DULCE DE LECHE SHORTBREAD BARS

I don’t know what possessed me, I picked up two cans of Dulce de Leche Caramels at the store, knowing full well homemade would be better. I used a discontinued Eagle Brand recipe but the bars turned out surprisingly well. Chill thoroughly. The shortbread base was nothing short of amazing; I made a mental note to use it again. It didn’t have the toughness of chilled shortbread and yet it was still… well… shortbread.  

  

DULCE DE LECHE SHORTBREAD BARS

Base:

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cake and pastry Flour
6 Tbsp icing sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 

Filling:

2 eggs
1 can [300 ml] Eagle Brand Dulce de Leche Caramel

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 325F.
• Fully line a small square baking pan with parchment paper, overlapping the sides for easy removal. 
• Sift together the base ingredients, except the butter, in a medium bowl.
• In a separate bowl beat the butter until creamy.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
• Gather into a ball.
• Press firmly and evenly into bottom of pan.
• Poke the dough with a fork. 
• Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
• Meanwhile combine the filling ingredients in a stand mixer.
• Remove pan from the oven and pour the filling over the hot shortbread base.
• Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the middle is set.
• Remove from the oven, cool completely on wire rack.
• Chill overnight. 
• Next day cut into squares. 
• Dust the top with icing sugar if you like.