See these Millionaire Shortbread Bars below? Here’s a secret: They’re made with store-bought shortbread cookies. Because let’s face it: We can’t always make everything from scratch. These are easy to make, require no baking and are full of caramel and chocolate – irresisitbly delicious!
Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars
Chocolate and caramel are a match made in heaven. Add a crumbly shortbread base – and you’ve got yourself the best treat.
In the UK, these are called “Millionaire’s Shortbread”, and I first made them when I was 15 from a cookbook I had been gifted – but it was an all-from-scratch recipe and took about 10 hours to complete. I simplified the recipe to turn it into the easiest dessert you can make without much fuss!
Ingredients you’ll need
Ingredient notes:
- Condensed Milk: Do make sure to use the sweetened condensed milk and NOT evaporated milk, because the evaporated milk takes a lot longer to turn into caramel.
- Chocolate: Feel free to use your favorite chocolate chips for the topping, we like semi-sweet best but milk chocolate or dark chocolate work, too.
- Shortbread: I only tested these with Walker’s Shortbread (affiliate link), so If you use a different brand you may see different results.
Note: If you prefer to make your own shortbread base, follow the steps in my Lemon Bars for the base (cut in HALF). Bake the base around 20-25 minutes, or until it’s lightly golden brown. Cool completely before adding the caramel.
Step by step photos
The steps in this recipe are really easy – 1) Blitz shortbread and melted butter to form the base, then 2) press it into the pan and chill. 3) Combine butter, brown sugar and condensed milk in a saucepan, 4) simmer until thickened. 5) Pour over base, chill, then 5) pour melted chocolate on top and chill until firm.
The most important part is waiting for each layer to chill in between!
Tips & tricks
- Caramel: Some commenters have noted that the caramel never thickened for them. This is most likely due to brand differences, or due to using evaporated milk instead of condensed milk. As a little troubleshooting if your caramel won’t thicken, put it back on high heat (be careful not to burn it!) and let it get bubbly until you notice it starts thickening. Then you can turn the heat back down.
- Chilling: Do make sure to stick to the chilling times in between the layers, or they may end up mixed together.
- Slicing: They are quite solid after chilling, so let them sit at room temperature for a bit before slicing.
Storage tips
I like to store these in the fridge for around 5 days, because there they keep best. But do make sure to remove them around 30 minutes before serving, because they taste best at room temperature (they’re quite hard to chew when they’re completely chilled).
You can also freeze them for up to 3 months, if you want to make them ahead.
Watch the recipe video
If you want to bring a dessert EVERYONE will rave about to your next potluck or party – make it this one! It’s the hit of every party for sure.
More dessert bars
Or, click here to browse all my cookies and bars, or click here to browse all of my dessert recipes.
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback! You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!
No-Bake Millionaire’s Shortbread Bars
Recipe details
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Base
- 10.5 ounces shortbread cookies processed to crumbs
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
For the Caramel Layer
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 (12 ounce) can condensed milk make sure to use sweetened condensed milk!
For the Chocolate Layer
- 7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
To Make the Base
- Grease a 8×8 square baking pan well. Add the cookie crumbs to a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir it into the crumbles until everything is wet. Press the shortbread mixture into the pan in an even layer. Refrigerate until firm.
To Make the Caramel Layer
- Add all caramel ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened while stirring often. Pour over the hardened shortbread base and refrigerate again until cold (else the chocolate will mix with the caramel).
To Make the Chocolate Layer
- Melt the chocolate together with 1 tablespoon butter. Pour over the caramel layer and refrigerate until hardened. Cut into bars.
Margaret Kirkwood says
They are amazing have made them lots of times. My friend’s and family love them.
Nora Rusev says
I’m so glad, Margaret! My family really enjoys these too, so I’m happy to hear yours feels the same.
Margaret Kirkwood kwood says
Great and easy recipe. Taste amazing will be making this recipe a lot.
Amber says
I loved it thankyou soo much!! My siblings loved it! 😁😍
Rita Jones says
May be a silly question. I plan on making these. After these are made, do they need to be refrigerated or can they just be stored in a closed container until they all devoured! I’m sure it won’t take long! They look amazing!
Nora Rusev says
Rita, not a silly question at all! I definitely need to update the post with this information. They can be kept either way for a few days. Depends on how you like them – they stay soft on the counter, and much firmer in the fridge. If it feels safer to you to keep them in the fridge, but you want them soft to eat, just let them sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before serving. Hope that helps!
Lauren Vavala says
These look so amazing! Im going to make a batch for a my kid next week – they will love them!
Nora says
Hope your kiddo enjoyed the bars!
Nikki Lynch says
I made these the other day and they were delicious!! Such and easy recipe. My kiddos and hubby ate them all in a day (I may have had 2 myself). I will be making these again for an easy Christmas treat!!
Nora says
So happy to hear this, Nikki! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review – I appreciate your time.
Adam Paget says
I am looking forward to trying this recipe it looks great. However, the country of origin is wrong, these are actually Scottish. In fact these were invented before America was even discovered.
Nora says
Thanks for the heads-up, Adam! Of course I knew these aren’t American – that was the recipe card auto-filling the information. I mean, as a semi-Brit… This is embarrassing, ha.
Nancy Clay says
Then God bless the Scottish!
Tiff says
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, but I need to double check something. You used condensed milk for the caramel not evaporated milk correct? Your ingredients list says evaporated, but your video said condensed.
Nora says
Hi Tiff! Thanks for noticing this mistake. The original recipe was with evaporated milk, but readers kept having issues with it not thickening. So I tried with condensed for the video and now suggest using condensed milk because it’s a lot faster. It does work with evaporated milk if that’s what you have on hand, it just takes more time. Hope that helps, let us know how the bars turn out for you!
Victoria says
hi
1) when you mean chill, do you mean the freezer or refrigerator
2) when I cut the bars after I was done, the caramel and chocolate didn’t stick to the cookie base it came right off, do you know why? I made sure it was fully frozen before I cut it
thank you!
Nora says
Hi Victoria! Just in the fridge, no need to freeze the bars 🙂 And you don’t need to freeze them solid before cutting, just chill them enough so the chocolate is firm. That’s probably why the layers split! I’m sorry you didn’t have a better experience!
Silvia ibarra says
Can you send to me the full recibe???
Nora says
Silvia, if you scroll to the bottom of the post, you’ll find the full recipe. It’s just above the comments – let me know if it’s not showing up for you so I can troubleshoot for you!
Susan says
These were great! We loved them so much we’re making them for a family get together this weekend. Thanks so much for this delicious bar!!
Nora says
Susan, I’m beyond happy to read this! I hope your extended family will love them just as much. Thank you so much for taking the time to report back, I truly appreciate it.
Denise says
What type of shortbread cookies did you use in this recipe?
Nora says
Hi Denise, thanks for asking. This is the exact type of shortbread cookie I used: http://www.amazon.com/Walkers-Shortbread-Butter-Fingers-Ounce/dp/B0014D2B86/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1448795768&sr=1-6&keywords=walkers+shortbread
I’ll link to it in the post as well for others who might want to know. I hope that helps, please don’t hesitate if you have more questions!
Hezzi-D says
These look so good but I couldn’t get the evaporated milk to caramelized. I had it on the stove for well over an hour. I finally gave up and then made my own caramel with condensed milk, the way I normally do.
Nora says
I’m sorry Hezzi, it seems to differ between brands. Some milks need some extra full-on heat to thicken. I’m glad you found a solution.
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake says
I love Millionaire’s Shortbread – and this no bake version looks yummy! Sharing!
Nora says
Thanks so much, Michelle!
Lois says
Easter weekend here in the UK and my nan (sadly passed now) always used to make this so I plan on using your recipe and take over for our family get together – thank you!
Nora says
Thank you so much for sharing your story Lois, hope you and your family like the Millionaire’s Bars and have a wonderful Easter!
Megan says
Going to try these this afternoon for a massive work bake-off to feed 70! need all the shortcuts I can get and these look utterly fantastic. Ill let you know how I get on. Thanks for sharing xx
Nora says
Wow! Good luck on your baking ventures 😀 I hope they go well for you! In case you can’t manage the caramel layer to thicken in due time – bring it to boiling point again and cook until it thickens. That should do the trick if there’s any trouble (evaporated milk products vary sooo much in every country…). That’s the only trouble shooting I could add to the recipe to make everything faster 🙂
Mary says
Your millionaire bars look wonderful but I’m also confused about the “unsweetened condensed milk.” The can of condensed milk I have in my cupboard is VERY thick and is labeled “sweetened condensed milk”, but my evaporated milk is very thin and is labeled “evaporated milk.” I believe sweetened condensed milk can be caramelized, but I haven’t heard that about evaporated milk. I’ve never heard of “UNsweetened condensed milk.” Please clarify which should be used. I’d like to try making these bars for a cookie exchange. Thanks a bunch!
Nora says
Hi Mary, I’ll go change that in the recipe! It’s definitely the thin evaporated milk! And it caramelizes beautifully with the sugar added to it! I hope you’ll like the bars!
Bonnie Martin says
My caramel never thickened after an hour and a half. Very disappointing.
Nora says
I’m very sorry it didn’t work out for you Bonnie! The caramel can take a while to thicken but it definitely shouldn’t take this long! I’ve made this recipe various times and it took me 20 minutes, max so I have no idea why it didn’t work out for you! Did you make sure to use evaporated milk? I know there has been some confusion around that. Also, if you ever have a caramel not thicken again, try adding a tad more sugar. It’s always difficult when working with different ingredients in different countries and unfortunately I’m unable to take this into account! The caramel might also have been too cold, increasing the temperature or even bringing the caramel to the boil again for a few minutes should usually do the trick! Again, my apologies for your bad experience!
Catarina says
I was having the same problem so i cranked up the heat, made caramel in no time!
Nora says
Awesome Catarina – glad you could fix it!
joni says
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has had this problem! Mine has been cooking for an hour and forty five minutes and it’s as thin as when I started.
Nora says
Joni – I’m so sorry you didn’t have any luck with the recipe. It really just needs more heat if it doesn’t thicken. I hope you found a solution in the end!
VLH says
Same thing happened to me. I think I will try it with sweetened condensed milk.
Nora says
I’m sorry to hear that! Sweetened condensed milk will definitely work, the unsweetened kind sometimes just needs some extra heat to caramelize depending on the brand you’re using.
Marla Meridith says
Totally love these bars!
Nora says
Thank you so much Marla!
Shari Hardin says
I really want to try these this weekend, but I’m confused, the recipe calls for unsweetened condensed milk, is that correct?
Nora says
Yes, that’s correct! That’s what it’s called in Switzerland, I believe it’s evaporated milk in most English speaking countries! Sorry for the confusion!
karen says
Nooo, evaporated milk is something totally different. Evaporated milk is like a single cream consistency and used as an alternative to cream to pour over desserts. We have condensed milk too. All the large supermarkets stock it, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury etc, its labelled condensed milk. Hope this helps.
Nora says
Thanks, Karen! This is so confusing, lol. So there’s evaporated milk, unsweetened condensed milk and sweetened condensed milk?
Nora says
I’m the same! And it’s fun to make your own treats 🙂
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
I definitely don’t pretend to make everything from scratch either! It’s part of the fun sometimes! Millionaire bars are one of favorite treats EVER. Definitely need to try this quicker version!
Nora says
I agree! Oh they are so good… But it’s so much work to make them the more complicated way!
Sarah | Broma Bakery says
I have no words. Just swooning over here.
Nora says
Awwww, I’ll forgive the silence 😉
Liz says
You know what I like most about your recipes? They’re all fabulous and beautiful. I’m adding this to my ever-growing list.
Nora says
Awwww thank you Liz <3