Surprise, surprise. Another week and another return to some of my favorite obsessions: Glasgow/Scotland, coffee, and the Great British Bake Off.
My introduction to Millionaire’s Shortbread came when I was 21 and studying in Glasgow. Every time I walked down Sauchiehall Street and into City Centre, I would walk by the window for Bradford’s Tea Room which was lined with various pastries and baked goods. It took about two months of walking by before I finally stepped inside. Once I did, I walked out with a large slice of Millionaire’s Shortbread.
What is Millionaire’s Shortbread? It’s a buttery, tender shortbread base topped with caramel and a layer of chocolate. It was just a little too sweet for my personal taste, but that was part of the glory of it all and I was obsessed. I went back for more a couple of times; I still think about those cookie bars eight years later.
When I took on my #52weeks52cookies project, I knew I wanted to recreate Millionaire’s Shortbread. That’s where my next obsessions come in…
There’s an episode of the Great British Bake Off where Tamal (UK series 6) bases one of his bakes on a sandwich he had years earlier. In similar vein, these cookies were based off a latte. There’s a place in Chicago called Osmium Coffee Bar run by Dark Matter that makes a “Wake and Bake” latte featuring maple, sage, and black pepper. Despite the name and the strange set of ingredients, the coffee is well-balanced and almost annoyingly delicious. The flavors in these Coffee, Sage, and Maple Millionaire’s Shortbread help mute the sweetness of the original iteration I knew of these cookies. The coffee and the sage taste almost savory and are paired with the sweet maple caramel. A little bit of black pepper is mixed into the chocolate as it is melting. It sounds like it might be a strange combination, but it works so incredibly well!
There’s a reason I keep going back to Osmium for lattes whenever I’m in the area, and a reason why I think about making these despite the fact that they take a bit more time and care than most of my other recipes. This is definitely the type of cookie that you take your time to make and take even more time to savor.
| Cook Time | 35-40 minutes |
| Servings |
cookies
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- 300 grams butter cold (2 sticks + 5 Tbsp)
- 150 grams granulated sugar (2/3 cup)
- 450 grams flour (3 3/4 cup)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp coffee grounds
- 2 tsp dried sage (or 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh sage)
- 1.2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup maple syrup grade A
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 Tbsp butter room temp
- 1/2 cup heavy cream lightly warmed to about room temp
- 200-350 grams dark/bittersweet chocolate chopped, about 60-70%
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Ingredients
Coffee and Sage Shortbread Base
Maple Caramel
Chocolate
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- Prepare the Shortbread Base: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spray and line a 9" x 13" with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sage, and ground coffee; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and mix to combine. Add the dry ingredients 1/2 at a time, mixing until the dough comes together. Using your hands, flatten the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Using a fork, poke holes into the dough. Bake 35-40 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Allow to cool.*
- Prepare the Caramel: In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm together the maple syrup, granulated sugar, water, vanilla extract, and salt making sure that all of the sugar is covered. Allow the sugar to melt. Slowly mix in the room temperature butter and heavy cream. Careful because the caramel will bubble! Allow the caramel to bubble away; using a candy thermometer, heat it until the temperature reads 245°F (this is between soft ball and firm ball stage). Once ready, remove the caramel from the heat and pour over the prepared shortbread base tilting the pan to evenly distribute the caramel over the cookie. Allow to set.
- Prepare the Chocolate: In a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt 3/4 of the chocolate until a candy thermometer reads between 131°-134° F. Once it reaches the temperature, remove the chocolate from the heat and stir in the remaining quarter of chopped chocolate and the ground black pepper. Stir constantly until the temperature goes down to 82°-84°F. Pour over the caramel and leave it to set in a cool, dry place.
*If you don't have access to, or don't want to use, a mixer, you can always chop the butter into small squares, toss all of the shortbread ingredients into a bowl, and rub the butter into the dough with your fingers. Press the dough into the prepared pan.