If you’re a Turtles candy fan, you’ll love these decadent chocolate cookies, pressed with chopped pecans and topped with a soft homemade caramel filling and chocolate kiss! These would be perfect on holiday neighbor goodie platters!
As I sit here typing, I can’t help but yearn for another of these phenomenal cookies. My sister and her cute family came to visit for Thanksgiving, so in true sister fashion, we got to work baking and chatting, crafting and laughing.
She made some divine Parmesan Breadsticks to go with our pasta dinner while I put together the dessert, these yummies. I know I say this every time I post about cookies, but these are a new favorite. I’ll be making them for my neighbor Christmas treat platter for years to come.
I’ll be attending a cookie exchange and ornament party soon, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be arriving with these beauties in hand.
Now I’m no fortune teller, but I can predict with great accuracy that they’ll fly right off the plate!
When my sister left to drive home with her family I told her to make sure to grab a few of these for the road. I texted her some hours later to see how her drive had gone with her kiddles and she said all went well, but the only regret was that she had forgotten to grab the cookies on her way out. 🙂
The cookie tastes a lot like the best brownie you’ve ever had, but then it’s rolled in chopped pecans before baking. Just before placing them in the oven, you use a spoon to press the cookie down in the middle, creating the perfect “thumbprint” indentation for the caramel filling. Then a chocolate candy kiss makes its home in a bed of soft caramel.
Oh boy! Be prepared to lose your self control at bite one! At least, I couldn’t keep myself from enjoying more than my fair share.
Chocolate Turtle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg separated
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup baking cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans or more as needed
- About 20 Hershey Kisses unwrapped
- Caramel filling:
- 1/2 c. brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. water
- 1/3 c. heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar, egg yolk, milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa and salt. Add flour mixture to wet mixture and combine. Cover and refrigerate for one hour or until easy to handle.
- Whisk egg white in a bowl until it becomes foamy. Roll dough into 1" balls, coat in egg white, then roll in pecans. Place on greased cookie sheet or one that's been lined with a nonstick baking mat. Using a spoon, press the balls down so the center forms a little indentation.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 10 minutes. Don't overbake or they won't be soft! Let sit for a few minutes, then carefully remove them to a cooling rack.
- For the caramel filling, in a medium heavy sauce pan over medium-low heat, stir together brown sugar and water until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and boil gently, without stirring, until syrup turns a deep amber color, for about 6 minutes, occasionally swirling the pan to allow it to cook evenly. Stir in heavy cream and butter gradually and allow mixture to return to a boil while swirling it once again. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow caramel to set until it thickens enough so it's not too runny. If you want to speed up the process, place caramel in the refrigerator for a short while.
- Spoon a little caramel into the indentation of each cookie, then place a chocolate kiss candy on top. Store in an air tight container.
Notes
Adapted from Taste of Home
These cookies are a little piece of heaven on earth! They may require a little more effort than your run-of-the-mill cookie, but they are well worth it! You’ll be thanking yourself with every bite!
Chocolate, pecans and caramel combined are just too phenomenal to resist! I know you’ll agree when you try these!
These suckers are good, my friends. You seriously can’t make them soon enough. Though they lend themselves perfectly to being a holiday cookie, I’m certainly not opposed to enjoying them all year round!
For more delicious cookie recipes, go HERE.
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