These No-Bake Millionaire’s Shortbread Bars are easy to make, require no baking and are full of caramel and chocolate! Everyone will love them!
Let’s face it, we can’t always make everything from scratch. Well, I used to believe I could make everything from scratch.
And I even went so far as to turning my nose up at anything not homemade. I also had very firm beliefs about other things and would make sure everyone knew about them.
Enter pregnancy. Scratch all my prior principles.
Au revoir to driving all over the country to get that special ingredient (who can sit in a car for that long with a huge belly?), arrividerci to homemade pasta (the couch is much more comfortable!) and Auf Wiedersehen to eating nothing but organic produce (and hello to saving any kind of extra money).
Don’t get me wrong, I still like organic things and homemade pasta and cooking a special dinner. It’s just not this everyday kind of deal anymore. And come on – it only gets worse with a baby.
But now I’m looking back at my pre-pregnancy self and think that I must have been so annoying and condescending.
“What’s the problem of all these moms? Yes sure you can still go to nice restaurants with a baby and sure you can still get your hair done. And why do you need to be so aggressive with that stroller?”
The truth is that the first time we tried to leave the house with our baby girl we eventually gave up and just stayed at home.
I haven’t had a haircut in months and yes, people are annoying when they just stop in their tracks in front of your stroller. I hate to admit it but what I thought were the worst clichés are so true.
And being mainstream and normal and not totally hipster-off-the-edge? Completely OK.
I also complained about all the moms who felt the need to set up a pretty nursery and buy all. the. stuff. for their babies.
And now? I’m kind of, sort of, just a tiny bit jealous. I know it’s ridiculous because she will not even sleep in her own bed the entire night and wouldn’t know if I painted her a room and set up a pretty changing table in there.
But I never even knew how I would want to do all those things for my child. Apparently that’s what motherhood does to you.
I just hope Branimir understands that there will be more shortcuts in the kitchen and less tidyness in our home. Only that last part was a lie because I still like it tidy.
Now back to those amazing bars. Can you believe they require absolutely no baking whatsoever?
Because shortcuts. Shortbread shortcuts in fact. Since shortbread crumbles and butter make the perfect base for these gorgeous things – why bother making your own?
(And also Walkers make the best shortbread ever (no ad, I just love them!), I ordered these from Amazon in this recipe*).
There’s still enough to make from scratch. OK, just the caramel but it’s so simple it barely counts. And is it worth making your own?
Oh yes because it turns into this sweet and amazing layer of gooey soft goodness.
All you need to do is simmer it for quite a while but if you stick to the recipe and keep the heat on low while stirring every once in a while it doesn’t even require your constant attention.
You can do a load of laundry, chase around your toddler and finally clean that corner which has been bugging you last night. But maybe that’s just me laying awake at night and thinking about what to clean.
Because now that my girl is slowly starting to sleep more than thirty minutes at a time (and most importantly not on top of me!) I find myself having trouble to do the same.
I seem to have settled into this rhythm of not really sleeping at night and hence need to think about cleaning at 2am.
I think next time I’ll just make these bars instead. Because when I made them my brother-in-law and his soon-to-be wife came over and ate them all.
He’s trying to lose weight. And he ate five (!) of these delicious things. That’s how amazing they are. They break even the hardest of people.
EDITED TO ADD:
A lot of commenters have noted that the caramel never thickened for them. This is most likely due to brand differences. 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.
Happy no-baking 🙂
Watch the No-Bake Millionaire’s Shortbread Bars video here:
No-Bake Millionaire's Shortbread Bars Recipe
Ingredients
For the Base
- 10.5 ounces shortbread cookies crumbled
- 7 tablespoons butter
For the Caramel Layer
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 12 ounces condensed milk make sure to use the sweetened stuff
For the Chocolate Layer
- 7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
To Make the Base
-
Grease a 8x8 square baking pan well. Add the cookie crumbs to a bowl. Melt the 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 (this might take 30 minutes - stir from time to time to avoid burning). 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 the butter. Pour over the caramel layer and refrigerate until hardened. Cut into bars.
Recipe Notes
A lot of commenters have noted that the caramel never thickened for them. This is most likely due to brand differences. 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.
* I make a commission for purchases made through these links.
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Liz
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
Awwww thank you Liz <3
Sarah | Broma Bakery
I have no words. Just swooning over here.
Nora
Awwww, I’ll forgive the silence 😉
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
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
I agree! Oh they are so good… But it’s so much work to make them the more complicated way!
Nora
I’m the same! And it’s fun to make your own treats 🙂
Shari Hardin
I really want to try these this weekend, but I’m confused, the recipe calls for unsweetened condensed milk, is that correct?
Nora
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
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
Thanks, Karen! This is so confusing, lol. So there’s evaporated milk, unsweetened condensed milk and sweetened condensed milk?
Marla Meridith
Totally love these bars!
Nora
Thank you so much Marla!
Mary
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
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
My caramel never thickened after an hour and a half. Very disappointing.
Nora
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
I was having the same problem so i cranked up the heat, made caramel in no time!
Nora
Awesome Catarina – glad you could fix it!
joni
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
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
Same thing happened to me. I think I will try it with sweetened condensed milk.
Nora
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.
Megan
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
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 🙂
Lois
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
Thank you so much for sharing your story Lois, hope you and your family like the Millionaire’s Bars and have a wonderful Easter!
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake
I love Millionaire’s Shortbread – and this no bake version looks yummy! Sharing!
Nora
Thanks so much, Michelle!
Hezzi-D
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
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.
Denise
What type of shortbread cookies did you use in this recipe?
Nora
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!
Susan
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
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.
Silvia ibarra
Can you send to me the full recibe???
Nora
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!
Victoria
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
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!
Tiff
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
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!
Adam Paget
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
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.