Vegan Millionaires Shortbread!
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Vegan millionaires shortbread with vegan shortbread base, vegan caramel filling and vegan chocolate on top!
Vegan bakes
I think I have lost count of how many millionaires shortbread themed recipes are on my blog… even if they’re the cake form, or the cupcake form, I have SO MANY. I just adore it. However, none of them are vegan so far!
This is partly because I am not vegan myself, so I have never needed to bake any.. but it’s also because for these, using vegan alternatives makes it harder as they can be harder to come by. Regular condensed milk is available in all shops – and so easy to find. Vegan condensed milk? Very few shops sell it in comparison!
Vegan millionaires shortbread
I have seen many vegan millionaires shortbread recipes now that use medjool dates, cashew nuts, maple syrup etc… and whilst I have literally no issue with this whatsoever, they’re just not ingredients that I commonly buy for my baking.
I wanted to make my vegan millionaires shortbread as similar to my regular millionaires shortbread recipes as I could, so that they fit my style better, and so that they’re easier for me! The good thing is as well, is you only have to alternate three ingredients.. the condensed milk, the butter, and the chocolate!
Base
My shortbread base for this recipe is the exact same as my other millionaires recipes, apart from the butter I use. I used the Stork block for these as it’s a very good dairy free & vegan butter that’s firm, and found in most supermarkets! You may think “STORK ISN’T DAIRY FREE?!” but the foil kind is! It’s amazing.
The only difference in how you make the shortbread, is that I found it’s better if you bake it for a smidge longer than the usual shortbread recipe! It may be because the butter is softer than normal butter is, but who knows… a couple more minutes doesn’t hurt!
Caramel
For the caramel, it’s similar to my other recipe on my millionaires flapjacks, but actually quite different. I tried this caramel several different ways, but finally cracked it! For the butter, I used the Stork block again, and then also this amazing vegan condensed milk.
Honestly, it’s a little life changing.. and it works wonderfully. I had to change the quantities of the other ingredients that I’ve used ever so slightly as the tin size of the vegan condensed milk are different (smaller), but otherwise the ethos is the same!
Vegan condensed milk
I tried using my other caramel from most of my other millionaires recipes such as my Mini Egg millionaires, but I just didn’t like it as much. It didn’t set as well for me, and the colour was too light. Doing it this way, with the light brown sugar means you get a much better caramel with the amazing vegan condensed milk.
You have to be careful when making this caramel, as always! You want the temperature of the caramel to be about a medium heat, and definitely not really high. You must keep stirring, ensuring nothing is being left on the bottom of the pan so you don’t get any burnt bits in your caramel!
Vegan chocolate
For the chocolate side of it, I used dark chocolate that is naturally dairy free and vegan. You need to make sure to check the labels of the brand you choose to buy, as some can still contain dairy in some way, but often the supermarket own cheap bars are naturally dairy free!
I liked to keep my vegan millionaires simple as the caramel and dark chocolate with the buttery shortbread compliment each other so well, they don’t need any other additions. You can add anything you wish as extra to make the bake look lovely and pretty! I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! Enjoy! x
Vegan Millionaires Shortbread!
Ingredients
Shortbread Base
- 200 g vegan butter (I used Stork block)
- 100 g caster sugar
- 275 g plain flour
Caramel Filling
- 200 g vegan butter
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 4 tbsp golden syrup
- 370 g vegan condensed milk (one tin - I used Carnations)
Decoration
- 300 g vegan dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan, and line a 9x9" square tin with parchment paper.
- Cream together your vegan butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the flour and beat again until a dough is formed!
- Press the dough into the bottom of the tin, and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden on top.
- One baked, leave to cool on the side, but still in the tin!
- In a large heavy based saucepan, add your vegan butter, caster sugar, golden and vegan condensed milk.
- Melt on a low-medium heat until everything is melted and the sugar is dissolved.
- Once melted, turn the heat up slightly to a medium heat and boil the mixture for 4-5 minutes, or until the mixture has started to turn more golden and thickened. Stir it constantly with a spatula so the bottom of the pan is scraped properly.
- Pour the caramel onto the shortbread and leave it to set in the fridge for two hours or so!
