. Add the flour and mix until there is no dry flour left.
2. Crumble the dough evenly over a non-stick paper lined baking tray and then press it into shape so that is fills the whole surface in an evenly thick layer.
3. Bake at 150C (300F) fan on or 170C (340F) fan off for 25 minutes. Leave to cool down.
4. Make the caramel. Combine the butter, sugar, syrup, and condensed milk in a pan and set it on medium-high heat. You must be there the whole time because it loves to stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir it continuously. Bring the mix up to a simmer (it will take around 5 minutes) and then turn it down to medium-low heat.
5. Keep cooking and stirring for another 10 minutes until the caramel turns a nice amber colour and becomes thicker. The longer you cook it the darker it will get and the more intense the flavour will be. But there is a point at which the caramel will become too hard after cooling down, so don’t cook it for too long. Mine was cooked for 15 minutes in total. 20 minutes is as much as I would push it at the same heat setting on the cooker.
6. Pour the caramel over the biscuit base and spread it out evenly. Leave in the fridge to cool down completely. It will take a couple hours.
7. Make the chocolate layer. Melt the chocolate, syrup, and butter over a double boiler. Pour it over the cooled down caramel and spread it out evenly. Leave in the fridge to cool down completely.
8. Cut the shortbread in portions with a hot knife. Run the knife under hot water and wipe it clean before each cut to get nice sharp edges. Sprinkle with sea salt before serving.

Your cooker may be different from mine, so the caramel may take a different time to cook. Jude it by the colour and thickness. It should be darker than the biscuit to be done enough to be used.