Peanut Butter Salted Caramel Millionaire’s Shortbread

Peanut Butter Salted Caramel Millionaire’s Shortbread, a pimped up version of a classic.

My friend Tora and I have been making salted caramel millionaire’s shortbread for years – both of us are obsessed with salted caramel. But then I thought, there’s not many things in life that aren’t improved by a little peanut butter. So I did this. And it was good.

You can easily omit the salt from the caramel if you want as the peanut butter will most likely be a bit salty anyway. But if you are using it, always add your salt last and in tiny amounts, tasting as you go. You can always add more, but you can’t take it away if you add too much!

This is pretty rich, so I definitely suggest cutting it into small portions.

Peanut Butter Salted Caramel Millionaire’s Shortbread

For the peanut butter shortbread:

• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 30g smooth peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 75g caster sugar
• 225g plain flour

Heat the oven to 180C and grease and line a tin (approximately 25x20cm) with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, vanilla and sugar. You can use an electric whisk for this but if your butter is nice and soft then it won’t take much work with a wooden spoon. Once well mixed, add the flour and rub it in with your finger tips until it’s the consistency of bread crumbs. Tip the mixture into your lined tin and squash and press it down and into the edges of the pan until you have an even layer – use your knuckles or the bag of a large spoon. Prick it all over with a fork and put it in the oven. Bake at 180C for 5 minutes, then turn down to 150C and bake for a further 30-35 minutes until evenly golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool a little before you’re ready to apply the caramel.

For the peanut butter salted caramel:

• 200g unsalted butter
• 397g condensed milk (that’s the standard size in the UK. It wont matter if it’s a few grams more or less)
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• up to 1 tsp sea salt

You can make the caramel whilst the shortbread is in the oven. In a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. Once the butter is melted add the condensed milk and golden syrup and continue to heat, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Seriously, don’t be tempted to leave this and do something else – the high sugar content means that it can easily catch and burn – I’ve made that mistake in the past and it’s frustrating and a waste when you have to chuck a batch of burnt caramel away, not to mention the mess it makes of the pan. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, hot enough to boil but not vigorously, and be careful as you don’t want to get splashed with it as it’s super hot. The caramel is ready when it’s, well, caramel coloured. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter. Before adding any salt, taste a little bit (blow on it first and be very careful not to burn your tongue). Add the salt a pinch at a time, tasting after each addition. Once you’re happy with it, pour it over the cooked and slightly cooled shortbread. Spread it out with a spatula until it’s reached the edges and you have an even layer. Leave it to cool, or even put it in the fridge to set up a bit before you add the final layer of chocolate.

For the chocolate:

• 200g milk chocolate
• 100g dark chocolate

(To be honest, it won’t matter if you just use milk chocolate, but I prefer a mix of milk and dark) Melt the chocolate, either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, or in short, 20 second bursts in the microwave, stirring in between zaps.

Once melted, pour over the shortbread and spread it to the edges. Give it a shake and a sharp rap on the kitchen counter to get a nice even finish. Leave to set in the fridge for at least a couple of hours. Remove from the pan, peel off the greaseproof paper and use a big sharp knife to cut into portions (I got 32 pieces out of this). This should keep well for 3-5 days in an airtight container, but I doubt it’ll last that long once anybody tries it!

If you’re as big a fan of salted caramel as I am, check out my other recipes here. Or if it’s peanut butter that floats your boat, have a peek at these.

Little Lemon Shortbread Biscuits with Blueberry Jam

Little Lemon Shortbread Biscuits with Blueberry Jam

These are simple little two-bite morsels – great with a cuppa or pop a few in a pretty bag or box to give as gifts when visiting friends. You can use whatever jam you like – raspberry is always a winner when paired with lemon. I always use a bit of cornflour in shortbread as it makes them tender and crumbly, but you can make these with just plain flour. You can also make them gluten-free by using any plain gluten-free flour you wish.

Little Lemon Shortbread Biscuits with Blueberry Jam

Ingredients:

• 190g butter, softened
• 85g caster sugar
• 200g plain flour
• 70g cornflour
• 1 lemon
• half tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp blueberry jam

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the flours, finely grated zest of the lemon and 2 teaspoons of the juice, and the vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and put them on an un-greased baking tray then use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a little well in the biscuits. Loosely cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge to chill for about an hour.

Heat the oven to 175C. Remove the tray of uncooked biscuits from the fridge. Arrange them so they’re about an inch apart – you’ll probably need two baking trays or to cook in two batches as you need to have the biscuits spaced out as they’ll spread a little on cooking; if you make two batches leave the second batch in the fridge until ready to cook. Use a teaspoon to fill the holes in the biscuits with jam; you may not need all of it so don’t be tempted to overfill them. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until pale golden. Take them out of the oven and allow them to firm up on the tray for a few minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Gluten-Free Shortbread

Buttery, crumbly gluten-free shortbread

Today, the very lovely Alice came to help me improve my blog (yes, this one you’re reading) as she is a whizz with all things wordy and bloggy. To show my appreciation for generously taking time out of her day off, I made her some shortbread. Alice’s is the queen of gluten-free (she’s editor of The Gluten-Free Dining Guide) so I made GF shortbread, but you could substitute normal plain wheat flour for the rice flour if you’re not bothered about sticking to a gluten-free diet. Keep the corn flour though, as it helps give your biscuits a short, crumbly texture.

Gluten-free shortbread

Ingredients:

• 125g caster sugar
• 100g corn flour
• 160g rice flour
• 175g butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift together the sugar and flours. Add the butter and rub together with your fingers tips until you’re beginning to get a breadcrumb texture, then add the vanilla and continue to mix and squeeze the mixture until it all comes together as a ball. Roll your dough into a sausage about 2 inches in diameter, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper. Take your chilled biscuit dough from the fridge and unwrap it. Use a sharp knife to cut into discs about 1cm thick and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Make sure you leave some space in between as they will spread a bit. Chill the biscuits again for about 20 minutes whilst you heat your oven to 150C. Bake for 15-25 minutes (it will depend on the size/thickness of your biscuits how long they take), they should be a pale golden colour when done. Allow to cool on the tray as they’ll be soft when you first take them out of the oven. You can either leave them plain, dust with icing sugar or even drizzle them with melted chocolate!