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1
For Shortbread: Line a 8 inch by 8 inch pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 300F degrees. With paddle attachment to standing mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Once well combined, add in flour. After flour is mixed with the butter and sugar mixture, add in the heavy cream and mix together. Place dough in pan and spread the dough to cover the entire pan and evenly spread around the pan. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
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2
For Salted Caramel Sauce: Cook sugar in the heavy saucepan at medium-high heat with candy thermometer. Stir as the sugar begins to melt down to a thick liquid and brown in color as the temperature continues to rise to an amber color. Once the sugar reaches 300-325 degrees, remove from heat. Stir in the butter until completely melted. Stir in the heavy cream. Place the saucepan back on the stove at slow heat and stir in salt. Continue to stir until the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook the sauce down on low heat until desired thickness, 5-10 minutes. Cool down sauce for about one hour and pour 2/3 cup to 3/4 of caramel sauce on the middle of shortbread. Spread the caramel evenly on top of the shortbread, but leave a half-inch perimeter along the edge.
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3
For Chocolate Chip Cookie: Sift together the flour, salt, espresso powder, baking soda and baking powder and set on side. Use a saucepan to brown the butter. Turn the stove heat to medium and allow the butter to crackle and start forming little brown bits. When the butter starts to brown, make sure to remove from heat quickly to avoid burning the butter. Pour the melted butter in the bowl to standing mixer with paddle attachment and add the sugars into the bowl. On medium speed, cream together the butter and sugars. It may take 2-3 minutes for the mixture to come together. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until well combined. Add vanilla extract and then the heavy cream. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the bowl. Stir in chocolate chips and mix well. Use the dough to first line the perimeter of the pan. This way the cookie dough prevents losing too much salted caramel from leaking down the side of the shortbread. Then use the cookie dough to cover the rest of the surface area. I didn't use about 3/4 to 1 cup of cookie dough, so the top layer doesn't get thicker than the shortbread. For the rest of the cookie dough, I rolled them up into balls and made about 6 cookies for myself. Place pan into freezer for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown. If the cookie dough in the center still appears raw, keep the pan in the oven for another minute. Allow the cookie layer to cool completely.
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4
For Chocolate Brownie: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. In a saucepan, melt the butter or microwave butter until melted. Transfer butter to a mixing bowl to standing mixer with paddle attachment. On low speed, mix in sugar and once fully incorporated, add eggs one at a time until mixed together, and then add in vanilla extract. Once all wet ingredients are mixed together, slowly add in the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour brownie batter over the chocolate chip cookie and spread evenly.
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5
Optional addition, sprinkle chocolate chips over the batter. Bake in oven for approximately 25 minutes and should still be a little gooey. Once ready, let it sit until the cookie bar is completely cool.
