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My homemade millionaire shortbread features a buttery crust, gooey caramel filling, and a thick layer of chocolate. They make the best no bake caramel dessert.
Everyone raves about this Millionaire shortbread.
If you aren’t familiar with this gorgeous dessert, you are in for a treat. Often referred to as caramel shortbread or millionaire’s slice, Millionaire’s bars are a popular dessert consisting of 3 layers- shortbread, caramel, and chocolate.
It’s one of my family’s favorite desserts ever and ridiculously easy to make. Like my classic caramel slice, it’s easy to customize and perfect to make ahead.
If you love elegant no bake desserts, try my cookie dough bites, edible brownie batter, coconut bars, and strawberry mousse next.
Key Ingredients
Shortbread crust
- Coconut Flour. A naturally raw flour that has a cake-like texture when combined with wet ingredients.
- Coconut Oil. Use refined coconut oil to ensure no coconut flavor.
- Maple Syrup. Helps provide a dash of sweetness and also helps hold the shortbread together.
Caramel filling
- Homemade caramel. I like using my vegan caramel for the caramel filling (similar to Dulce de leche). Of course, any store-bought caramel works. I suggest looking for ‘caramel filling’ which is thicker and sturdier than other kinds. Please do not use caramel syrup or caramel sauce.
Chocolate ganache-
- Chocolate. I like to use semi-sweet chocolate as the filling is plenty sweet, and the subtle darkness balances it out perfectly, but milk chocolate will work.
- Coconut oil. Adding a dash of coconut oil to the chocolate will make it easier to bite into once set.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How to make millionaire shortbread
Step 1- Prepare the shortbread base. In a large mixing bowl, stir the coconut flour, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Transfer to a lined pan and spread out evenly. Place it in the freezer to firm up.
Step 2- Add caramel to the base. Remove the shortbread base and pour the caramel over it. Place back in the freezer.
Step 3- Add the chocolate. Melt your chocolate with coconut oil. Remove the pan from the freezer and add the chocolate mixture on top of it, spreading it out all over the caramel. Place in the fridge to chill and firm up.
Step 4- Slice and enjoy! Remove the chilled Millionaire Shortbread Bars from the fridge and slice them into pieces.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Line the pan. Always line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal and also easy cleanup. It’s my non-negotiable when working with bars and slices.
- Thicken the chocolate. I sometimes want a thicker topping, so I swap out the coconut oil for heavy cream. This will be more like a ganache.
- Chill between layers. Chilling the bars between each layer is super important so there is enough time for it all to firm up.
- Slice with a warm, sharp knife. Using a sharp and warm knife will make it so much easier to cut the millionaire shortbread up. Because there are three layers, it can be a little more cumbersome, but prepping your knife first will make it easy!
Frequently asked questions
My method is as follows: Slightly wet a knife and dry it using a kitchen towel. Slice the bars carefully into three equal pieces. Slice through each piece twice until 9 bars remain, then slice once more.
This recipe is suitable for celiacs with homemade caramel or caramel sauce without any gluten.
If you’d prefer a more crumbly and tender crust, you can bake it in the oven for 15 minutes at 180C/350F. Let it cool completely before adding the caramel layer.
More easy bars and slices
Millionaire Shortbread
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups coconut flour
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
Caramel
- 1 cup caramel *
Chocolate
- 1 cup chocolate chopped
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Line an 8 x 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your coconut flour, melted coconut oil, and maple syrup. Mix until combined. Transfer the batter to the lined pan and spread out evenly. Place in the freezer.
- Prepare your caramel, or choose a thick store-bought caramel sauce in a can. Spread it over the shortbread crust and place it back in the freezer.
- Melt your chocolate with the coconut oil. Once melted, let sit for several minutes before pouring over the top of the caramel layer. Spread out evenly before refrigerating until the chocolate has firmed up.
- Slice into bars and enjoy.
Everything is with coconut I like it.
Why is this recipe called millionaire? Dont understand haha.
Just made this for the family and everone RAVES about it.
It tastes so good! My only problem is the chocolate layer. The coconut oil hardens it, so it’s tough to break (or bite into) and makes the caramel ooze out when you do.
Hi Lilly! that is odd, the coconut oil should make the chocolate smoother to bite into. If it’s just melted chocolate, that typically happens with the caramel.
The best millionaire shortbread recipe I’ve ever made!
This sounds easy and amazing! So keen to try it. If I may ask an annoying substitution question – do you think this could also work with other flours like almond flour/almond meal? I’m not very familiar with coconut flour and it’s not something I usually have on hand, but almond meal is more available in my house.
Thanks in advance – can’t wait to give it a go!
When cutting No bake Bars let your knife stay in very hot water, pat dry and slice.
Thank you so much! 🙂 So not a sugar free maple syrup? Will the base stick together?
What could I use if I don’t have access to a monk fruit sweetened maple syrup?
Traditional maple syrup or agave nectar.
This is so incredible. I keep it in the freezer and take some out when I need/want some, which stops me eating it all at once !! It tastes like Darrell Lea caramel snows with a shortbread base. So good, you have to make it!!
Recipe refers to the oven in step 3 – “Remove the shortbread from the oven and pour the caramel over it.” I assume this is a typo and means freezer?
That is correct 🙂 Fixing it now!
I was really looking forward to doing this recipe and for some reason the caramel layer was watery and clumps is oil sitting on top after whisking well and being in the freezer ☹️ Where did I go wrong? Any suggestions as would like to give it another go
Hi Lyndsey, did you whisk it well? If you let it sit for a while, it will start to separate.
I made it with the caramel from condensed milk this time but I remember that this recipe originally had a caramel made from maple syrup and almond butter, right? I’d love to know how that was recipe was exactly because I made them once like that and I thought they were great as well 🙂
What size square pan did you use?
8 x 8-inch pan.
These are AMAZING!! I only had peanut butter so used that instead for the caramel layer. Plus for the chocolate I just mixed my chocolate protein powder with almond milk. They were seriously good. Will be making a LOT in the future!! Thanks so much 🙂
Ahh thank you for the feedback, Adrienne 🙂 Love the idea of a chocolate protein frosting!
My “caramel” layer looked nothing like this. It just looks like a layer of almond butter. There’s no gooey texture like caramel. I used the exact same syrup but a diff brand creamy almond butter. 🤷🏽♀️ Still tastes good but doesn’t have that caramel look or flavor I was hoping for.