Vegan Millionaire’s Shortbread

Hi baking friends!

I’ve had a few requests for a vegan millionaire’s shortbread recipe so here it is! The melt-in-your-mouth gooey caramel is balanced perfectly by the crumbly shortbread base and the bittersweet chocolate topping. 

If you are here it’s probably because you’re a chocolate lover like myself so feel free to check out all my chocolate recipes here!

Interestingly there’s not many reasons why this classic treat couldn’t be vegan! All we have to do is substitute the dairy butter for vegan butter and the dairy cream for vegan cream! Simple! 

My go-to quality vegan butter is the “vegan block” by Naturli (based in the UK) that I would thoroughly recommend for desserts and bakes where the quality of the butter is important! Just like you wouldn’t use a cheap chocolate for a chocolate soufflé you shouldn’t use a cheap butter for a sumptuous, gooey caramel! 

 For the cream I have used the new Elmlea plant-based “double cream”. If you don’t have access to this UK-based product then feel free to use coconut cream. You can find this in a can of coconut milk that has been left in the fridge overnight to separate. Just scoop the solid cream off the top when opened. The plant-based cream I use is about 30-35% fat which is important so try to replace it with another cream that has similar levels of fat. 

The trickiest part of this recipe is by far the caramel. Caramel making is an art form and a very challenging one. There is quite literally hundreds of cookbooks dedicated to the science of caramel. 95% of these recipes require a candy thermometer but I have provided a 2nd caramel recipe that does not use a candy thermometer but does require sweetened condensed (coconut or soy) milk.

So to clarify, we have two caramel methods:

• easier method with sweetened condensed coconut/soy milk (can be hard to find) with no candy thermometer
• slightly trickier method with a candy thermometer but easy-to-find simple ingredients

Pick your poison!

For this recipe you will need:

• 18x26cm baking tray (any size will do, it just depends on how thick you want your layers)
• candy thermometer

Here is the back up recipe for caramel if you do not have access to a candy thermometer (but you do have access to vegan sweetened condensed milk):

2nd caramel recipe (with sweetened condensed milk):

• 120g butter
• 120g caster sugar (or light brown sugar)
• 400g condensed coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)
• pinch of salt (optional)

Mix together the condensed milk, sugar and butter in saucepan on the hob on low-medium heat. Stir often to prevent burning.

Once the sugar has dissolved, turn up the medium-high until the caramel boils, stirring constantly.

Keep mixing and heating until it turns into a darker amber colour and has thickened (5-10 minutes). Add the vanilla and a pinch of salt.

Pour the mixture onto the shortbread and leave to cool in the fridge for 2 hours.

Onto the full recipe!

5 from 2 reviews

Vegan Millionaire's Shortbread

June 28, 2020

Servings: 12

Prep: 1 hr

Cook: 25 min

Total: 6 hr

Difficulty: Medium

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Irresistibly delicious caramel slices on top of a buttery shortbread base topped with chocolate.

By: Project Vegan Baking

Ingredients

• Shortbread:
• 240 g of plain flour
• 180 g of vegan butter (room temperature)
• 80 g of caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• Caramel:
• 120g vegan butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 120g plant-based cream
• 60ml water
• 100g golden syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla paste/extract
• pinch of salt
• Chocolate:
• 200g dark chocolate
• 50g white chocolate (optional marbled effect)

Directions

• Step 1 Shortbread: Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
• Step 2 Line an 18x26cm tray with parchment paper.
• Step 3 Cream the vegan butter in a stand mixer for 5-10 minutes until pale and fluffy.
• Step 4 Add in the caster sugar one spoon at a time and continue to cream the mixture. Sieve in the flour and the salt.
• Step 5 Briefly beat this mixture together until it resembles wet sand and then place into the lined baking tray.
• Step 6 Poke a few holes in it with a fork and chill for 10 minutes.
• Step 7 Bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes until it starts to brown on the edges.
• Step 8 Set aside to chill.
• Step 9 Caramel: Microwave the butter with the cream for 30 seconds until they are combined.
• Step 10 Mix together the caster sugar, water and golden syrup in a pan on low-medium heat. Leave the mixture alone and heat until you reach 320F (160C).
• Step 11 As soon as you reach 320F, pour in a quarter of the cream mixture into the hot caramel. Keep stirring while it violently bubbles up.
• Step 12 Continue to add in the rest of the mixture a quarter at time until it’s fully incorporated. This will reduce to the temperature of the caramel to below 212F (100C).
• Step 13 Keep stirring the caramel whilst you bring the temperature back up to 254F (123C). As soon as you reach this temperature, take it off the heat and add in the vanilla paste and salt.
• Step 14 To test if the caramel is successful, spoon a small amount of caramel onto a plate and place in the fridge/freezer to chill for 3 minutes. If the caramel has reached “hard ball” stage then it should set firm. If it has failed then place the caramel back on the heat and repeat the end process.
• Step 15 Pour the caramel onto the shortbread base and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Step 16 Chocolate: Melt 200g chocolate using a bain-marie or placing it in the microwave for 30 second bursts.
• Step 17 Pour the melted chocolate over the caramel and shortbread. Chill for 30 minutes then serve!