Millionaire Bars

I've seen these so many times on pinterest and I always wanted to make them so I did so yesterday for my luncheon. I really should know better than to try something for the first time when I am cooking for others.  Though they look good, I think they came up short on flavor.
 
Base:

125g (1 cup) flour 
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
50g (1/4 cup) sugar

Caramel:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces 
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Topping:
3.5 oz / 100g milk or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 
1/2 tsp light corn syrup
30g (2 tbsp) 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

1) Preheat oven to 160C / 325F. Line a 20 x 20 / 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine together butter and sugar and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Spread into the pan and bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool completely.


2) To make the filling, combine together butter, sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter in melted and the mixture looks smooth. Bring to boil and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens a bit and turns amber color. Spread onto the shortbread layer and let cool completely. Transfer into the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
 The base was fine, it tasted like shortbread.

 This layer is the one I was unhappy with. I think this layer should have tasted like caramel and I tried to caramelize it but it became very thick and started spitting and it became downright scary.

So, I followed the directions and poured it on the crust.  I hoped it would end up being fudge-like.  It wasn't.

I skipped the topping directions above and made a ganache thinking that ganache makes everything better.

The end result was a strongly flavored ganache bar with a condensed milk flavored filling.  Like I said, rather disappointing.  Though I must say, some people gobbled them down. Has anyone else made these and if so, what did you think?

Comments

Are you sure these are Millionaires Bars and not really just a Poor Man's Nanaimo Bar? lol
Jennifer Rose said…
i've made them many times, tend to be very common in Scottish bakeries too. I've never put corn syrup in any of the parts, that just seems odd or put butter in the chocolate topping, just melt any chocolate you like usually. sometimes we melt white and milk/dark chocolate to create a marble effect on the top
Ian's Girl said…
Yours is one of the very few sites I will cook blind for guests from. I am disappointed in Pinterest recipes more often than not. It seems like many people prefer their food much blander than my family does!
chickpea678 said…
They sure do look pretty! And chocolate with condensed milk sounds like a good taste to me too ;)!
They are certainly a pretty dessert..but I'm going to take your word that they came up short. I have too many of your recipe's that you rave about..and are now favorites of ours.
greekwitch said…
They look mouthwatering delicious!!
Anonymous said…
I've never seen or heard about these before but they do look delicious but there doesn't seem to be much flavor full ingredients in them though.

Have a great day!

Christer.

https://thecottagebythecranelakefour.wordpress.com
TARYTERRE said…
Well the name sounds RICH. Like they'd be extra special. Like the layers. Never had them. But these look good.