Chocolate Nutty Shortbread

There’s a graduation gown hanging in my dining room, a pile of to-do lists on my counter, and a ka-jillion cookies in my freezer.

I can’t believe that we’re less than a week away from graduating our oldest son!

My dad and sister came down over the weekend to help out with the long list of projects.

What a blessing they were!

Dad worked on hanging doors and trimming out another room.

Teresa baked, sewed, ironed, cleaned, organized, and helped me make more lists. She even did windows. 🙂

All that good help needed some good food – like this shortbread cookie with a yummy mixed nut center topped with a layer of chocolate. Don’t even ask how many calories – trust me we worked them all off! 🙂

Chocolate Nutty Shortbread

Shortbread:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks)

Nutty Filling:

14 tablespoons butter
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
9 ounces mixed nuts

Chocolate topping:

12 ounces chocolate – I used a mix of semi-sweet and dark

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 9 x 9 x 2 inch-square baking pan with regular or nonstick foil.

Shortbread: In food processor, process flour, sugar and butter until mixture looks sandy and begins to clump. Turn into pan; press over bottom. Prick all over with fork. Bake in 325 degree oven 5 minutes. Lower heat to 300 degrees; bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is pale gold. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Peanut-Caramel Filling: In large bowl, melt butter. Whisk in condensed milk and corn syrup. Cook on medium heat until boiling, stirring all the time. Mixture should be thickened and lightly golden brown. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk. Stir in mixed nuts. Spread over cooled shortbread mixture.

Chocolate Topping: In double boiler, combine chocolates. Heat until melted, stirring to combine. Spread chocolate over nutty filling. Let cool. Once chocolate is set, with sharp knife, cut into 24 bars.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday At the Well and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.