Millionaire's Shortbread

I just returned from a freezing spring break trip to London. While I was not expecting to return from the UK with a tan, I was also not expecting it to snow twice or for all my pictures to be of my eyes peeking out over my thick knitted scarf. Thankfully we were able to stay warm ducking in and out of cafes and the free museums. Because I spent a large portion of my time in London warming my hands on a steaming mug of hot chocolate, I got very familiar with the traditional tea time snacks. Out of all the biscuits, scones, hot cross buns, and pastries I sampled, my favorite by far was the millionaire's shortbread! 

To me, shortbread cookies are delicious as they are. I love the crunch and crumble of shortbread and the slightly sweet, browned butter flavor. But the brilliant Brits have improved upon this simple treat by layering shortbread with caramel and chocolate. These delectable squares are the great grandparents of the Twix candy bar. If you like Twix, you'll love this recipe!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an 8x8 square pan. Cut the cold stick of butter into cubes.

 

In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until the butter is size of peas. Press the shortbread dough into the prepared 8x8 pan.

Bake 20 minutes, until the shortbread is golden brown around the edges. (this is a tad more brown than you want it! No one's perfect.) Set aside and let cool completely. 

Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp butter and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil for 15 minutes, until the mixture is thick and caramel colored. 

Pour the caramel over the cooled shortbread. Allow to cool completely. I let mine cool in the fridge while I made the top chocolate layer.

 

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, whisking until smooth. Pour over the caramel covered shortbread and let cool at room temperature for 10 minutes. Chill in the fridge until cooled completely.

Do you see those beautiful layers? Crunchy shortbread, sweet caramel, and bitter, smooth chocolate have never looked so good! Cut the shortbread into squares while it is cold. These squares are delicious kept cold in the fridge or softened up a little to room temperature.

Millionaire's Shortbread

recipe by Claire Robinson

Ingredients:

 

1 stick + 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold, divided
1 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an 8 x 8 square pan. 

Cut the cold stick of butter into small cubes. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Press the shortbread dough into the prepared square pan. Bake 20 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely.

In a saucepan on medium-low heat, combine the remaining 2 Tbsp unsalted butter and sweetened condensed milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking continuously. Continue to boil for 15 minutes, until the mixture is caramel colored and thick. Pour over the cooled shortbread and place in the refrigerator to cool completely. 

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, whisking until smooth. Pour over the cooled caramel covered shortbread and let cool at room temperature for 10 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator until completely cool. Cut the shortbread into squares while cold.

 

Cheesecake Bars

School birthdays were always something I looked forward to as a kid. Each year I would assume the role of Birthday Queen For the Day, taking homemade cupcakes to my class, bestowing these mom-made culinary jewels upon my loving classmate subjects. Perhaps I took myself a little too seriously! Over the years, my mom has made countless batches of ice cream cone cupcakes topped with Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip frosting. Although she is perfectly capable of whipping up fabulous frostings from scratch, often making up the recipe as she goes, I would beg her to buy this frosting. There's nothing like it. To this day, it is my kryptonite and nothing, NOTHING, can stop me from eating it straight out of the container by the spoonful. For this reason, not my prepackaged food snobbery, I do not buy this frosting more than once a year. I like to fit comfortably into my jeans...

I have a few precious months remaining in my English teaching position in Spain. I teach at a very small elementary school, so when a child has a birthday, the whole school celebrates! The kids bring cakes, soda, chips, cookies, and candy to share with their classmates, the other students, and, luckily for me, the entire teaching staff. Last week, I walked into the teachers lounge to find a "birthday cake" sitting on the table. I use the quotation marks here because birthday cakes in Spain are nothing like the ones I grew up with in the states. Cakes here resemble pound cakes, are only slightly sweet, and are served sans frosting. A teacher told me this particular cake was a cheesecake. He went so far as to say it was a "New York" cheesecake. Well, it wasn't. Not even close. It was a New York cheesecake if you were to add gelatin and remove half the sugar and cream cheese. All this "cheesecake" did was make me miss cheesecake!

