Millionaire Bars begin with crisp buttery shortbread, then they are layered with chewy caramel and dark chocolate.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time22 minutesmins
1 hourhr45 minutesmins
Total Time2 hourshrs37 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 20servings
Calories: 297kcal
Ingredients
Shortbread
½cupcold buttercut into pieces
1cupall-purpose flour*
⅓cupgranulated sugar
¼teaspoonkosher salt
*Gluten-Free Alternative
⅔cupbrown rice flour
⅓cuptapioca starch
3tablespoonspotato starch
½teaspoonxanthan gum
Caramel Layer
½cupbutter
14ouncessweetened condensed milk
2tablespoonsbrown rice syrup or corn syrup
1teaspoonvanilla extract
¼teaspoonkosher salt
Chocolate Layer
2cupssemi sweet or dark chocolate chips
1tablespoonbutter
Optional: koshercourse 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.