Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars or Billionaire Cookie Bars

Listen, on Christmas Day (2013) my friend Stacy, in all her creativity, came to join us for a spotter of the Christmas Bubbly. In so doing, she presented me a treat box full of goodies unmatched. One of the treats in that box was such a hit that later that evening I called her to ask for the recipe. She quite simply denied the sharing of said recipe. In fact she won't even share the recipe with her mother. But wait, there's more! She wouldn't even tell me the name of these rich, delightful morsels! NO NAME!? I have been hunting and experimenting to find a match ever since. I haven't been 100% successful in the search so I've created some that, while not the same, will do until next Christmas! I've used my own nomenclature so I don't have to called them, "Those Yummy Cookie Things That My Friend Gave Me On Christmas Day." For search purposes, I call them Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars but at home I call them Billionaire Cookie Bars because they are priceless!

This is not an "easy to make" dessert bar, but when you taste them you'll realize it's worth every moment of work involved.

Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars or Billionaire Cookie Bars

Ingredients - Shortbread

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter (cold) cut up into pieces
• 2/3 cup sugar
• pinch salt 

Instructions - Shortbread

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In an 8x8 baking pan, create a sling out of parchment. Place one piece of parchment across the pan one way with an overhang and do the same alternateley. If you were to take it out of the pan, it would look like a plus sign...(see photos above for reference).
3. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the dough looks like wet sand with little clumps that look like Garbanzo beans.
4. Press a thin layer of the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. (You will have leftover dough. I make a big batch so I can freeze the rest to use in other recipes).
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the shortbread is golden brown. The outer edges of the shortbread will be darker than the center.

Ingredients - Chocolate Caramel

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 cup, high quality, milk chocolate chips

Instructions - Chocolate Caramel

1. Pour 1 can (14 oz.)  Sweetened Condensed Milk into medium sauce pan.
2. Cook Sweetened Condensed Milk over a medium heat stirring constantly. 
3. When the milk turns a tawny color (the color of caramel, say) add the heavy cream.
4. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate, heat proof bowl.
5. Add a bit of the caramel/cream mixture to the eggs and whisk vigorously (you are tempering the eggs so they do not scramble).
6. Continue adding the caramel to the eggs and the eggs to the caramel until they are combined.
7. Lower heat and whisk for 1 minute.
8. Remove the caramel from the heat and add the chocolate chips, whisk until melted.
9. Once the chocolate chips have melted, pour immediately over the shortbread.
10. Chill in the refrigerator until completely cool.
11. After cooled, remove bars from the pan by using the sling you made for the shortbread.
12. Gingerly cut into mini Twix size bars.
13. Store in the refrigerator.
14. NOTE: You can create many variations on this: The Heritage Cook has a similar recipe that is Gluten Free with Dark Chocolate and Gourmet Magazine has a recipe that uses pre-made Dulce De Leche and Dark Chocolate.