May 13, 2016
Salted Caramel Millionaires Shortbread!
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Naughty & Delicious Salted Caramel Millionaires Shortbread – Heavenly Treat that Everyone Adores!
I have obviously always adored anything caramel, especially anything salted caramel. This is obvious, just search caramel on my blog and you will find soooo many references to the heavenly creation.
My favourites being my No-Bake Salted Caramel Cheesecake, Salted Caramel Drip Cake, my Salted Caramel Cupcakes and my EVER popular Millionaires Shortbread – Back to Basics. However, this is definitely on par with all of these because HELLO? YUMMMMM.
I posted my first millionaires themed recipe ages ago in the form of my Millionaires Shortbread – it has always been so popular when I have posted it onto my social media pages, and when I have made it for my friends and family. Seriously, its always the traybake to make for a gathering!
When I posted my Salted Caramel Nut Slice recipe my readers were launched into the delicious world of nutty, salty and sweet – HEAVEN.
However, I decided that it was about time I posted my recipe for my Salted Caramel Millionaires Shortbread as I have had soooo many requests for it!
I used the same shortbread recipe that I used in my Millionaires Shortbread, and the same caramel recipe as in my Salted Caramel Nut Slice, but I added the salt to the caramel itself this time.
The problem with such things as this is that you can’t taste test how salty it is as it is really really hot. Obviously. If you are nervous about how salty it will be then start with less, maybe two pinches of sea salt (See my notes below!) and you will be fine!
I decided to use a mix of chocolates on top of my shortbread this time because I love the mix of them, and its an easier way to decorate something without much effort. You can of course just use one type of chocolate, but it isn’t as pretty!
One thing I must say though is just using a tin of carnations caramel will NOT work. You MUST make the caramel for it to set, carnations caramel will just stay a sloppy mess – and its much easier to make a caramel than you think! Enjoy!
Salted Caramel Millionaires Shortbread!
Ingredients
Shortbread
- 200 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 100 g caster sugar
- 275 g plain flour
Salted Caramel
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 4 tbsp golden syrup
- 397 g condensed milk
- 2-3 pinches sea salt
Topping
- 200 g milk chocolate
- 100 g dark chocolate
Instructions
Shortbread
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line a 9x9inch deep square tin with parchment paper.
- Cream together the caster sugar and unsalted butter until smooth.
- Mix in the plain flour until a dough is formed. It will be crumbly but the ingredients will be evenly dispersed!
- Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of tin and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until pale golden on top!
- Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to the side.
Salted Caramel
- In a large saucepan pour the condensed milk, unsalted butter, caster sugar and golden syrup and melt on a medium heat till the sugar has dissolved – stir frequently to stop anything from catching.
- Once the caster sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up high and let the mixture come to boiling point and boil for 5-7 minutes stiring constantly so that the mixture doesn't catch.
- BE CAREFUL as the mixture is VERY hot and can burn you if it splashes back! The mixture will be ready when it has changed to a slightly darker golden colour, and has thickened to a soft fudge texture!
- Crush your 2-3 pinches of sea salt into the salted caramel and mix in - pour the salted caramel onto the shortbread base and leave to completely set.
Topping
- Once chilled, melt the milk and dark chocolate and pour over the caramel.
- Swirl them together with the end of a skewer so it forms a pretty pattern.
- Chill the shortbread back in the fridge for another 1-2 hours until the chocolate has gone hard.
- Chop your shortbread into the separate pieces and enjoy!
Notes
- This will keep in an airtight container for at least 1 week, or you can freeze for up to 3 months – if they last that long!
- If your caramel is rock solid when you remove it from the fridge, you have slightly over done it. Not to worry though, when you pour the chocolate on, leave it to set at room temperature rather than in the fridge and it should soften the caramel slightly.
- If you struggle to cut your shortbread and tray bakes without the chocolate cracking on top, set it at room temperature rather than in the fridge and it'll be softer so therefore won't crack when you cut it!
- Alternatively you can warm up a large sharp knife with boiling water and try cutting your slices using this!
- I use Maldon Sea Salt as it tastes delicious and I like my caramel salty so I use the 3 pinches - I really really recommend using Sea Salt over ground fine salt as the taste is better and it's easier to use compared to the fine salt where you could easily add in far too much.
