Terry’s Chocolate Orange Millionaires Shortbread
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Buttery orange flavoured shortbread, delicious homemade caramel, and Terry’s chocolate orange goodness on top. Perfect Christmas traybake!
Chocolate orange millionaires
So, yeah… chocolate orange themed millionaires shortbread anyone?! Honestly, I have wanted to post this recipe FOR SO LONG but I wanted to hold off till Christmas time. To me there’s something very christmassy about Terry’s Chocolate Orange maybe because I always got one in my Christmas stocking as a child, but now I have the perfect nostalgic Christmas bake.
I simply adore Terry’s chocolate orange and I simply adore millionaires shortbread, so this recipe was a bit of a given. I’ve made this several times, and I adore the extra Orange in the shortbread, rather than just the chocolate orange melted on top. If you love Terry’s Chocolate Orange as much as I do, you will also love my showstopper Terry’s Chocolate Orange Drip Cake or the decadent Mini Chocolate Orange Cheesecakes.
Similar recipe
This bake follows the same sort of structure as my salted caramel millionaires shortbread and millionaires shortbread – back to basics because those recipes just work. They’re reliable, they’re well loved, and they make the perfect foundation to build on. So making a festive version using Terry’s Chocolate Orange on top felt like the natural next step, a cosy, cheerful twist that looks gorgeous on a Christmas table.
I also couldn’t resist adding some orange-tinted chocolate drizzle for decoration. It’s simple, but it makes the traybake look extra special, especially when you’re planning to gift it or take it along to a gathering. It’s not hard to do but really does level up the bake, simply pour on the orange flavoured chocolate and drag a cocktail stick through to create the perfect swirls.
Shortbread
Adding orange flavour directly into the shortbread gives this bake the most delicious citrus kick. It’s subtle, zesty, and unbelievably moreish. Totally optional of course, but if you’re an orange lover, you don’t want to skip it. Whilst I used Terry’s Chocolate Orange… because… iconic… you can absolutely swap in any flavoured chocolate you fancy. Lindt, Cadbury, supermarket own… everything works.
When I handed these out to my usual group of taste testers (a very committed and very hungry bunch), the whole tray disappeared so fast I barely got a second piece. They’re brutally honest when something isn’t quite right, but these got full marks all round and they even ask when the next batch is coming.
Caramel
For the caramel, you REALLY have to work on it. You can’t use a tin of carnations caramel and stick it on top as it doesn’t set. You can’t really skip the steps, as it really is a caramel. I don’t often make my caramels from complete scratch as many of my readers prefer the easier versions, and I get that. However, if you want to see how I make my caramel you can watch my Millionaire Shortbread video on YouTube.
You have to make sure to stir the caramel a lot to prevent it from catching and burning. I use a medium level of heat, and a larger pan so it’s easier to stir. You have to be careful as it obviously does get VERY hot, but its worth it. Keep an eye on the mixture turning a slightly darker golden colour and holding the texture and consistency of soft fudge, any more than that and you can end up with hard toffee.
Chocolate orange topping
Once the caramel has cooled and set, finish it off with a generous layer of melted Terry’s Chocolate Orange. It’s smooth, soft, and it melts like a dream. A swirl of orange-coloured white chocolate across the top gives that classic marbled finish. I have seen white chocolate Terry’s Chocolate Oranges in the supermarkets before so if you don’t want to make your own you might get lucky and find one of them to melt down and swirl in.
The fabulous final touch, popping a little chocolate orange segment onto each slice makes them look like perfect mini portions. These cut into uniform squares and the segments fill the square perfectly. It’s festive, it’s fun, and it looks like you’ve made way more effort than you have – these have been a winner at Christmas and New Year parties but also who doesn’t love a Chocolate Orange all year round?!
Tips & tricks
- This will keep in an airtight container for at least 1 week – if they last that long.
- If you caramel is rock solid when you remove it from the fridge, you have slightly over done it. Not to worry though, when you pour the chocolate on, leave it to set at room temperature rather than in the fridge and it should soften the caramel slightly.
- **If you struggle to cut your shortbread and tray bakes without the chocolate cracking on top, set it at room temperature rather than in the fridge and it’ll be softer so therefore won’t crack when you cut it.
- You can use normal milk chocolate if you wish, or even use orange extract to flavour it this traybake.
Terry's Chocolate Orange Millionaires Shortbread!
Ingredients
Shortbread Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 100 g caster sugar
- 275 g plain flour
- Zest 2 oranges
Caramel Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 4 tbsp golden syrup
- 397 g condensed milk (one tin)
Decoration
- 300 g Terry's chocolate orange
- 75 g white chocolate
- orange food colouring
- Terry's chocolate orange segments
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc Fan, and line a 9" deep square tin with parchment paper.
- Cream together the sugar and butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth – mix in the flour and orange zest until a dough is formed. It will be crumbly but the ingredients will be evenly dispersed!
- Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of tin and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until pale golden on top!
- Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to the side. In a large saucepan pour the condensed milk, butter, sugar, and golden syrup and melt on a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved – stir frequently to stop anything from catching.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up high and let the mixture come to boiling point and boil for 5-7 minutes stiring constantly so that the mixture doesn’t catch. BE CAREFUL as the mixture is VERY hot and can burn you if it splashes back!
- The mixture will be ready when it has changed to a slightly darker golden colour, and has thickened to a soft fudge texture!
- Pour the caramel onto the shortbread base and leave to set for an hour in the fridge.
- Once set, melt the chocolate orange and pour over the caramel – melt the white chocolate and mix with a little orange food colouring and swirl it into the chocolate orange with the end of a cake skewer so it forms a pretty pattern or just drizzle it over.
- Put a chocolate orange slice on it for each piece when you eventually cut it. Chill the shortbread back in the fridge for another 1-2 hours until the chocolate has gone hard**!
- Chop your shortbread into the separate pieces and enjoy!
Notes
- This will keep in an airtight container for at least 1 week – if they last that long!
- If you caramel is rock solid when you remove it from the fridge, you have slightly over done it. Not to worry though, when you pour the chocolate on, leave it to set at room temperature rather than in the fridge and it should soften the caramel slightly.
- **If you struggle to cut your shortbread and tray bakes without the chocolate cracking on top, set it at room temperature rather than in the fridge and it’ll be softer so therefore won’t crack when you cut it!
- You can use normal milk chocolate if you wish, or even use orange extract to flavour it this traybake.
Can these be put in the freezer? Thanks
Absolutely, for up to 3 months! Hope this helps! x
Hello Jane
I’d like to try this out, can I use milk chocolate and orange extract? How much extract would be needed? Also is the amount of milk chocolate the same as the amount of chocolate orange?
Hiya! Yes, this should be fine using the same amount of milk chocolate – the extract depends on the brand, but I usually recommend 1 tsp. Hope this helps! x
Would you be able to substitute the shortbread base for a cookie base and then add the caramel and chocolate on top?
Yes absolutely! Take a look at my Millionaires Cookie Bar recipe. Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane, I followed every step and it all came out perfect apart from the white chocolate part…. I used Terry’s white chocolate orange pieces and then once melted added liquid food colouring which turned out unusable.
So I gave up and just swirled white chocolate to the top and added a chocolate orange piece.
They taste delicious….. I’ve just ordered your book and cannot wait to try other recipes.
Hiya! As you used liquid colouring, it caused the chocolate to seize! You need to use a gel or oil colouring when colouring chocolate!
Hey! 🙂
Can I substitute the orange zest for orange extract and if so how much do you recommend please?
Hiya! Yes absolutely – i’d recommend using 1tsp per orange. Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane
I don’t have Terrys chocolate orange where I live so just wondered can I add orange extract to the milk chocolate for the top of the millionaires? If so how many spoonfuls please?
Thanks
Kathirna
I’ve made these a few times and they’ve turned out PERFECT! But the last time I made them the caramel was so gloopy that I couldn’t even cut them into slicesm. I set it in the fridge for 2 hours before putting on the melted choc. Any ideas on what I did wrong? Thanks
Did you accidentally use evaporated milk or light condensed milk? x
I love orange chocolate and was really excited to make this. I followed the recipe and my shortbread was undercooked. I cooked if for an extra 10 minutes thinking that would help but it turned out still undercooked. Still tasted great but I might put it on a higher temp next time.
Ah yes, it just sounds like the oven temp was too low!
Absolutely delicious and easy to make. Previously I made someone else’s millionaires shortbread and the caramel wasn’t good. I realise now that I hadn’t boiled it for long enough. Following your 5 – 7 (I did the full 7) minutes boil gave perfect results.
made these last week. they are absolutely beautiful cannot wait to make them again x
Hi Jane, I made this recipe last week and my caramel turned out great as I first thought then when pouring into the tin there was a lot of oil at the top and once set it was rock solid and I couldn’t cut it, any ideas where I went wrong? Did I over cooked the caramel although it wasn’t burnt. Thank you I’m advance!
That sounds very over done – it won’t necessarily burn if its over done. x
Hi Jane,
Love this recipe although I am struggling to find orange food colouring. I have tried rainbow dust progel orange and keeps coming out pink or if I add more colour it turns to a red. What one do you use?
Oh how strange! It may be worth trying a different brand such as colour splash! x
Mine came out red too, I added a bit of yellow progel and it went orange!
Just wondering is there a specific brand of white chocolate I should use?
Loving all the recipes I’ve tried so far, thank you!
No there isn’t – it’s more the food colouring that can cause a problem! Liquid ones should be avoided! x
Amazing recipe 😊
Hi if I was just buy a the caramel in a tin would it still work the same if I heated it and then added it
No – I really would recommend following the recipe. x