Chewy Chocolate Turtle Cookies - Easy Recipe Makes 30!

Indulge your sweet tooth with these decadent Chocolate Pecan Caramel Turtle Cookies!

These turtle cookies have the best combination of flavors and textures... Each cookie has a gooey caramel-filled thumbprint, with crunchy pecans, and a rich chocolate drizzle.... Turtle cookies are the perfect holiday treat or Christmas cookies, and they make great gifts!

Recipe Notes & Tips

• Softened Butter: Make sure your butter is softened to room temperature before creaming it with the sugars. This helps ensure a smooth dough.
• High-Quality Cocoa Powder: Use a good quality unsweetened cocoa powder for the best chocolate flavor.
• Chocolate Drizzle: For a more dramatic drizzle, use a piping bag with a small tip. Alternatively, you can use a ziplock bag with a small corner snipped off.
• Storage: The cookies will stay fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Turtle Cookie Tips:

• For a more chewy cookie, bake the cookies for a few minutes less.
• For a more crisp cookie, bake the cookies for a few minutes longer.
• If you don't have pecans, you can use walnuts or almonds instead.
• Or for a nut-free option, omit the nuts altogether;)

Chocolate Turtle Cookie Ingredients

½ cup butter at room temperature, or softened (1 stick)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup Hershey's cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, chopped

Caramel Filling
15 wrapped kraft caramels
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Chocolate Drizzle
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips or baking chocolate
1 teaspoon coconut oil

How to Make Chocolate Turtle Cookies

Make the dough: In a large, mix together flour, cocoa, and salt; and set it aside for a minute.

In a the bowl of a stand mixer, beat your butter until it's creamy. Then add brown and white sugars, and beat it again for another 2 minutes until it's light and fluffy. Next you'll add the egg, milk, vanilla, and mini chocolate chips, and mix until everything is incorporated.

Then, lower the mixing speed (to the low setting) and add flour and coco mixture until just combined. Don't overmix it.

Chill: Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2-3 hours. After 2-3 hours, remove the dough. (You can let it sit on your counter for a few minutes if its too hard to work with.)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheets with nonslip mats or parchment; set aside.

Roll in Nuts: Add chopped pecan pieces to a small bowl. Scoop chilled cookie dough into 1-inch balls, then roll each ball into the chopped pecans, and press the nuts firmly into the dough. Place cookie dough balls per baking sheet about 2 inches apart so they have room to spread as they bake.

Indent Cookie Centers: Using a small teaspoon, make a slight indentation in the center of each cookie dough ball for the caramel.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool for10 minutes. Then, use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to cooling rack, and, gently press the center indentations in again.

Caramel Filling: While your cookies are cooling... Prepare your caramel filling by microwaving caramels with the cream in a small microwave safe bowl until smooth. Stir the caramels and cream every 30 seconds until melted... It takes 1-2 minutes of heating time in the microwave.

Fill each indentation with about ½ teaspoon of the caramel.

Chocolate Drizzle, to make the chocolate drizzle, microwave chocolate and coconut oil in a small bowl, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Pour melted chocolate into a piping bag, or a Ziploc bag, snip off a small corner and drizzle over cookies!

Recipe Card

If you make this recipe... I'd appreciate a star rating or a review! Or tag me on Instagram with your cookies!