Delicious Turtle Thumbprint Cookies
Turtle Thumbprint Cookies are soft chocolate cookies that are rolled in crunchy pecans, complete with a gooey caramel center and chocolate drizzle!
Treat your friends and family to another delicious thumbprint cookie like these S’mores Thumbprint Cookies or Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies!
About These Easy Turtle Cookies
For a texture-filled, flavorful cookie that will instantly please your taste buds, look no further than these Turtle Cookies! Their mixture of chocolate, caramel, and pecans is all you need to curb your sweet tooth!
These would make a welcomed addition to your annual holiday tins! Right between the Peanut Butter Blossoms and Peppermint Sugar Cookies!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: Turtle Cookies are notorious for their delightful flavor combination that keeps you coming back for seconds and thirds! After all, who can resist the sweet chocolate, buttery caramel, and nutty flavor combination that these are filled with?!
Texture: These insanely delicious turtle cookies have tons of mouthwatering textures, starting with the soft, chewy chocolate cookie! From there, the texture continues to build with the crunchy pecan coating and gooey, sticky caramel center. This texture-rich treat is then finished off with a drizzle of melted chocolate!
Ease: 4/10
Pros: A yummy caramel and pecan combination.
Cons: The dipping and rolling process can be messy but an assembly line helps!
Would I Make This Again? Yes!
Turtle Cookie Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Large Egg Yolk
- Whole Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Large Egg Whites
- Pecan Pieces
- Chewy Caramel Candies
- Heavy Cream
- Melting Wafers
Toppings That Make These Cookies Delicious!
The toppings on these Turtle Cookies are what make them the most delicious cookies! Starting with the pecan coating!
To ensure your pecans stick to the cookie, make sure your egg whites get beaten until nice and frothy. I’ve also found that bigger pecan pieces don’t stick to the cookie very well.
Therefore, you’ll want to make sure to finely chop your pecans! After the pecan-coated cookies are baked, they get their yummy caramel centers!
Then you can have fun adding the drizzle toppings! Feel free to use melted chocolate, melted caramel, or even both! I also like to sprinkle flaky sea salt on ours once in a while for a little salty sweet taste!
How To Make Turtle Thumbprint Cookies
- Whisk the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Then set it aside.
- Cream the unsalted butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg yolk, whole milk, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Then cover the bowl of cookie dough and transfer it to the fridge to chill.
- Preheat the oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat the egg whites until frothy.
- Portion out the cookie dough using a medium cookie scoop and then roll it into balls.
- Dip the cookie dough balls into the egg whites and then roll it into the pecan pieces. Then transfer the coated cookies onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Indent each cookie using the back of a round teaspoon.
- Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the cook time.
- Melt the caramels and heavy cream together in the microwave at intervals until smooth.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and re-press the indent. Next, fill the indent with the caramel sauce and allow the cookies to cool.
- Drizzle the cooled cookies with melted chocolate wafers. Allow the chocolate to set before enjoying!
Rebecca’s Tips
- Measure Flour Correctly – One of the key factors in these cookies turning out deliciously chewy and moist is to measure the flour correctly!
- Room Temperature Butter – Be sure to pull your butter out to come to room temperature before making this recipe! Room temperature butter allows it to incorporate with the other ingredients nicely while also giving the cookies a nice, even bake.
- Caramel Centers – I use Kraft brand chewy caramel candies with heavy cream to make the caramel centers. This creates the best caramel texture for these cookies! I don’t recommend using a caramel sauce as the sauce won’t firm up, making for a cookie with a loose center.
- Assembly Line – Prepare an assembly line before removing your cookie dough from the fridge. This way, the dough spends as little time as possible at room temperature, causing the dough to get too warm before baking. Set out your baking pans, finely chopped pecans in a bowl, and beaten, frothy egg whites.
- Spreading While Baking – The cookie dough likely was too warm! Be sure to refrigerate it for the full hour and have your assembly line ready before taking the dough out. That way, you can work quickly, preventing the dough from getting too warm. Resulting in baked cookies that spread!
How To Store Thumbprint Turtle Cookies
Place these Turtle Cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper separating each layer of cookies. This way, the cookies won’t stick to each other!
These Turtle Cookies can then be stored at room temperature to be enjoyed for 3 to 4 days.
Make These Cookies Ahead Of Time!
Making these cookies can be done in two different ways. One way is to bake and assemble the cookies before freezing. The baked cookies can then be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
The second method is to make the dough, roll it into balls, and then freeze the dough balls. When you’re ready to make and bake the cookies, transfer the dough into the fridge to thaw.
Once the dough balls are soft enough, you can follow the remaining recipe instructions and bake. Check out more tips on How To Freeze Cookie Dough.
