These Homemade Turtles (caramel, pecan, and chocolate clusters) are a timeless classic for the chocolate box.
Spent the first 19 years of my life as a pecan hater. No, really I did.
Then at my first meeting of the in-laws, my husbands grandpa busted out a huge variety of pecans that he had harvested. Having already offended his grandma by not eating her breakfast sausage, I dug right into his sweet gift. Man, were they delicious.
So here I am 9 years later, a huge pecan lover, especially when in the form of turtles. Who can resist that combination of pecan, soft caramel, and of course, a little chocolate to top ’em off? Store-bought turtles often seem to disappoint me though. So I spent the last eight Christmas seasons trying to recreate my first Christmas as a pecan lover.
First, this recipe is hands down my favorite when I use my soft homemade caramels, slightly undercooking them to keep the caramel extra soft and smooth. Complete the combo with perfectly nutty toasted pecans, and dark chocolate. If you don’t dare make the homemade caramel, or are in a time crunch, melt your caramels with a little cream to soften them up.
Homemade Turtles (Caramel, Pecan, and Chocolate Clusters)
Ingredients
- 1 batch homemade soft caramels cooked to 4 degrees less than called for in the recipe, or 24 store bought caramels
- 100 pecan halves toasted
- 1 to 2 bags dark chocolate chips 10.5 ounce bags
- Fleur de sel optional
Instructions
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If using store bought caramels that are not super soft, melt with 2-4 tablespoons of heavy cream in the microwave.
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Cool until you can roll into balls.
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Place the tips of four toasted pecans together so they make a square with their inner tips, creating the "legs".
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Squish a 2 teaspoon-sized caramel ball on top to connect all four pecans.
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Place pecan/caramel cluster in freezer for about 15 minutes.
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Melt chocolate over double-boiler, or on half temperature in microwave until smooth.
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Pick up caramel/pecan cluster, drizzle chocolate on bottom, and flip back over onto frozen pan. Drizzle chocolate on top to cover the other side of caramel.
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Repeat until the other clusters have chocolate on top and bottom.
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Sprinkle with fleur de sel if desired.
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Let sit until chocolate sets.
Look at this hunk of caramel just calling your name……
Cutting……
Drooling……(and the chocolate’s not even on there yet!)
Pecan lover? You’ll want to check out these other sweet treat pecan recipes:
Chocolate-Drizzled Pecan Pie Bars
Honey Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns
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Pecans are heavenly! These look great!
Yes!! Tis the season for all these homemade goodies! 🙂
Amen to that! Especially of the chocolate variety…..
Question: When you say you under-cook your Soft Caramels recipe for making the turtles, what temperature do you bring the caramel to?
Thanks!
Olive – sorry for the late response. So hard to say exact temperature because depends on your altitude. You want it to be right between softball and firmball stage so they are nice and soft but not oozing out everywhere. Standard for our caramels is about 248 degrees F (this is low end of firmball and is accounted for at sea level), and we recommend for the turtles to go about 3-4 degrees lower. For every 1000 feet about sea level, you need to deduct about 1-2 degrees temperature to reach the appropriate stage as well. For example – we are about 4500 ft altitude, so we actually cook the caramels to about 242-244 degrees F. We would do right around 238-240 degrees F for the turtles where we are located. Here’s a handy chart that will help as well. http://whatscookingamerica.net/Candy/candytemp.htm. If at all doubtful, do the cold water test. Hope this helps!
Is it better to make homemade carnal or melt car male already made to make pecan turtles???
Lisa, I love making homemade caramel for these because I feel like the flavor is always better, but if you are wanting something faster, or are new to caramel making and want a foolproof method, you could definitely use pre-made. You can buy little caramels, or you can even buy caramel in blocks from boutique cooking supply stores. Peter’s is a popular brand for that type.