Vegan Millionaire's Shortbread

A dairy free and egg free version of millionaire's shortbread that is suitable for vegans. It has a shortbread base, a date caramel filling and a dark chocolate topping

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword vegan

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 309kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the biscuit base layer

100 g Dairy free butter I used Flora Plant, unsalted and softened
60 g Caster sugar
150 g Plain flour
½ tsp Vanilla extract
¼ tsp Salt

For the caramel filling layer

350 g Dried dates pitted
125 ml Dairy free milk I used almond milk
25 ml Maple syrup
150 g Coconut oil
¼ tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla extract

For the chocolate topping layer

200 g Vegan dark chocolate or other dairy free chocolate

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/325F/Gas Mark 3 and line a 8" square tin with baking paper. I grease the tin first with a little dairy free butter to help the paper stick to it
Mix the dairy free butter and caster sugar together until smooth and creamy
Mix in the vanilla, then mix in the plain flour and salt and form the mixture into a dough
Press it into the bottom of the tin and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool
For the caramel layer put the dates, almond milk, maple syrup and coconut oil into a pan and bring it to the boil, let it boil for 3 minutes
Take it off the heat and add the vanilla extract. Blend into a puree with a hand blender - be very careful as the mixture will be very hot! Smooth it on top of the biscuit base and put it into the fridge
For the chocolate topping melt the dark chocolate then pour it on top of the caramel layer
Leave it to set. Once fully set, remove from the tin and cut it into squares. Cut gently with a knife dipped in warm water to avoid the top from cracking
Store in the fridge and eat within 1 week

Notes

Make sure your dairy free butter is at room temperature before you start baking the shortbread.
I used unsalted butter for the shortbread layer. You can use salted butter if you like, it won't make it taste salty, instead it will balance out the sweetness. However, I do prefer to use unsalted butter and add my own salt as then I can control the salt levels.
You must use plain flour (also known as all purpose flour) for the shortbread, self raising flour will make the shortbread rise, which you don't want to happen.
For the caramel I used maple syrup as I love the flavour. To keep it vegan, you can use another sweetener like agave nectar or golden syrup. You could also use honey, but they will no longer be suitable for vegans.
I use almond milk for the caramel layer, you can use any plant milk like oat or soy.
You can use any kind of dairy free chocolate for the topping. I used dark chocolate as it's really easy to find dairy free and vegan dark chocolate. But there are also milk and white chocolates available that are dairy free and vegan.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition