Turtle Cookies With Homemade Caramel
Turtle Cookies are pure indulgence - rich and fudgy chocolate cookies packed with toasted pecans, melty chocolate and a pool of homemade caramel sauce! With each bite more decadent than the last, these cookies are made for chocolate lovers.
Servings: 18 servings
Calories: 375kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Dry Ingredients
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup pecans chopped finely
Instructions
Homemade Caramel
- Heat sugar in a medium pot over low heat until sugar melts. Do not stir during this time. If sugar begins melting unevenly, swirl the sugar around in the pot and move the pot on the burner to ensure more even melting
- Once all granules are melted and sugar is an amber brown, add the butter and whisk quickly. Mixture will sputter quite a bit
- Pour in heavy cream and mix vigorously while sputtering until fully combined
- Mix in a pinch of salt then set caramel aside until needed
Dry Ingredients
- Whisk all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and set aside
Wet Ingredients
- Cream butter and both sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 3-4 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy
- Mix in eggs and vanilla
- Add dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated
- Mix in chocolate chips
- Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and scoop 2½ oz cookie balls
- Beat egg whites with the stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or an electric hand mixer until frothy and airy
- Dip each cookie into the egg white mixture then into the pecan mixture, one at a time, placing them back onto the sheet tray afterwards. Use the back of a teaspoon and make an imprint into each cookie then freeze uncovered for 1 hour
- Preheat oven to 350°F then place cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment lined sheet tray and bake for 8-10 minutes. Lightly repress the spoon into the cookies if needed
- Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to the cooling rack for the remainder of the cooling process. Fill each cookie with caramel and serve
Notes
Do not stir the caramel sauce while the sugar is melting. Swirl the pot to cook all granules
Keep caramel warm but not hot before pouring into the center of the cookies
Cookies need to be chilled to avoid too much spreading
Allow cookies to fully cool before serving
To avoid a sticky mess and ugly cookies, store in an airtight container with a lid rather than covering with plastic wrap. Plastic will stick to caramel, even after cooled
Nutrition
Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 223mg | Potassium: 177mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 439IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 2mg
