You’ll love how gooey this caramel is, how buttery the shortbread tastes, and, well, chocolate. The sea salt gives it a gourmet look, while adding zero effort. By the way, I’m pretty sure there’s no easy way to cut one of these. I tried heating the knife, wetting it, sharpening it, different angles, etc. I would suggest perhaps trying a thinner layer of chocolate if aesthetic appeal is most important to you. I, personally, was not willing to sacrifice any chocolate for visual appeal. The fact that this side came out so straight was pure dumb luck.
To give you the heads up: this dessert is so easy to make, but takes about three hours. However, it’s mainly just the cooling that takes time, so you can simultaneously do other things.
Ingredients:
Shortbread
- 1 cup flour
- 4 tbsp butter, cold, cut into small pieces
- 1/6 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Caramel
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cup condensed milk
- pinch salt
Chocolate
- 1 cup chocolate, your preference (I used a higher % cocoa)
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions:
Heat oven to 350F (176C). Spray baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. I used a 6″ round dish, as I wanted my layers to be slightly thicker, and to cut into pie shaped pieces. Feel free to use a larger, rectangular dish, just keep an eye on the crust while baking to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Combine flour and sugar. Blend in butter until texture resembles oatmeal. The ideal utensil for this is a food processor, however I used a hand mixer, and it worked just fine. Add vanilla and bring the mixture together with a spatula.
Dump mixture into pan and press down evenly & firmly. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges begin to golden. Remove from over and allow to cool to room temperature.
At this point begin preparing the caramel. Melt butter in small pot. Whisk in brown sugar, and heat until it begins to simmer. Whisk condensed milk and salt, allow to simmer until it’s quite thick. Remove from heat, and allow to cool to about room temperature before pouring onto crust. Stick it back into the fridge for about half an hour.
Using a double boiler (or as in my case; a bowl over a pot of hot boiling water), melt the chocolate chips.
Pour evenly on top of chilled caramel layer (I added a fun little swirl with my spatula), and sprinkle salt on top.
Allow to cool at room temp for 15 minutes, and then pop it into the fridge for another two hours. Cut (or try to), and serve. 🙂
For The Glutton 