- Once set, melt your vegan chocolate carefully and pour over!
- Leave the bake to set in the fridge until solid, and then portion and enjoy!
Notes
- I used a tin of Carnations vegan condensed milk but you can use any vegan condensed milk in this recipe!
- If you wanted to add some white chocolate swirls for your decoration, I recommend this vegan white chocolate!
- I use this 9" square tin for all my brownies/millionaires recipes as it's so good!
- Make sure that all of your other ingredients are vegan (does depend on brand), especially if you have allergies.
- I used a supermarket own dark chocolate as it's naturally vegan - but again can depend on the brand.
- This will last in the fridge or room temperature on a cooler day, for up to a week!
- You can use any vegan chocolate you like on the top - 300g is just the ideal amount to cover the traybake and have a decent thickness!
- If you caramel is very hard to cut after being in the fridge, leave it at room temperature for a bit.
- If you caramel is very soft even after being in the fridge, you didn't boil it for long enough or at a hot enough temperature!
- Original recipe
- Base: 200g vegan butter, 100g caster sugar, 275g plain flour
- Caramel: 100g vegan butter, 100g light brown sugar, 600g vegan condensed milk
- Topping: 200g vegan dark chocolate, 100g vegan white chocolate
ENJOY!
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J x
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Is there a recipe for the caramel without? The carnations condensed milk seems to have been discontinued and my partner is allergic to coconut so I won’t be able to use a coconut condensed milk
You can use any other vegan condensed milk!
Hello, can the caramel be made a few weeks ahead and kept in the fridge?
I’m in the US and have concerns about caster sugar. I googled it and read that it is somewhere between our granulated sugar and our Cpnfectioner’s sugar.
Holwever, I noticed comments about using light brown sugar in the caramel filing. Should it be light brown sugar?
Confectioners sugar is the same as icing sugar here in the UK. Granulated sugar is just a bit more coarse than caster sugar, Google says that in the US you can get similar called super fine sugar? Personally I’d substituted caster sugar for granulated rather than brown sugar if you can’t find caster sugar.
I made this twice. The first time, I used gluten free flour for the base and that worked well. I boiled the caramel for longer than stated as it didn’t seem to thicken like it says in the recipe, and it read 108C on my thermometer. That set well in the fridge was but a bit too gooey at room temperature and the chocolate cracked when I cut it. The result was that the caramel oozed out of the sides and the chocolate cracked into large chunks when it was eaten. Messy and not ideal.
The second time, I used heated the caramel up to 115-116C, which took ages but was the absolute perfect consistency at room temperature and got lots of rave reviews at my friend’s party. I also added a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the melted chocolate and marked it into portions when it was semi-set, then it didn’t crack when it was cut and neither did it crack when it was bitten (instead, it just left happy teeth marks).
This is a great recipe and I’d definitely make it again. I did reduce the golden syrup by a tbsp on the second attempt as it was very sickly sweet on the first attempt. This was still extremely sweet, so I’d reduce the syrup or sugar (or a bit of both) again next time (I still have a spare can of the Carnation Vegan milk left). The vegans at the party were thrilled with this recipe. I made more portions than stated out of it, to avoid any accidental sugar overdoses!
Please could you tell me how you mark the chocolate when it is not fully set to make it easier to cut? Thank you!
If I make these 10 days in advance for a party, do you think I could freeze them (it sounds like they’d be stale otherwise?)? Thanks.
Hi Jane! Love the new caramel recipe! I wondered what temperature you need to heat it up to for it to set properly? I’ve tried a few times just going off timing and it’s set differently each time so would like to try with a sugar thermometer 😊 thanks in advance!
Does the new carnation vegan cans work for this?
Hiya! Yes it is definitely worth a go! let me know how it goes! x
My friend Elaine bake me these and I absolutely love them. The absolute best that I have tasted
I made this for my sister in law who is following a dairy free diet atm. She loved it – but there is so much!
Will this bake freeze well?
Many thanks 🙂
Yes absolutely, you can freeze this for up to 3 months! Enjoy! x
Sorry I’m confused my the measurements. For the caramel, it seems to be aski my for 600g of condensed milk amd 100g rack of sugar and butter. Is that correct?