Salted Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars

These are homemade "Twix".  I LOVE "Twix".  It is one of my favorite candy bars.  These are better.  YES, they are that good.  I got the recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures and she got it from someone named Annie.  THANKS, Annie.  This one is a keeper.

Ingredients:

Shortbread:

• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 t. baking powder
• ¼ t. salt
• 1 C. butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• ½  C. sugar

Caramel:

• ½ C. butter (1 stick), cut into 8 pieces
• ½ C. sugar
• 2 T.  light corn syrup
• 1 (14 oz.) can of condensed milk

Chocolate:

• 1 1/3 C. (8 oz.) Nestle Toll House Semi-sweet Chocolate Morsels
• ½ C. butter (1 stick), cut into 8 pieces
• 2 t. light corn syrup 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes on medium speed with a mixer
4. Reduce the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients (Don’t over mix, only until ingredients are combined.)
5. Line a 13” x 9” x 2” baking pan with parchment paper
6. Press the shortbread into the pan, then bake for 15 – 18 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown
7. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack
8. While the shortbread cools, combine the caramel ingredients in a medium sauce pan on medium heat
9. Stir until all the butter is melted, then increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil
10. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and start whisking constantly until the mixture gets thicker and starts turning to a caramel color (this takes 10 minutes or longer)
11. Pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread and use a spatula to evenly distribute the caramel
12. Place the baking pan into the refrigerator and allow the caramel to completely cool (at least 1 hour)
13. Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, butter, and cornstarch until smooth
14. Pour the chocolate layer over the caramel layer and use a spatula to evenly distribute the chocolate
15. Allow the chocolate to sit for 3 minutes, then sprinkle the chocolate with fleur de sel or sea salt
16. Place the baking pan into the refrigerator and allow the chocolate to set before cutting into squares

Tips and Tricks:

• These are SOOOO good.  Don’t try to eat one when you first remove it from the refrigerator.  It is too hard and doesn’t taste as AWESOME as it can, if you wait for it to come to room temperature.
• I don’t have a double boiler.  I use a pot and put a stainless steel bowl over the pot.  This works fine.