15 Sep Salted Caramel M&M’s Multimillionaire Marshmallow Bars

Salted Caramel M&M’s Multimillionaire Marshmallow Bars – if you think the name is a mouthful, wait until you take a bite! These decadent bars start with a crunchy, brown butter shortbread base, followed by light-as-air salted caramel marshmallow, topped with a layer of chocolate ganache and Salted Caramel M&M’s!

Salted Caramel M&M’s? That’s right – M&M’s recently introduced a Limited Edition Salted Caramel flavour and it’s available in South Africa just in time for Spring! The soft, chewy caramel centre is covered in milk chocolate and coated in a crisp candy shell. They are just as mouth-watering as they sound and I couldn’t wait to try them out in a recipe!

This is my take on Millionaires Shortbread – I used brown butter in the shortbread for and extra nutty flavour and replaced the caramel layer with a salted caramel flavoured marshmallow. The chocolate topping is made extra decadent by loading it with Salted Caramel M&M’s which add a delicious bit of crunch and extra salted caramel flavour.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can make the marshmallow with an electric mixer, although you will need an assistant to help with the pouring of the hot syrup.

Ingredients:

For the Brown Butter Shortbread:
175g salted butter
115g castor sugar
250g flour
5ml vanilla essence

For the Salted Caramel Marshmallow:
150ml water
35ml powdered gelatine (22g)
100ml water
240g sugar
100ml hot water
270g glucose syrup* or light corn syrup
5ml salt
10ml vanilla essence

For the Chocolate M&M layer:
100g dark chocolate
200g milk chocolate
75ml cream
187g Limited Edition Salted Caramel M&M’s

Directions:

• Start by making the shortbread. Chop the butter into equal-sized cubes and place into light-coloured saucepan (so you can see the change in colour easily). Heat on medium-low heat, swirling the pan frequently. The butter will begin to foam, and then start to smell nutty. You should see small particles (milk proteins) turn brown. As soon as the butter has browned, pour it into a heatproof bowl and freeze until solid.
• Grease and line a 20 x 30cm baking tin with baking paper, leaving a 2 cm overhang on all sides. This will make it easier to remove from the tin later. Preheat your oven to 170°C.
• Cut the brown butter into cubes, then place into a food processor together with the castor sugar, flour and vanilla essence. Blitz until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Alternatively, you can do this by hand – mix the flour and castor sugar together, then rub the (softened) brown butter and vanilla essence into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbs. Press the mixture firmly into the prepared baking tin.
• Bake the shortbread for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Set aside to cool at room temperature.
• Next make the salted caramel marshmallow. Place 150ml water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and sprinkle the powdered gelatine over the top.
• Add the sugar and 100ml water to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has come to a boil, then increase the heat and stop stirring. Use a wet pastry brush to wash down any sugar crystals on the side of the pan.
• Continue boiling until the mixture turns a deep amber colour (174°C on a sugar thermometer), then remove from the heat and carefully add the 100ml hot water. The mixture will bubble up, so stir with a long-handled spoon!
• Once the mixture has come together again, add the glucose syrup and place back on a medium-high heat. When the mixture begins to boil, stop stirring and heat until a temperature of 115°C is reached. Remove the mixture and cool for 30 seconds. Start mixing the gelatine on a medium speed, then slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream with the mixer running.
• Continue mixing until the mixture turns opaque, thickens and cools – this will take about 10 mins- then add in the vanilla and salt and increase speed of the mixer to full speed. Whip the marshmallow until the bowl is at room temperature (about another 5 minutes).
• Spread the marshmallow onto the cooled shortbread and set aside, uncovered, for at least 6 hours to set.
• Roughly chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl with the cream, then place over a bowl of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
• Spread the ganache over the marshmallow, using an offset spatula to smooth it. Sprinkle with Salted Caramel M&M’s and refrigerate until set.
• Remove from the baking tin and slice into bars using a hot knife.

*glucose syrup is available at baking stores.