Classic Millionaires Shortbread. This favourite sweet treat consists of three decadently delicious layers: buttery shortbread, creamy caramel, and chocolate.
One recipe from over ten years of blogging that I’m yet to share is a recipe for Millionaires Shortbread. This is a classic treat, widely available in most bakeries, coffee shops, and tea rooms.
Millionaires shortbread consists of a layer of buttery shortbread, followed by a caramel layer, and then the caramel layer is topped with melted chocolate. There are so many amazing variations you’ll find all over the internet, but you can’t go wrong with the traditional flavour combination.
This bake will remind you of a Twix bar! So if you’re a fan of this chocolate bar, then you’ll love this homemade version even more!
Recipe Rundown:
- Shortbread Layer: This mixture will look very crumbly or short before pressing it into the tin. Don’t worry, as this is how you want it to be. The crumblier your shortbread dough, the better. Also, always be super careful not to overmix shortbread dough; the general rule is to handle as little as possible. Press the mixture into the tin until it’s in an even layer, prick with a fork all over, and bake for 25–30 minutes until pale golden.
- Caramel Layer: Making caramel requires patience and gentle heating; be extremely careful as caramel gets very hot and will burn if it touches skin. This caramel takes about 7–10 minutes to make. Start by mixing all the caramel ingredients listed together, gently heating until dissolved, then gradually increasing the heat until the caramel gets hotter and starts bubbling. When the caramel is a light golden colour and has thickened, it’s ready to pour over the cooled shortbread layer. Leave this to set in the fridge for about an hour before resuming.
- Chocolate Layer: Your choice of chocolate is up to you. I went for Cadbury Dairy Milk, but equally, a combination of dark and milk chocolate is great—just dark chocolate, white chocolate, or even blonde or caramelised white chocolate.
We love our shortbread recipes on the blog, sharing an array of truly wonderful recipes. Scottish Shortbread, Valentine’s Shortbread Hearts, and even Chocolate Shortbread.
We gave our millionaire’s shortbread an Easter decoration, using a mixture of crushed/whole Cadbury Mini Eggs. Why not top an already decadent recipe with even more decadence? My taste testers (me included) loved the crunchy topping the mini eggs added. With Easter only a few days away, you can make this yummy bake and top with leftover (if any!) Easter chocolate!
Don’t worry at all if your chocolate cracks when you slice it up. In all honesty, my chocolate cracked, but this recipe was too tasty not to share. If you want to ensure the chocolate doesn’t crack, just warm up your knife in some hot water.
However, our bakes don’t need to look perfect; it’s 100% all about the taste here with every single recipe.
Millionaires Shortbread
Ingredients
Shortbread:
- 225 g butter (salted or unsalted) softened
- 110 g caster or granulated sugar
- 320 g plain flour
Caramel:
- 397 g can sweetened condensed milk
- 90 g butter (salted or unsalted)
- 100 g dark/light/demerara sugar
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup this is 15g
Chocolate Layer:
- 250 g dark/milk/white chocolate I used Cadbury Dairy Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line an 20cm/8-inch square cake tin with parchment paper - leaving some overhang ensuring it's easy to remove the finished bake from the tin.
- Place the shortbread ingredients: softened butter, sugar, and flour in a large mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumbly, slightly sticky dough forms.
- Press the shortbread dough into the lined baking tin, making sure it's an even layer. Prick the shortbread all over with a fork, now bake for 25-30 minutes until pale golden in colour. Leave to cool completely.
- Place the caramel ingredients in a medium saucepan/deep frying pan. Place the pan over a medium heat, gently heat until all the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted. Continue to stir until the mixture has started to bubble - turn the temperature down if it bubbles too much. Keep stirring until the caramel has turned a deeper golden colour and is thicker is texture. This should take about 7-10 minutes to achieve.
- Carefully pour the hot caramel over the shortbread base. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Melt your chosen chocolate, once melted pour over the set caramel layer. Decorate the top further with any other decorations you desire - we went for crushed/whole Cadbury Mini Eggs. Place the Millionaires Shortbread back in the fridge for at least 2 hours, before slicing into 9 larger pieces, or 16 smaller pieces.
- The shortbread will keep for up to one week stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
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Ohhh, seeing the photos already made my mouth water 🤩, but when I read that the Millionaires Shortbread tastes like Twix, you definitely got me. *save*
I’ll absolutely have to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing it. 🙏
That’s great to hear! I hope you enjoy the recipe, Livia ❤️
So tempting
It’s the best! So delicious, you can’t help but go back for more! 👌🏼😉 x
That’s the problem