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi, I’m making this for the first time and I live in France so the choice of ingredients are a little different. I have the choice between sweetened or non sweetened condensed milk, which one would you suggest? Thank you
In the UK our condensed milk is sweetened! x
Can I make these with gluten free flour
Hiya! Yes, this should be fine! Enjoy! x
Can I ask why you use the all in one method for the caramel here rather than doing the water and sugar starter like in your caramel sauce recipe? Are they produce different things? I’m just worried my caramel never made it that dark in colour even though I left it for a good few minutes longer than suggested?
Hiya! Either way works, as long as it is the right consistency it should be fine! Take a look at my recipe videos on my social media channels for some more tips x
Hi Jane, I’m about to make these and I have realised I only have enough unsalted butter for the shortbread, so I would have to use salted butter in the caramel. Would this work? Could I use it instead of the pinches of sea salt?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Hiya! Yes this should be absolutely fine! Hope this helps x
Ive just made these and how long do you leave them in the fridge once youve done the caramel ontop? I always follow your recipes when i bake, everyone loves them😬
Hiya! I leave it in the fridge until the caramel is completely set. Hope this helps! x
Could you share what type of chocolate you like to use for the topping and your method of melting it. Thanks!
Hiya! You can use an chocolate you like! I melt mine in short bursts in the microwave. Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane, looking to make these and was just wondering do you leave the Carmel to cool in the pan before putting it on the shortbread or once you have put the Carmel on the shortbread ?
Thanks xx
No, I put the caramel straight onto the shortbread.
Amazing. Just made these today. The kids left over Easter chocolate came in handy😬 love that your recipes are so easy to follow jane,
xx
Yasss, this makes me so happy, thank you so much xx
Wow I have just made these.. love all ur recipes.
These are delicious 😋 so glad I made them.
But I have just read about the salt I argee I like mine salty to.
Now I need to choose which I’ll do next.
Hi!
I’m not a fan of shortbread, would I be able to make these with a digestive biscuit base?? If so how much digestives and butter would be good?
Thanks! x
I would use about 400g digestives and 200g unsalted butter x
Hi how would I go about making a Nutella version of these? X
I would follow the topping idea of my biscoff millionaires – and use maybe 200g chocolate mixed with 200g nutella on the top!
Even though this recipe says the Carnations Caramel does not work, I went ahead and tried it anyway. I’m glad I did because it turned out perfectly. I emptied the tin into a saucepan, let it boil for about 5 mins then added some salt. It set perfectly and I didn’t have a faff around with all the other ingredients to make the caramel.
Do try it!
Ah that’s different – as you are still boiling it. The reason I say it doesn’t work, is people just pour it on the base and expect it too set as it’s already caramel, which it wouldn’t. The taste and texture is still different your way, but it can work.
Hi, I’ve made this today, which is my second go. My caramel set fine last time, and looks to be doing the same right now, but the colour doesn’t seem quite right either time. Instead of the beautiful caramel colour I’m ending up with more of a Scottish tablet colour. It tastes fab, but I was wondering if I’m doing something wrong ?
Thanks
Leah
Have you switched any ingredients to even different brands? Sometimes that can be the cause – but it may just be that your heat is slightly lower this time as it’s a different time of year?
Ah, I did use an own brand condensed milk. I’ll try the carnation one next time and see if that makes a difference. Thank you!
I get so many compliments on my baking and I tell everyone to use your recipes as they are my go to and so easy to follow!
Leah
Hello, might be a silly Q regarding the chocolate….do I pour either the dark/milk on first then the other one on top of that and then swirl?
Going to make these later on today….probably not the best idea on a super hot day but I can’t wait! s
I usually pour the milk on first as there is more of it, then dollop the dark on and swirl!
Do you have to use a stand mixer for this recipe ?
No – I would just use your hand and a spoon/spatula – just add things in more gradually and beat like crazy!
Does anyone know if I can use golden caster? It’s all I could find and I’ve had a demand from my dad for weeks after I last made it!
Yes you can!!
I’m making these on Friday!! The condensed milk, is it norma or caramel one you use?
Yay! For these, you use normal condensed milk as you are making the caramel yourself!
Hi Jane can’t wait to make these! Will honey work instead of golden syrup do you know? Thanks!