Where does one indulge a cheesecake craving in Spain? Nowhere. There is a tapas bar in my town that serves a cheesecake flan. It's tangy and smooth like a cheesecake, but the first bite reveals a pool of deeply sweet caramel syrup typical of a flan. It really is the best of both worlds! However, my craving was so acute, even this delicacy wouldn't satisfy. If I wanted a cheesecake, I'd have to provide for myself. After a quick trip to the store and a raid of a better stocked kitchen than mine for a 9x13 pan, I was ready to whip up a quick and easy ode to the classic American cheesecake. No stand mixer, springform pan, water bath, or hour-long cooking time needed!

I made these cheesecake bars for the first time for a catering event a few years ago. I needed a dessert that could feed a lot of people and could be made ahead of time. I ended up baking several sheet pans of these bars and refrigerating them overnight. They were a hit at the party; easy to slice and, when cut into little squares, easy to eat. Since then, I've baked smaller batches for potlucks or for my own personal enjoyment. Sometimes I share... 

**Note: Allow your cream cheese and eggs to come to room temperature before starting the bars**

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. If you want to have perfectly cut cheesecake squares, prepare the baking pan as shown by my tutorial here. In a medium mixing bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Pour in the melted butter and stir to moisten the crumbs. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of your prepared baking pan and bake for 10 minutes, until the crumbs are lightly browned. Set aside to cool while you prepare the filling.

 

Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Pour the batter over the cooled graham cracker crust.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the cheesecake is just set. If you're unsure, insert a knife into the center of the cheesecake. It should come out clean. Allow to cool completely at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. This will allow the cheesecake to set completely and facilitate easy cutting.

 

Just before serving, remove the cheesecake from the fridge and, if using the parchment paper and tin foil preparation method here, lift the chilled cheesecake from the pan. Cut into squares, wiping the knife clean after each cut. Enjoy your little taste of the classic American cheesecake!

Cheesecake Bars

recipe adapted from joyofbaking,com

Ingredients: 

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 13 crackers
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 

Filling:
2 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 in baking dish with cooking spray or line with parchment paper as shown here. 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Pour in the melted butter, stirring to moisten the crumbs. Press the crumb mixture on the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition, Pour the cheesecake filling over the cooled crust. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cheesecake is just set, wobbling slightly when touched.

Allow to cool completely at room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Cut into bars just before serving, wiping the knife clean after each slice. Top with berries, chocolate syrup, or whipped cream.

How To: Prepare a Brownie Pan

I included this tutorial for preparing an 8X8 brownie pan in my Mini Cadbury Egg Blondies post, but this tip is so useful I think it deserves its own post. You can use this method for blondies, brownies, and bar cookies. It adds a little more time to your recipe preparation, but I promise it's worth the extra step. No more slicing through brownies while holding your knife at an awkward angle. No wasted, crumbled pieces because the first few brownies are impossible to get out of the pan in one piece! Simply line, lift, slice, and serve.

**You may read this and think, "What a waste of tin foil!" Feel free to reuse the foil more than once. I would not, however reuse the parchment paper. This tip works best on 8X8 pans, but will work well for a 9X9 as well. Any larger and you risk crumbling when lifting out of the pan.** 

Cut an 8x8 square of parchment paper. You can measure using a ruler or simply trace the bottom of your baking dish.

Spray the dish with cooking spray. Lay two long strips of aluminum foil in the pan, forming an X. I tear a long sheet of aluminum foil, cut it in half, then fold each half into thirds. This forms two reinforced strips. Leave a few inches of foil hanging off the sides to create "handles."

Lay the 8x8 parchment paper square over the foil. Spray the parchment with cooking spray. This parchment/foil apparatus will allow you to lift the entire batch of blondies, brownies, or bar cookies out of the pan (after they are baked and cooled), making it very easy to cut them into neat, even squares.

When cool, use the aluminum foil "handles" to lift blondies, bar cookies, or brownies out of the pan.

Transfer to a cutting board to slice...and sample:)