Millionaire Bars

ellie3763's Note:

from "Real Life Flavors" - http://reallifeflavors.blogspot.com/2010/01/millionaire-bars_07.html

• Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12

Yield: 1.0 9x9 pan

Shortbread Crust

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Caramel Filling

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Chocolate Topping

• 6 ounces dark chocolate or 6 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1 tablespoon butter
• coarse sea salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Crust:.
2. Preheat oven to 350* and lightly grease a 9 x 9 baking pan.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. Add vanilla and salt. Stir in the flour just until the dough begins to come together in walnut-sized chunks.
5. Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake 20 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Begin making filling as soon as you put the dough in the oven.
6. Filling:.
7. Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring often, 60-90 minutes, until golden brown.
8. When thick and deep golden, spread caramel evenly over cooled crust and refrigerate until caramel is cool and set.
9. Topping:.
10. Melt the chocolate and butter slowly over low heat and spread over the cooled caramel layer. Sprinkle sea salt over the chocolate (if desired). Refrigerate until set.
11. Store the bars, covered, in the fridge.

Reviews

[SuzV]

I made these for a pot luck tonight and they were a hit! It takes some time, but these are easy and the end results were very yummy! I didn't have time to chill the caramel layer in the fridge before topping with the chocolate, so I melted the chocolate and drizzled it on top of the caramel before chilling. Made a pretty presentation, too. Thanks for sharing-- will make this again soon. Made for March's Sweet Delights Tag.