A hit, I tell you! An insanely delicious hit!
At the last minute, my mom was asked to bring a dessert to an annual Pioneer lunch that my spiritual family was having. No, not literally at the last minute. But, come on... the day before. Seriously? Well actually, my mom had known all along that she was in charge of desserts for this special event, but didn't bother to ask me until the day before. I hope you know that a baker's absolute worst nightmare is being asked to make a mandatory dessert on such short notice. Great, thanks mom.
There were about 50 people attending this event, which meant 50 stomachs (and probably their second and maybe even third stomachs) to feed AND make happy. So it was so critical to find a dessert recipe that wouldn't be too time consuming to make, yet complex enough with its flavors, contributing to a mad-delicious treat. So you're saying a simple, quick-to-make, AND flavor-exploding dessert? Psssssh.... "Good luck with that," you're probably thinking. Actually, finding a straightforward and uncomplicated dessert was no problem. The stressful part of it was mainly trying to find a dessert that fulfilled the last criteria... Taste. Let me explain: My eaters consisted of, not little kids who would probably devour any type of sweet and sugary treat, but picky and dessert-hating adults and elderly asians who would most likely criticize and disgust at any cloying dessert that unsatisfied them. What was I supposed to do?!
I invented the best cookie ever. Soft, chocolate-y, pecan-y cookie filled with smooth, creamy caramel and drizzled with semi-sweet chocolate fudge. Tell me you did not just have a mini foodgasm. GUH. But here's the catch. It looks insanely sweet, but the pecans do a magnificent job of stabilizing this cookie's sugar content. Goodness gracious.
Simple, check. Effortless, check. Taste, CHECK! This was an absolute success. Everyone who came out to the meal was OBSESSED with these sweeties. Many claimed that these cookies looked crazily sweet at first, but the taste told a completely different story. Like I said... the pecans. The pecans truly give it an undertone flavor of saltiness that makes this treat strikingly sexy and delicious. One grandma wouldn't stop asking me about how I made these cookies, so I actually promised to send the recipe to her grandaughter. The one hundred and fifteen cookies I brought to the party vanished in a matter of 30 minutes. PRAISE.
Well, enough of all my jibber-jabber. GO. BAKE. THESE. NOW. You'll understand what all the craze is about once you do.
Recipe
Chocolate Turtle Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
COOKIE DOUGH
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg, separated, plus 1 additional egg white
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup pecans, finely chopped
Caramel Filling
- 14 soft caramel candies, (Kraft Traditional Caramels)
- 3 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
Chocolate Drizzle (optional)
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
COOKIE DOUGH
- Combine flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside.
- With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla; mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.
- Whisk egg whites in a bowl until frothy. Place chopped pecans in another bowl. Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, and then roll in pecans. Place balls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Using a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball.
- Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 12 minutes.
CARAMEL FILLING
- Microwave caramels and cream together in a small bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Once cookies are removed from the oven, gently re-press the indentations. Fill each indentation with about ½ teaspoon of the caramel mixture. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE
- Place chocolate and coconut oil in a small zip-top plastic bag. Set bag in a bowl of warm water to soften. Gently knead the chocolate with your fingers until melted and smooth, placing back in the warm water for a minute or two as needed.
- Snip a very small hole in the corner of the plastic bag. Drizzle chocolate over the cooled Turtle Cookies.
Nutrition Facts
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I have no self control when it comes to mini sweet bites like these. So if I was to create the recipe these turtle cookies dangerously wouldn't last long!
Anna | The Baking Spoon says
Hi Thalia! I absolutely agree with you! I made these again for another event, and they were all gone in a matter of a few minutes... Definitely tempting!
Robin says
These were delicious!!! I wanted to make something different than just turtles and this was it!! I think I will make these and give as gifts for the holidays. Just have to figure out how to make the caramel more firm. Probably less cream??
Thank you for this great recipe!