Pumpkin Pie Millionaire Shortbread

Just in time for thanksgiving, these pumpkin pie millionaire shortbreads will be a hit at your thanksgiving table. The classic millionaire shortbread gets a fall makeover.

So, I’ve been binge watching the Great British Bake Off on Netflix. I’ve literally taken over the tv. My husband will be happy when I’m through the final season and he can get back to basketball and/or football or heck even the news.

For those of you who haven’t seen this amazing show I’ll give you the run down. Ten bakers vie to be the best British baker. The bakers each partake in three challenges per week for ten weeks. A signature bake which is their take on a dessert, bread, pastry, etc. set by the judges. Then comes a technical challenge which is judged blind, meaning the judges don’t know whose bake is whose. Each week finishes off with a showstopper and the judges decided who is star baker for the week.

Ive been devouring these episodes like they are the baked goods themselves. However, in my defence, I’ve learned quite a bit about baking. Our friends across the pond call a cookie a biscuit. I kept watching for light flaky biscuits, as I know them, and they never came. Consequently, I now have a craving for said “North American” biscuits and will be sharing my grandma’s recipe soon.

Last week, I watched an episode all about caramel, where the signature bake was eighteen identical millionaire shortbreads. I drooled through the first 20 minutes wishing for a bite of any one of the bakers tasty versions.

This weekend, I decided I would be making my aunts much easier version, using sweetened condensed milk. As I was gathering the ingredients together, I came across a can of pumpkin purée. Well, that got my creative juices flowing and I thought, let’s put an Autumn spin of these delicious bars.

I followed my Aunts basic millionaire shortbreads recipe but added a bit of pumpkin pie spice to both the shortbread and caramel layers. The caramel layer also got an infusion of pumpkin purée. I even opted for white chocolate versus the semi-sweet chocolate the original recipe called for.

The results are sooo good. My husband, a non-sweet eater, even raved about them. My two year old who wanted to watch me take photos snuck a few bites in between shots and has been running around, likely on sugar overload, shouting de-wi-cious. I mean, really, pumpkin, caramel, shortbread and chocolate, is there anything missing? It’s no wonder we call them millionaire shortbread. They are worth every penny in my opinion and definitely live up to their name.

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Pumpkin Pie Millionaire Squares

Just in time for thanksgiving. A delicious pumpkin caramel bar with a shortbread crust and white chocolate topping. 

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 36 Bars

INGREDIENTS

Base

• 1 cup butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 Cups flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Filling

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup pumpkin purée

Topping

• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Base: Cut butter into the rest of the base ingredients. Pat into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 325F for 20 minutes.

2. Filling: Combine filling ingredients in a double boiler. Cook over low-medium heat until sauce thickens. Pour over base and cool completely.

3. Topping: Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Once melted, pour over filling and let set. Cut with a knife dipped in boiling water and wiped clean, if the chocolate cracks.

RECIPE NOTES

Adapted from E. Radbourne's recipe and found in the Radbourne Family Cookbook