Ingredients
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 (11-oz.) packages caramel squares
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
Flaky sea salt, for garnish
Preparation
Step 1Preheat oven to 300°. Line a 13"-x-9" pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Make shortbread layer: Cream softened butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour, salt, and vanilla and mix until a bread crumb texture forms. Step 2Press mixture into a prepared pan and prick all over with a fork. Step 3Bake until lightly golden, 30 minutes. Let cool completely. Step 4Make caramel layer: in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stir caramels and cream together until melted, 10 minutes. Pour over cooled shortbread crust. Step 5Make chocolate layer: Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals and stir until smooth. Pour over caramel layer. Step 6Refrigerate 20 minutes until firm, then slice into bars. Top with flaky sea salt.
THE SHORTBREAD Shortbread cookies are, in nature, pretty crumbly. This recipe is crumbly enough. But it’s not so tender that it’ll immediately shatter when you bite into it. There’s also a bit more sugar in this recipe than our classic recipe. 1) It makes it taste more like a Twix. 2) It caramelizes the bottom of the shortbread layer and adds a bit more crunch. THE CARAMEL Homemade caramel isn’t as scary as some people think. BUT, it’s not something we want to do here. Between the cookie and chocolate layers, you have enough going on. Instead, we melt down some soft caramel candies with heavy cream. It’s 10x easier, and the slightly chewy texture is pretty much guaranteed. THE CHOCOLATE We keep it as simple as possible by melting chocolate in the microwave. (In 30-second intervals is best to avoid scorching!) Things get a litttttle fancy though with the flaky sea salt. It’s not necessary, but let’s be real—we’re talking about MILLIONAIRE shortbread. Time to go all out and use some Maldon. 😉
