Peanut Butter Caramel Shortbreads

Loyal little readers who have been with me since the beginning of this bloggin' thing (all 1 year, 1 month and 3 days of it) will remember my very first recipe - Millionaire Shortbread. 

As I called it at the time, the recipe is an oldie, but a very goodie. Of course this still remains the case. My Millionaire Shortbreads are pretty faultless (if I do say so myself) and will always hold the nostalgia of my childhood, but I may have committed a certain sacrilege and reworked the recipe ever so slightly... 

The same idea is at their core - a thick layer of gooey caramel, sandwiched between crumbly shortbread and rich dark chocolate - only this time they're gluten and dairy free, with a little peanut butter thrown into the mix for good measure. The peanut butter helped to make the caramel smooth and creamy, without the need to use a soy based dairy replacement (as I didn't have any coconut milk at hand), as well as adding a new flavour and transforming my old recipe.

All in all, they turned out pretty good. It may not be my Grannys recipe but they still had me going back for more. 

Ingredients: 
For the shortbread: 
250g plain flour - I used GF
100g caster sugar
175g vegan margarine

For the caramel:
100g vegan margarine
125g light brown sugar
300g vegan peanut butter

For the topping:
200g vegan chocolate


To Make:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease and line a baking tin. 
• In a large bowl, mix the flour and sugar together. 
• Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
• Knead the mixture together until it forms a dough, it's easiest to use your hands here.
• Press into the base of the already prepared tin. 

• Prick the shortbread lightly with a fork and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch and very lightly browned. 
• Cool in the tin. 
• Whilst the shortbread cools, melt the margarine in a saucepan along with the sugar. 
• When it has melted and combined, add the peanut butter and combine in the saucepan for about 5 minutes (it will thicken).

• Spread the peanut butter mixture over the shortbread and leave to cool. Mine only took about 45 minutes at room temp to set, but it could be quicker if in the fridge.

• For the topping, melt the chocolate, in the microwave or on the hob. Then pour over the cold peanut butter mix and leave again to set. 

• Cut into squares or bars.