Millionaire Bars

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Millionaire Bars begin with crisp buttery shortbread, then they are layered with chewy caramel and dark chocolate.

Prep Time30

Cook Time22

1 45

Total Time2 37

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Author: Mary Younkin

Ingredients

Shortbread

½ cup cold butter cut into pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour*
⅓ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

*Gluten-Free Alternative

⅔ cup brown rice flour
⅓ cup tapioca starch
3 tablespoons potato starch
½ teaspoon xanthan gum

Caramel Layer

½ cup butter
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup or corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Chocolate Layer

2 cups semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
Optional: kosher course sea salt, or Maldon salt (if you have it)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8"-10" square pan with greased foil or parchment paper. Combine all of the shortbread ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine and break it down into crumbs. Pour the crumbs into the prepared pan and press lightly with your fingertips to form the crust. Bake for 20-22 minutes until the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the condensed milk, syrup, vanilla, and salt and whisk to combine. Bring to a low boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, whisking and scraping the bottom constantly. The mixture will thicken and turn golden brown. Pour the caramel over the cooled crust and spread evenly to the edges. Let it cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Melt the chocolate with the butter in a medium size glass mixing bowl in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes at half power. Stir and microwave an additional 30 seconds at 50% power, only as needed. Stir until the chocolate is smooth and completely melted. (If you'd rather not use the microwave, you can also melt the chocolate in the glass bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.)
Pour the chocolate over the caramel and spread it out evenly to the sides. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt, if desired. Let cool at room temperature for 10-15 minutes and then refrigerate for 1 hour. Use the foil or parchment to lift the bars out of the pan before slicing. Enjoy!

Notes

You can use this method to grate the butter and combine it with the flours for the crust. Or you can follow the directions below and pulse the butter and the flours in a food processor. You don't need a fancy processor, I use a tiny $20 model and it works great for little tasks like this one.

If you leave the bars in the refrigerator overnight, let them sit at room temperature for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing. Otherwise they will be very hard to cut and the chocolate will likely crack.

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