Millionaire's Shortbread

I know why they call these cookies Millionaire's Shortbread..Cause they taste like a million bucks.

In a cookie like this, the finished product is only as good as the sum of its parts. In this case, I started with a delicious, buttery shortbread crust. Topped it with a delicious layer of luscious caramel and topped that with some decadent white chocolate. In this case I used Fran's chocolate, but feel free to use the best chocolate you can find.

Most recipes I saw for this kind of cookie used vanilla caramel and a milk or dark chocolate topping, however I decided to mix it up a bit by using a chocolate caramel and a white chocolate top. Boy am I glad that I did. While you can't go wrong with the original version I found myself enjoying this version more than I could have ever imagined. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I did!

Millionaire Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients
Shortbread Crust:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1 t. salt
3 c. all purpose flour

Caramel Layer:
3/4 pound CC Confectionary Chocolate Truffle Caramels or other fine butter caramels
2 T. half & half

Chocolate Layer:
6 oz. white chocolate (best quality you can get your hands on)
2 oz. semi sweet chocolate

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Blend butter until smooth in a large bowl using an electric mixer. Slowly blend in the confectioners sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla and salt. Gradually add the flour and mix on low speed just until combined.

Pat the dough in a 9"x9" square pan lined with parchment paper and prick holes in the dough as seen below:

*Note: It is very important to line the pan with parchment paper. Not only will your shortbread not stick to the pan, but after you pour your caramel in, it will make your life much easier when you try to remove the cookies from the pan.

Place the shortbread in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the edges of your crust just begin to have a little color. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Once the shortbread crust has cooled, place the caramel and half & half in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until it is completely melted. Be sure to stir the caramel every 30 seconds to make sure that the heat is being evenly distributed throughout the caramel.

Pour caramel on the shortbread crust and let cool for approximately 2 hours.

Once the caramel layer has cooled, place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until it is completely melted. Be sure to stir the chocolate every 30 seconds, just like the caramel, to make sure that the heat is being evenly distributed throughout. Spread chocolate evenly over the caramel layer.

If you choose to decorate your shortbread as I did in these pictures, immediately after you have completed the last step, melt the semi-sweet chocolate as noted above (in 30 second increments and pour into a plastic bag with a small opening snipped off the tip. Pipe thin parallel lines of chocolate along the length of the cookie.

Working quickly before the chocolate has a chance to set, drag a paring knife horizontally across the surface of the napoleon, alternating directions about 1/4" apart. This will give you this pretty design.

Enjoy!