Turtle Cookies

Turtle cookies are recipe #9 of our “24 Days of Christmas” Holiday series where I share 24 recipes over 24 days as a virtual advent countdown to Christmas. Christmas is my favourite holiday, especially when it comes to baking, and I think there are endless creations that we can come up with to reflect the holidays. All 24 holiday recipes will be shared across instagram, tiktok and here on the blog where you can print off the full recipe for your baking pleasure!

These turtle cookies are a soft, butter cookie base with a caramel pecan centre, drizzled with chocolate and dipped in chocolate for a chocolate coated bottom. Turtles always remind me of the holiday season, and recreating a simple dessert that is easy to prepare ahead of time and share at any family function is exactly why I created this recipe!

The Recipe

The recipe for this cookie dough is a luxurious combination of salted butter and both brown and white sugars for a rich flavour and chewy moisture. Besides that, these cookies come together with all of your baking pantry staples like vanilla, flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda.

Once the dough has been made you are going to roll in to 20-24 equal sized balls.
Place these balls of dough on your baking sheet and then press them down slightly – not too much, because these cookies do spread when baking. You are essentially just pushing the cookies down enough to then squeeze the Werther’s Soft Caramel in to the centre. Bake these for 12 minutes and then as soon as you remove them from the oven you will sprinkle chopped pecans in to the caramel centre!

Once the turtle cookies have cooled completely you are going to dip the bottom of them in melted chocolate of your choice and then drizzle the remaining chocolate over top of the cookie. To dip the cookies, I place my melted chocolate in a shallow, small plate and then dip my cookies in this using a fork. Place the dipped cookies on a parchment lined tray or cutting board and then stick these in the fridge for at least an hour to set.

This recipe makes about 20-24 turtle cookies. They freeze well or can be stored on the counter at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2.5 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 20-24 soft Werther’s caramels
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 6 oz chocolate for dipping

Instructions – How to Make Turtle Cookies

• The first step is to grab all of your needed ingredients to ensure you aren’t missing anything.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grab a parchment lined baking tray.
• In an electric mixer on medium speed, combine your butter and sugars. Once mixed well, add in your egg and vanilla.
• Once the wet mixtures have creamed together well, it is time for the dry ingredients. To ensure the dry ingredients are spread evenly throughout, I suggest adding them all to a separate bowl and then gradually pouring this in to the wet mixture. Mix until well combined but do not over mix!
• Now that the dough is complete, start rolling out your 20-24 ish evenly sized balls of cookie dough. Transfer these to your lined baking tray, press them down slightly to fit the caramel in the middle, and then bake for 12 minutes.
• Once baked, remove them from the oven and immediately sprinkle on your chopped pecans and push these in to the caramel centre.
• Let the cookies cool completely before adding the chocolate. I suggest melting your chocolate and then pouring it on to a small, shallow plate. Dip the bottom of the cookie in the chocolate using a fork to remove and then place this on a parchment lined cutting board or tray. Feel free to drizzle any remaining chocolate over top of the cookies and then stick them in the fridge for at least an hour to set.
• This recipe makes about 20-24 cookies. They can stay for 5 days on the counter or be frozen.

Why I Love Turtle Cookies

Whoever invented a turtles chocolate was really on to something…. When I first shared these turtle cookies online, I got so many comments from international followers who had never heard of Turtle’s Chocolates, and that makes sense considering that these chocolates are Canadian made! If you have never had a Turtle’s Chocolate, you are missing out, but they are essentially the perfect pairing between pecan, caramel and chocolates. I took that concept and transformed them into chewy, soft turtle cookies.

Turtle Cookie Alternatives

Pecans are the traditional nut used in the Turtle’s Chocolates, and therefor the ones I used in the Turtle Cookies, however, you can use any nut you love or skip out on the nuts entirely if someone in your family has an allergy.

Storing the Cookies

Like most of my recipes. these cookies will freeze really well. If you are someone who likes to prepare your holiday baking in advance, you can do no wrong in baking and decorating these as described in the recipe below and then letting them cool completely and freezing in an air tight freezer bag. I hope you love these turtle cookies just as much as I do!