Caramel Turtle Cookies

Happy Holidays!

I have had another crazy yet exciting Christmas.  I have traveled countless hours and had many family adventures.  Overall I would say it was a great Holiday.  During the holidays baking is always a tradition so I made sure I got all my baking in while I was home.  I made many different cookies and tried a few new recipies.  I have seen the recipie for turtle cookies all over the internet so I new I had to give them a try.  They have chocolate, sugar, pecans, and carmel..how bad could they be??

This recipe is so easy and pretty much fool proof!  They are delicious and to Die for!  

What You Need:

Cookie:

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

8 T. (1 stick) butter, softened

2/3 c. sugar

1 large egg, separated, plus 1 additional egg white

2 T. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 c. pecans, finely chopped

Caramel Filling:

14 soft caramel candies (I used Kraft)

3 T. heavy cream

Chocolate Drizzle:

1 square Semi Sweet Chocolate

How To Make It:

1. Mix flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, with an electric mixer. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla; mix until fully combined. Add the flour mixture until just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.

2. Whisk egg whites in a bowl until frothy.  Put chopped pecans in another bowl.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, and then roll in pecans. Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. 

Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 10 minutes.

3. Microwave the caramels and heavy cream for 30 second intervals at a time stirring in-between until smooth.  Once cookies are out of the oven, repress the indentation in the center of the cookie. Fill the indentation with 1/2 teaspoon of the carmel mixture.  Cool on pan for about 10 minutes.  

4. Place chocolate in a bag or bowl to melt it in the microwave.  Stir chocolate at 30 second intervals to ensure there will be no burnt chocolate.  I use a Ziploc bag and cut the end off and drizzle away however you would like the design to be.  

Let these completely cool before you eat them. In my opinion, I hate them when warm, but once cooled I couldn't keep from popping them in my mouth.  They are bite sized so that makes them less calories right??..

Original Recipe