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Chocolate Turtles are a quick and easy homemade candy made up of pecan halves, caramel and chocolate on top. Anyone can make these decadent treats!
Turtle Chocolate Candy
If you’ve had a chocolate turtle before, you KNOW how good they are. They are so good that I am making them in every form possible, Turtle cookies, Turtle Cheesecake.. and even Turtle Cheesecake Cookies! But, I’m here to break the news to you that they are actually extremely simple to make!
Honestly, you just need 4 ingredients, a few bowls and a microwave. Trust me, once you make these yourself you’ll never pay high dollar for store-bought turtle chocolates ever again.
What are Chocolate Turtles made of?
A full list of ingredients and their specific amounts can be found below in the printable recipe card.
- Pecan Halves– You’ll want plain, raw pecan halves. These can be purchased down the baking isle at the grocery store.
- Caramel Squares– I like the use the Werther’s Soft Caramels but this can work with the Kraft Caramel squares, too.
- Milk– We will use the milk to help thin out the caramel while we melt it down.
- Chocolate Chips– Typically, I like to use milk chocolate but feel free to use whatever chocolate is your favorite.
- Sea Salt– this is totally optional, but I absolutely love the addition the saltiness brings to the turtles.
How to Make Homemade Chocolate Turtles
- First, we will take our pecan halves and make little piles of them on either a parchment paper or silicone lined cookie sheet, like in the above photo.
- Next, melt down the caramel pieces and milk in the microwave. Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat until the caramel is melted smooth. The first few times you will think something seriously wrong is happening, but trust the process. It will come together!
- Scoop a tbsp of caramel onto the top of each pecan pile. You can then toss everything into the fridge to help set the caramel up quickly.
- Once the caramel is set up, melt down the chocolate chips using the same method in the microwave that we did with the caramel.
- Once the chocolate is melted smooth, top each of the turtles with about 2 tbsp of chocolate.
- Immediately top with sea salt, if desired.
- Toss them back in the fridge to let them chill completely.
Why is my caramel too sticky?
This means that too much milk was added to the caramel to thin it out. Make sure you count the caramels and measure the milk. Don’t eyeball this one!
What can I do to fix Caramel that won’t set up and stays sticky?
If your caramel got too much milk in the beginning and now won’t set up, the best fix is to dip the entire turtle in chocolate instead of just topping them with chocolate. The caramel will still be soft and sticky but you’ll be able to hold and eat them without any issue.
You will need more chocolate chips if you decide to completely dip the turtles in chocolate.
How to store chocolate Turtles
Store in an airtight container. You can store at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 7 or in the freezer for 3 months.
More Christmas Candy
Chocolate Turtles
Ingredients
- 8 oz (240g) pecan halves
- 28 caramels*, unwrapped
- 1 tsp milk
- 2 cups (400g) chocolate chips
- flakey sea salt, optional
Instructions
- On a parchment paper or silicone lined cookie sheet, arrange your pecan halves into little piles of 5 or 6 pecans. Set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, add the caramels and milk. Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat until the caramel can be stirred smooth. (This usually takes about 1 min 30 seconds)
- Scoop about 1 tbsp of caramel onto the top of each pile of pecans.
- Place in the fridge to help the caramel set up quickly.
- Once the caramel has set up, place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.
- Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until the chocolate is almost finished melting and then stir until there are no more lumps.
- Spoon about 2 tbsp of chocolate onto the top of each caramel covered pecan pile.
- Immediately sprinkle with flakey sea salt, if desired.
- Return to the fridge to help set the chocolate quickly.
- Store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for 1 week.
Can you use a nut milk instead of regular milk with the caramels? If you don’t have a microwave to melt the caramels, can you do it on the stove top? I can’t wait to make these thank you!!
You can use nut milk and yes, you can use the stove top! Just stir constantly over low heat until everything melts.