So I took a caramel square and pimped it out with some salted peanuts in the caramel and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups into the chocolate on top. Now every ‘normal’ caramel square will be mediocre!
Tips for the caramel - PATIENCE! That’s it. Slow heat at the start, once the sugar has dissolved turn your heat to high, and once you’ve a ’rolling bubble’ turn the heat down to low again. Keep stirring. Even when you want to stop, keep stirring. That’s it really!
If you undercook it, the caramel won’t thicken enough and you’ll end up with a runny mess but still delicious so just have a deconstructed dessert. If you over cook it, the caramel will be slightly chewier. Give it a go, you’ll not regret it!
For the shortbread base:
175g butter (from the fridge)
225g plain flour
75g caster sugar
- Line and grease an 8x8 tin and preheat your oven to 175oC
- Cube the cold butter and place it into a large bowl with the flour. Rub together with your finger tips to create a sand like texture. Add the sugar.
- Knead the mixture together until it forms a dough, then press into the base of the prepared tin. Press well into your tin ensuring it’s well packed in. Prick the shortbread with a fork and bake for 20-25mins until golden.
For the caramel:
100g butter
100g light brown sugar
397g can condensed milk
- Place the butter, light brown sugar and the can of condensed milk in a pan over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved. Continually stir with a spatula to make sure no sugar sticks to the bottom of the pan.
- Turn up the heat to medium high, stirring all the time, and bring to the boil, then lower the heat back to low and stirring continuously, for about 5-10 minutes until the mixture has thickened slightly. Pour over the shortbread, and sprinkle over 250g salted peanuts. Leave to cool.
For the topping:
250g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
3 large Reece’s peanut cups, chopped
150g salted peanuts
- Melt the chocolate slowly in a bowl over a pan of hot water/in the microwave. Pour over the cold caramel, sprinkle the peanut butter cups & peanuts over the top and leave to set. - Cut into squares or bars with a hot knife.
