MILLIONAIRE'S SHORTBREAD

Last night, some girls from my ward gathered to watch The Bachelor. I don't watch the show, but I went for the company. It was so entertaining to make fun of the bimbos who stoop to impossibly low levels, just to get a guy they hardly know.

I made these amazing cookie/bar things. I thought I'd have some left, so I didn't take a picture of them. Here's the lone survivor.

For the shortbread:

Preheat oven to 350. 

Butter two 8x8 nonstick pans (I used glass and they turned out fine).

Place 2 cups flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and  1/2 tsp salt in a food processor and pulse once. Add 2 sticks of butter (cut into small pieces) and pulse until the mixture resembles peas (when I did it, it looked like coarse sand). Divide the mixture evenly between the two pans, and press, covering the bottom evenly. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

For the caramel layer:

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine one 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk and 2 Tbsp butter. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring continuously. Continue stirring over the heat until the mixture becomes thick and amber in color (the recipe says about 15-20 minutes, but it took almost 40. Your arm will get very tired). Pour the caramel over the cooled shortbread and spread evenly using a spatula. Avoid going all the way to the walls of the pan, or the caramel will harden there and be difficult to pry away. Cool to room temperature.

For the chocolate: In a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt 12 oz of quality milk chocolate (or bittersweet, if you want). Once melted, pour over the cooled caramel layer. Again, avoid the walls of the pan, or when you cut the bars, they won't come away from the edges easily. Sprinkle with fleur de sel or flaky sea salt. Cool for a few minutes, then stick it in the fridge to set. Cut and serve.

*Be generous with the salt. What you think would be too much, is probably just right. You definitely want to taste it. 

It's kind of a labor-intensive recipe, but its so good. Each layer has to cool for a while, so you can walk away for a bit and do other stuff.