It’s not a straight substitute – as in it can change the taste, texture and end result! It’s worth a go, but it may cause it to split so don’t over heat! xx
Hi Jane, I made these over the weekend and it was such a huge success. My family are super impressed by them too! Your blog is absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to try some more of your recipes!
Hey! I’m just about to make your salted caramel millionaire shortbread but I only have self easing flour and no plain flour. Can I adapt it?
*self raising flour
You can use self-raising, but obviously, as this has raising agent the texture of the shortbread will be quite different to how it should!
I’ve not been able to get hold of condensed milk but I do have a tin of evaporated milk. Can I substitute that for condensed milk?
Unfortunately not – no. They are very different products. I’ve read you can make your own condensed milk from evaporated milk though so it’s worth a google.
I made these for the first time last week and I can’t believe how good they came out and they tasted amazing! Will definitely be making these again!
These are sooo amazing, i make my first batch a week ago and i’ve already bought ingredients for a third because people love them so much! Thank you!
Is there a temperature of when the caramel is just ready? I have made this recipe so many times and I still always have variations on the caramel as I get nervous it will be overdone so take it off and it’s not ready enough and sometimes I get it spot on
Thank you
No, this works by time x
Hi I’ve just made these and my caramel has set like toffee it’s so hard
should I start again as I think it will break my teeth.
Yes, if it has been boiled for too long you can’t really recover it unfortunately!
My caramel looked like the butter split as there’s was a thin layer on top. What did I do wrong?
You may have boiled it for a smidge too long or slightly too hot so it split x
Could I substitute the unsalted butter for stork? Would it make a world of difference? This also relates to your other brownie recipes like triple chocolate.
For shortbread I always recommend using actual butter – otherwise it could taste different as they’re are only three ingredients. Other traybakes you can use stork, but I naturally use actual butter again!
Hi Jane really want to try this recipe but I only have a 8in deep square tin , would it work??
It would, but it would just be very very deep! The shortbread may take a bit longer to bake as well x
Hi Jane, I just tried to make this, but the minute any heat touched the milk and butter/sugar, it burnt, I didn’t get to the boiling stage and I stirred it constantly, but it all burnt. What did I do wrong? 🙁 any ideas, I had to throw it all away…thank you for you help. x
You have to put the condensed milk, sugar, butter and syrup into the pan and then heat it slowly. If it was already burning, the pan was far too hot. It should take quite a while to melt the butter/dissolve the sugar into the mix on a medium heat, so it just sounds like it was already too hot before it started x
I’ve just made these and they are delicious! Do you think they would freeze ok?
I’m sure they would!
[…] decided to go quite similarly along the lines of my Salted Caramel Millionaires Shortbread as the recipe is just so popular and works so well. It was quite simple to adapt to make it […]
Hi Jane.
I’ve just made this, and it’s just setting. I’m scared to cut it! Have you ever tried using a hot knife? Would that make it easier or is it a bad idea?
I haven’t personally tried that as I usually just use a very large sharp knife, but I’m sure a hot one would work!
Well, i tried the hot knife and it worked, but it kinda smeared the lovely layers at the side. Excellent recipe though! Everyone loved it. I’ve just made your Rocky road…. I’m sharpening my knife for this one 😁
Thanks Jane x
Hi, I want to make this but I only have a tin of the carnation caramel not the condensed milk. Would that be alright to use that? And to thicken it would it be best to put it in a pan and reduce it down?
Hiya – I’m not sure that would work as using the condensed milk and the other ingredients creates a setting caramel, heating the carnation caramel might just loosen it somewhat.
Hello. Do you melt the chocolate separately and pour on top separately and then swirl with the skewer?
Yep!
I’ve just made this and it looks delicious! I’m not sure I can wait for the chocolate to set before I tuck in!
Thank you for another fabulous recipe
I’ve made the nutty one and its delicious. I’m going to make this one next. How much salt roughly in teaspoons would you use and is it the salt you get in the grinder please. thanks for sharing your recipes xx
Hiya, I used pinches of salt in this recipe, and yes that sort of salt would be correct! xx
Omg these look so so so yummy!!!! I need to try them asap xx
Lauren | itslaurenvictoria.blogspot.co.uk
Ohh thank you Lauren!! 🙂 xx