Billionaire's Shortbread

By KDHarmon

Billionaire’s shortbread is a classic crowd pleaser, with layers of salted caramel, chocolate, and classic shortbread.

Ingredients

• Shortbread:
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• Nonstick cooking spray
• Caramel:
• 1 C butter
• 1 C light or dark brown sugar, packed
• Pinch of salt
• 1 C heavy cream
• Flaky salt
• Ganache:
• 9 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate (about 1-3/4 cup), chopped
• 1 C heavy cream
• Flaky salt

Details

Servings 40
Adapted from realsimple.com

Preparation

Step 1

Shortbread:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high until creamy, about 2 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour and salt and beat just to combine. Use a spatula to fold in hazelnuts.

Lightly coat a 9-by-13- inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper and lightly spray parchment. Press dough firmly into baking dish. Bake until golden and just starting to pull away from edges, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let cool completely and cut into squares or rectangles. Cookies will keep wrapped tightly and at room temperature for up to 1 week.

To Make Bars:
Heat butter (salted or unsalted) in a medium pot over medium heat. Add brown sugar and a pinch of salt and whisk until combined and mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat and very slowly stream in heavy cream, whisking constantly. Return to medium heat and cook, whisking, until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Pour over cooled shortbread and, using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread to the edges. Top with flaky salt (we love this one), cool to room temperature, and refrigerate or freeze until set.
(You can also use a jar of store-bought caramel sauce or dulce de leche. You'll need about 2 cups.)

Chocolate ganache:
Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring heavy cream to a boil, remove from heat, pour over chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk to combine, then pour over the cooled caramel. Immediately scatter flaky salt over top.

Refrigerate until cool, then slice and serve. If you're going for a Twix look, slice into bars instead of squares.

Makes about 40-45 bars.