More Recipes With Yummy Caramel:
- Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies – Made with a simple pudding cookie dough!
- Twix Caramel Brownies – Loaded with Twix candy bars and lots of caramel!
- Easy Carmelitas (Caramel Oatmeal Bars) – Prep these indulgent bars in just 15 minutes!
- Chocolate Caramel Cookies – Filled with a surprise gooey caramel candy center!
- Salted Caramel Rice Krispie Treats – A tasty twist on the classic childhood treat!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let leave a review in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos, or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Turtle Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature – use the egg white as one of the two needed below
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 cup pecan pieces
- 14 chewy caramel candies I use Kraft brand
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- ½ cup melting wafers
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.1 cup all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.½ cup unsalted butter, ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- Beat in the egg yolk, milk, and vanilla until combined.1 large egg yolk, 2 tablespoons whole milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- At low speed, add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Cover and chill dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour to firm up.
- After chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Beat egg whites with a fork until frothy.2 large egg whites
- Use a medium cookie scoop to portion out the dough and roll into balls.
- Dip the balls of dough in the eggs whites and then roll in the pecan pieces and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.1 cup pecan pieces
- Use the back of a round teaspoon to make an indent in the center of the balls, pressing down gently so you don't crack them too much.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through.
- While the cookies are baking, add the caramels and heavy cream to a medium bowl and microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring between each one until smooth, about 2 minutes.14 chewy caramel candies, 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- Remove cookies from the oven and repress the teaspoon into the indent again and fill the indent with the caramel sauce and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate melting wafers or chocolate chips in the microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring after each one until melted. Drizzle over the cooling cookies.½ cup melting wafers
Video
Notes
- Chocolate chips + 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil or shortening can be used in place of melting wafers.
- Storage Instructions: Place these Turtle Cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper separating each layer of cookies. This way the cookies won’t stick to each other! These Turtle Cookies can then be stored at room temperature to be enjoyed for 3 to 4 days.
- Does The Caramel Center Stay Gooey Or Does It Get Hard and Crunchy? The caramel center doesn’t stay gooey, but it does remain chewy! No need to worry about biting into the cookie to find hard, crunchy caramel. If you want the center to be gooey, you can pop the cookie in the microwave for a few seconds!
- Can I Just Use Salted Butter In This Recipe? Yes, salted butter can be used in place of unsalted butter. Just be sure to omit the additional 1/4 teaspoon of salt that the recipe calls for.
- How Come My Turtle Cookies Spread So Much When Baking? The cookie dough likely was too warm! Be sure to refrigerate it for the full hour and have your assembly line ready before taking the dough out. That way you can work quickly, preventing the dough from getting too warm. Resulting in baked cookies that spread!
- Can I Make These Cookies Ahead Of Time And Then Freeze Them? Yes, this can be done two different ways. One way is to bake and assemble the cookies before freezing. The baked cookies can then be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 1 month. The second method is to make the dough, roll it into balls, and then freeze the dough balls. When you’re ready to make and bake the cookies just transfer the dough into the fridge to thaw. Once the dough balls are soft enough you can follow the remaining recipe instructions and bake.
- Recipe Tips:
- Measure Flour Correctly – One of the key factors in these cookies turning out deliciously chewy and moist is to measure the flour correctly! Skip diving your measuring cup into the flour bag and scooping it out. Instead, properly measure your flour by first fluffing the flour with a fork in the bag or storage container that it’s in. Then use a spoon to scoop the flour from the bag and into the measuring cup. Allow it to peak over the rim of the measuring cup and then use the straight edge of a butter knife to level it off. This method prevents you from packing the flour in the cup, resulting in too much flour that will leave you with dry, crumbly cookies!
- Room Temperature Butter – Be sure to set your butter out to come to room temperature before making this recipe! Room temperature butter allows it to incorporate with the other ingredients nicely while also giving the cookies a nice even bake.
- Caramel Centers – To make the caramel centers I use Kraft brand chewy caramel candies with heavy cream. This creates the best caramel texture for these cookies! I don’t recommend using a caramel sauce as the sauce won’t firm up, making for a cookie with a loose center.
- Assembly Line – Prepare an assembly line before taking your cookie dough out of the fridge. This way the dough spends as little time as possible at room temperature, causing the dough to get too warm before baking. Set out your baking pans, finely chopped pecans in a bowl, and beaten, frothy egg whites.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Don’t forget to share it with me on Instagram @sugarandsoulco and follow on Tiktok @sugarandsoulco and Pinterest @sugarandsoulco for more!
Recipe adapted from Robin Evans and Taste of Home.
Share your thoughts!
Love this recipe? Share your thoughts with me and leave a review! And don’t forget to connect on your favorite social platform below!