Turtle Cookies
Rich buttery chocolate thumbprint cookies filled with salted caramel, roasted pecans and covered in a dark chocolate shell. These are BETTER than Turtles chocolates themselves - promise!
Ingredients
Cookie dough:
- 2 oz 56g bittersweet chocolate (min 70% cocoa) melted and cooled
- 1 cup 142g all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup 21g cocoa powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup 113g unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup 100g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the filling:
1 x small batch Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce
- 15 roasted pecan halves plus more for decorating
- 5 oz 142g dark chocolate melted
- ¼ cup chopped roasted pecans for decorating
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until light and fluffy. Mix in yolk and vanilla extract. Stir through melted chocolate. Add flour mixture and fold it in until just incorporated.
- Form the dough into a log and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice the chilled log into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion of dough into smooth balls and place onto prepared baking sheets spacing them about 2 inches apart. Use your thumb or a dowel (such as the back end of a wooden spoon) or the back of a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon to create a well in the center of each cookie. Once you’ve made the impression with the dowel, move it around inside the well to open up the space to make room for lots of filling.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove from the oven and transfer trays to a wire rack and reinforce the indents again. Let cool completely on trays as these cookies are delicate when warm.
- Make the caramel sauce and let it cool completely. You can do this weeks in advance! Spoon some chilled caramel sauce into the wells of each cookie, place a roasted pecan on top and then drizzle melted chocolate over top. Spread the chocolate out around the edges to cover and enclose the caramel. Top with chopped pecans or more whole pecans for decorating then refrigerate until chocolate is set before storing and serving.
