Happy Vacation Baking: Millionaire's Shortbread Bars

Millionaire's bars. I showtime heard of these amazing squares online. Someone said they tasted similar a homemade Twix bar in addition to I became obsessed alongside finding out more. Luckily, on a trip to NYC, I walked out to Red Hook inwards Brooklyn in addition to tried i of these bars from the famous bakery, Baked. They were perfectly buttery, sugariness in addition to had a overnice caramel layer. They were ideal alongside coffee.

I wanted to recreate them at home, but I constitute the procedure a fleck daunting, thence I allow the recipe sideslip me by. Until I decided to bake them upward for a friend's birthday. Baking something for somebody you lot truly assist almost makes scary steps appear a whole lot less scarier.

And piece at that topographic point are a lot of steps to this recipe – pose aside a whole eve to brand these – the ingredients aren't difficult to uncovering in addition to it's truly quite slow to follow along alongside each step. There's a shortbread layer which is pretty easy. The chocolate glaze is a snap, peculiarly if you lot convey sense alongside using a double boiler or a bain marie (but I'm certain a microwave would brand the whole matter fifty-fifty easier!).

The exclusively tricky fleck I constitute was making the caramel filling. That, was tough going. I showtime started making the caramel inwards a double boiler on the stove in addition to it simply wouldn't plough thick in addition to caramel coloured. So I gave upward in addition to simply used the microwave. Hooray for modern conveniences!

The exclusively matter I did differently was add together a skilful sprinkle of body of body of water tabular array salt over the laissez passer on of the bars later I added the chocolate glaze. I knew these were sugariness in addition to I felt they needed the tabular array salt to residue out the flavours.

While I made these equally a birthday treat, these are perfect for your vacation baking. Impressive to expect at in addition to tasty to eat, who e'er you lot give them to volition live on very, rattling happy.

Millionaire's Shortbread Bars

(recipe from the cookbook Baked: New Frontiers inwards Baking)

Shortbread

1/2 loving cup sugar

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 t salt

1 large egg yolk, slightly beaten

Caramel filling

28 ounces sweetened condensed milk (two 14-ounce cans)

Chocolate glaze

vi ounces night chocolate (60% cacao), coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon lite corn syrup

1/2 loving cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, cutting into cubes

body of body of water salt, to sprinkle over top

For the shortbread:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. butter the bottom in addition to sides of aa 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electrical mixer fitted alongside the paddle attachment, crunch the saccharide in addition to butter together until blended. Add 2 cups of the flour in addition to tabular array salt in addition to crunch until good combined. Add the egg yolk in addition to crunch for a few seconds, or until simply combined.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured locomote surface. Dust the laissez passer on of the dough in addition to your hands alongside a lilliputian flour. Use your hands to gently locomote the dough into a 6-by-6-inch square. You volition convey to plough the dough in addition to sprinkle the laissez passer on alongside flour equally you lot go. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 loving cup flour on the surface of the dough. Fold the dough over in addition to knead until incorporated, thence flatten the dough into a rectangle. Transfer the rectangle to the prepared pan in addition to press it into the pan.

Prick the dough all over alongside a fork in addition to bake inwards the centre of the oven for twenty to 22 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack in addition to allow cool completely.

For the caramel filling:

Put the sweetened condensed milk inwards a large microwave-safe bowl. Cook on 50 pct ability (medium) for four minutes, stirring briskly halfway through, until smooth.

Cook on thirty pct ability (medium-low) for 12 to eighteen minutes, until rattling thick in addition to caramel colored, stirring briskly every 2 minutes, until smooth.

Pour the caramel filling over the cooled shortbread in addition to identify the pan inwards the fridge until cool, almost 2 hours.

For the chocolate glaze:

In a large nonreactive metallic bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, in addition to butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering H2O in addition to cook, stirring alongside a condom spatula, until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan in addition to stir for thirty seconds to cool slightly.

Pour the mixture over the chilled caramel layer in addition to job an offset spatula to spread it into an fifty-fifty layer. Let the layer laid slightly (about 2 minutes or so) in addition to thence sprinkle alongside body of body of water salt. Put inwards the fridge for 1 hour, or until the glaze hardens.

Remove the pan from the fridge thirty minutes earlier serving thence equally non to scissure the chocolate glaze. Cut into squares in addition to serve. The bars tin live on stored inwards the refrigerator, tightly covered, for upward to four days.

By Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches