Delightful chocolate nut thumbprint cookies with a caramel filling and chocolate drizzle.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I’ve seen these Turtle Thumbprint Cookies here and there around the Internet, but for some crazy reason, I never got around to trying them until now.
I don’t know why I waited so long because they are fantastic! I mean, there’s a little pool of caramel in the center. What’s not to love about that?
It would not be an exaggeration to say that these cookies shot straight to the top of my must make Christmas cookie list.
Besides all that caramel, I love that the dough isn’t too sweet.
I find that a food processor is the best way to finely chop the nuts, but I’ve also used my blender with good results. You do want to make sure they’re finely chopped though, otherwise it’s hard to get a nicely shaped cookie.
You also want to be sure to use actual caramels in the recipe, as directed. It’s tempting to just use prepared caramel sauce, but it just doesn’t set up well enough for these cookies.
I mean, technically it would work, but it would be really, really messy. If you really want to go all out, you could even use homemade caramels!
With a drizzle of chocolate, these Turtle Thumbprint Cookies are as pretty as they are delicious. I always double the recipe. With five of us, a single batch wouldn’t last a day!
Be sure to save this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Ingredients
- Flour
- Cocoa powder
- Salt
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla
- Pecans
- Caramels
- Heavy cream
- Chocolate chips
Turtle Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg separated, plus 1 additional egg white
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup pecans very finely chopped
- 18-20 caramels unwrapped
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or melting chocolate optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, and salt.
- With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- Reduce speed to low and blend in flour mixture. Cover dough and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk egg whites in a bowl until frothy. Place chopped pecans in another bowl. Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, and then roll in pecans, coating evenly.
- Place cookies about 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just set.
- Meanwhile, microwave the caramels and cream together in a small bowl for one minute. Stir and return to the microwave in 20-30 second increments, until caramel is melted and smooth.
- Once cookies are removed from the oven, gently re-press the indentations. Fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of the caramel mixture.
- Cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare the Chocolate Drizzle (optional). Place chocolate in a small zip-top plastic bag. Set bag in a bowl of warm water to soften. Gently knead the chocolate with your fingers until melted and smooth, placing back in the warm water for a minute or two as needed.
- Alternately, chocolate can be melted in the microwave at 50% power. Snip a small corner from the bag and drizzle chocolate over cookies.
Nutrition
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31 comments
Sarah @ bonjoursucre
They look great! I love Christmas time – it offers the perfect excuse to bake large amounts of cookies and use a lot of butter. Thanks for sharing the recipe – I love the combination of nuts and caramel. The photo is making me hungry!
Betty
Every time I see these cookies I want to make them but I’ve never gotten around to it either. They’re going to the top of my list now though- I’m pretty sure I’ll need a double batch too! 🙂