Turtle Candies

As far as candy goes, turtles are right at the top of the list in my opinion.  They have some competition from peanut M&Ms and Milky Way’s, but it really doesn’t get much better than pecans covered in carmel and then smothered in chocolate.  Especially when you can make this tasty treat at home!

I think the first time I tried a turtle was one Christmas when I received a box of them as a gift.  Man oh man.  They were so good.  It’s just the perfect combination.  Pecans + Caramel + Chocolate.  Ever since then, I always did my very best to pick out the turtles from the assorted boxes of chocolates before everyone else could get to them. 😀 It never really occurred to me to try making my own turtles at home though!  A few weeks ago when I asked for your feedback, Mrs. Jean brought up the idea for me though!  Thank you!

There was another reason turtles turned out to be a pretty perfect thing to whip up this week – no real baking required!  Which worked out great because I haven’t had a kitchen for about three weeks now!  Ahh, I know.  I’m going a little crazy.  We were all ready to move into our very own house when the closing was unfortunately pushed back.  For a month.  Needless to say, it has been a crazy few weeks for us.  BUT, we found the cutest little studio apartment to live in until we could move into our house, and it has been such a blessing.  We took some time to relax and explore a whole new part of town.  The only downfall is there isn’t an oven or stove in the kitchenette.  It was a little tricky at times, but we managed to make some inventive and delicious meals!

Now, back to this week’s dessert.  I needed something that I could make without having to truly bake anything, and these turtles were perfect.  Anyone can make these!

To start off, gather some chocolate chips, caramel squares, milk, pecans, and parchment paper.  (I used aluminum foil because it was all I had, but parchment or wax paper would be much easier.)

The first thing I did was lightly toast the pecans.  I used a little toaster oven, but you can also toast pecans in a skillet, in the oven, or even in the microwave.  Just be sure to keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn.

When the pecans were ready, I arranged them in small clusters of about 3-4 pecans a piece.

Next, I unwrapped the caramels and put them in a microwave safe bowl.  I added about a tablespoon of milk to the mixture and alternated microwaving the mixture for 15 seconds and stirring.  After about a minute total in the microwave, you should have a pretty smooth mixture.

Using a spoon, I dropped caramel on top of the pecans and let them sit for a short while to cool.  Try to make sure the caramel touches all of the pecans or the turtle won’t hold together very well in the end.

Last, I placed the semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl and alternated microwaving and stirring until it was nice and smooth.

To finish the turtles, I poured a nice amount of chocolate on top of the clusters and then put them in the fridge to harden.

That’s all you have to do!  This is such a delicious treat.  Now that I know just how easy and tasty this homemade version is, I’m afraid they will be showing up more often. 😉

Just look at that gooey deliciousness.  I couldn’t resist.

Thank you for stopping by the blog today!  I had fun making these delicious treats, and I hope you enjoyed them too!

I will be sharing this over at Fiesta Friday.  Feel free to go check out all of the festivities over there!