Salted Turtle Cookies

Back in 2011 I spent a summer in Ohio working as a front gate photographer at Cedar Point. It was one of the best summers of my life, and introduced me to a whole host of American candy and treats. Step in the turtle candy; a cluster of pecans, enrobed with caramel and covered in chocolate. I had turtle fudge, turtle ice cream, turtle brownies…the list goes on! Its just the perfect combination, and turtle cookies are my favourite.

The recipe makes an abundance, which believe me is not a bad thing! The turtle cookies are so moreish its unreal and they’re the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea. They’re also quite therapeutic to make, as you roll, dip and roll again. Though it does make for messy hands!

You’ll need to set aside some time for these as you need to chill the dough in the fridge for an hour before you begin the rolling process. Creating the classic rugged effect around the edge of the turtle cookies is actually pretty simple. Firstly you’ll need to roll the dough into balls before dipping them in to frothy egg whites, this acts as the ‘glue’ when you roll the dough balls into crushed pecans. Finally, once you’ve placed the balls onto a baking tray you need to create the dent with the back of a spoon for your delicious salted caramel filling. Its as simple as that!

Now the salted caramel filling is actually the biggest cheat of them all. It’s simply melted toffee sweets with double cream and a big pinch of sea salt flakes on top- so sue me! But it works so well and makes for a deliciously chewy filling to the turtle cookie. Turtle candies don’t usually use salted caramel, but I thought it balanced out the whole cookie so well and added a different dimension of flavour.

I really love the simplicity of this recipe, especially considering how delicious the turtle cookies are! Let me know if you make them, or are also a turtle fan!

Salted Turtle Cookies

Aimee Field

Classic American turtle candies are turned into salted turtle cookies here, and they're SO moreish!

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Chilling Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Course Biscuits

Cuisine American

Servings 20 Cookies

Ingredients

  

Cookies

• 125 g plain flour
• 28 g cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 134 g caster sugar
• 115 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 large egg seperated
• 2 tbsp whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 180 g pecans

Salted Caramel

• 45 ml double cream
• 14 soft toffees
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes

Instructions

 

• Firstly combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl, then set aside. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Then add the egg yolk, milk and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture until just combined. Wrap the dough in cling film and place into the fridge for an hour to chill until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 175C and line two baking trays with baking paper. Whisk the egg white in a small bowl until just frothy and set aside. Finely chop the pecans and place in another small bowl.
• Roll the chilled dough into 1-inch balls, dip in the egg whites and roll in the chopped pecans. Evenly place the balls onto the prepared baking trays and using a teaspoon make an indentation in the centre of each ball. I found it helped to dip the spoon into a glass of warm water between each indent.
• Bake until just set, about 12-15 minutes and then re-press the existing indentations with the teaspoon. Leave on the baking tray for a few minutes to cool before placing onto baking trays.
• For the salted caramel filling, place the toffees and cream into a bowl over a bain-marie and stirring occasionally heat until smooth. This will take about 10 minutes. Carefully fill the cookies with the caramel mixture and sprinkle over sea salt flakes.Then leave to cool completely.

Keyword cookies, salted caramel, turtle