Chocolate Turtle Cookies
Decadent chocolate. Gooey caramel. Crunchy nuts. Hint of sea salt. Mmmmmmm.
Mouth-watering.
I made these chocolate turtle cookies sometime in the dead of winter. They were so good that I have been thinking about them for the past six months! Not only are they gorgeous, but they are absolutely delicious. They are certainly some of the best cookies I have ever made--and that's saying a lot from a girl that loves her cookies and all things chocolate. This little beauties are show stoppers. I can't wait for an excuse to make them again!
On another note, the backlog of blog posts is quite extensive. I am hoping to get back to posting once or twice a week. I am hoping that this school year will be more balanced and that my sanity will be more stable. :) Thanks for hanging in there with me this year as I started my school administration journey.
Chocolate Turtle Cookies:
Adapted from a variety of recipes I found on Pinterest.
For the cookies...
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/3 cup of cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 2/3 cup of sugar
- 1 large egg, separated...plus the egg white of an additional egg
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups of pecans, very finely chopped (i.e., in the food processor)
For the caramel filling...
(This is the same filling as in the pumpkin pie bites with salted caramel sauce.)
- 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of water
- 6 tablespoons of butter
- 3/4 cup of heavy cream
- coarse sea salt for sprinkling
To make the cookies...
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Switch to the paddle attachment on your mixer.
- Add the egg yolk, milk, and vanilla. Mix.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
- Form the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.
- Whisk the egg whites in a shallow bowl until frothy. Place the pecan bits in another shallow bowl.
- Roll the chilled dough into one-inch sized balls. Then dip in the egg whites. Finally dip in the pecans.
- Place the balls about two inches apart on a large baking sheet. I then used the back of a measuring spoon to make the indentation in the center of the cookie, but you can use your thumb or whatever implement you see fit.
- Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 12 to 15 minutes.
To make the caramel filling...
- Gather all of your ingredients and have them ready to add quickly.
- In a large non-stick skillet or sauce pan, heat the sugar and water over moderately high heat whisking constantly.
- Once the mixture reaches a boil, stop whisking and allow the mixture to boil until it reaches a dark amber color. Give it a final whisk or two.
- Once the mixture reaches a dark amber color, immediately add the butter and whisk until butter has melted then immediately remove from heat.
- Wait 3 seconds then carefully pour in cream and immediately whisk to combine (it will bubble vigorously).
- Whisk until the mixture is smooth, which could take a couple of minutes.
- Allow the caramel to cool several minutes then pour into a ziploc bag.
The final touches...
- Snip off the tip of the ziploc bag and squeeze the caramel into the prepared indented cookies until the caramel is just below the rim of the cookie.
- Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
- Enjoy and dazzle your friends!