These Salted Caramel Turtle Cookies are absolutely amazing – a delicious combination of caramel, chocolate and pecans make the best cookies you’ve ever had!
I recently hosted a baking exchange where my friend Tamara shared a salted caramel turtle cookie recipe that is quickly becoming a new favortie cookie around here.
These cookies are so good you guys!! Salt, chocolate and gooey caramel are three of my most favorite things. Mixed together they create the most delicious cookie – this is sure to be a huge hit with friends and family!
These Salted Caramel Turtle Cookies were a new addition to this years Holiday Baking Exchange. When I first tried one of these cookies I fell so in love that I didn’t want to share the rest of them because they are just that good.
So here is the recipe to share or… not. Hee hee.
Salted Caramel Turtle Cookies:
If you love the combination of chocolate, caramel and pecans that is signature of a traditional Turtle candy then you are going to absolutely love these chocolate turtle cookies!
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. A stand mixer works well for this recipe but a hand mixer and large bowl would work too.
Directions:
1. Mix together flour, cocoa and salt. Set aside flour mixture.
2. Combine butter, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and milk.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Form dough into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, dredge balls in egg whites, roll in chopped pecans and place on prepared baking sheets.
7. Use thumb to create an indentation in the centre of each ball.
8. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Do not over bake, cookies will seem soft still. Re-press indentations if needed and allow cookies to cool on a wire rack.
9. Add caramel candies and heavy cream to a microwave safe small bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring until the caramel softens and the cream is incorporated.
10. Use a teaspoon to fill the indentations in the cookies with caramel.
11. Melt the chocolate in the microwave at 15 second intervals until completely melted. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the caramel filling.
12. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Allow the chocolate and caramel to completely harden before serving. To store or freeze, place in one layer or separate with parchment paper so that they don’t stick together.
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or in the freezer for up to three months.
This turtle cookies recipe takes a bit of work to make but I promise you that they are totally worth the effort. They have quickly become a family favorite because of the rich combination of flavours and textures.
Tips for holiday baking:
- Double or triple recipes to make large batches of goodies. This allows cookies and bars to be made in an assembly line fashion and speeds up the process.
- Pick holiday recipes that compliment each other and look good plated together. For example every year I like to make Candy Cane Brownies, Eggnog Cookies, Cranberry and Pistachio Shortbread and Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Cookies for a good variety of Christmas cookies.
- Participate in a Holiday Cookie Exchange! This is a great way to prepare for a season of holiday entertaining.
- Start baking early and store goodies in the freezer until they are needed.
These turtle cookies look absolutely amazing when plated with my other holiday baking. I make a sugar-free, gluten free version of them – check out these Keto Turtle Cookies.
Dark chocolate chips would be perfect for creating a chocolate drizzle too. Chocolate cookie dough, pecan pieces and melted caramel are the trademarks of these turtle thumbprint cookies.
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KITCHEN ESSENTIALS FOR BAKING:
- I love using this non-stick bakeware for all of my baking.
- These silicone mitts are perfect for grasping hot pans and baking dishes.
- This Henckel Knife is my favorite for slicing and dicing in the kitchen.
- These parchment paper bags are perfect for packaging and these large Rubbermaid food storage containers are great for storing baking in the freezer.
If you love these salted caramel turtle cookies, please give them a five star review and help me share them on Facebook or Pinterest so that others can enjoy it too!
Salted Caramel Turtle Cookies
These Salted Caramel Turtle Cookies are absolutely amazing - a delicious combination of caramel, chocolate and pecans make the best cookies you've ever had!
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg (separated)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
- 15 Kraft caramels
- 2 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp coarse sea salt
- 3 oz milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix together first three ingredients. Set aside.
- Combine butter, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and milk.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.
- Form dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Shape dough into 1" balls, dredge balls in egg white, roll in chopped pecans and place on baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Use thumb to create an indentation in the centre of each cookie.
- Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Do not over bake, cookies will seem soft still.
- Re-press indentations if needed and allow cookies to cool on a wire rack.
- Add caramels and heavy cream to microwave safe bowl.
- Heat in microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring until caramel softens and cream is incorporated.
- Use a teaspoon to fill indentations with caramel.
- Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Melt chocolate in microwave and drizzle over cookies.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 169Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 659mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 12gProtein: 2g
All values are approximate and based on ingredients used by the recipe writer. Always calculate your own individual nutritional values for the most accurate calculation.
Does the Carmel harden up a little or is it gooey ?
It hardens but is soft to the touch (so it doesnt drip but would stick together if the cookies were stacked).
I appreciate the tips in the steps as to how the ingredients should look or feel.
I’ve had these, and they are yummy, and I might try them with my girls,so we had an assembly line, division of labour thing, going. Normally, this is too many steps for me.
Thanks Dana! They are delicious though hey?!