Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprints

No lies here… I’m a chocolates for Valentine’s Day kinda girl.

I know. I love an excuse for chocolate. Hard to believe, huh?

We aren’t Valentine’s Day celebrators ’round these parts. Sometimes, we make homemade cards. Those are fun. Sometimes, I’ll make a slightly fancier dinner. But we don’t exchange gifts or anything like that.

I do, however, want chocolates. Every Valentine’s Day. Purely because I can.

So why not have a cookie made like chocolates? Why not? there is no why not, because you can. Woo hoo!

I’ve taken good old turtles and turned them into cookies with dark chocolate thumbprints that are chock full of pecans and salted caramel.

Yep.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In typical thumbprint style, these cookies start out as simple balls of dough.

Then, they get a smoosh in the centers. I used a small wooden rolling pin.

Once the cookies are baked and cooled, the goodies join in on the fun. Pile in some chopped pecans, fill with smooth caramel, drizzle with rich chocolate, and add a few more pecans. And if you’re feeling particularly frisky, drizzle on some more caramel. Cause you can.

These are a dark chocolate cookie, and i like them that way, but if you want something a little sweeter, you can roll these in sugar before pressing the centers. Plus, you can add more and more caramel. Who’s gonna tell you not to? That;s right. No one.

I like using homemade caramel sauce to fill these, because it’s gooey, and decadent. You could use a firmer caramel, if you don’t want it to be quite so sticky or gooey, but I don’t know why you’d want to do that.

These only took about five minutes to whip up and only another few minutes to add the goodies to. You could definitely whip them up on short notice, but they stay perfect for up to three days in an airtight container, so you can make them ahead of time, if need be.

Stack these in a pretty package, wrap a shimmery ribbon around it, and make your sweetie’s day.

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Cookies
Makes about 1 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (for a sweeter cookie, roll dough in more sugar before baking)
1 egg
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 cup caramel sauce (depending on how large you make your cookies)
1/4 pecans, chopped
1 to 2 ounces dark chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mats; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, cream, and vanilla, stirring on medium until combined. Scrape the bowl, as needed. Stir in flour mixture until just combined.

Roll balls using 1 to 2 tablespoons (I did 1 1/2 tablespoons or 4 teaspoons) dough for each. If you want a sweeter cookie, roll each in sugar. Place about 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Uding your thumb, a spoon, or the handle of a wooden spoon or small rolling pin, gently press in the center of each cookie to create an indentation.

Bake until the cookies are just set, about 10 minutes. Once you remove the cookies from the oven, gently press centers again to maintain the indentation. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Once cooled, place several chopped pecan bits in each cookie. Spoon caramel into center of each cookie, covering the pecans. Drizzle the cookies with melted dark chocolate. Sprinkle with more chopped pecans. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes. Cookies will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.

Recipe by Darla

Tagged as: Caramel, Chocolate, Chocolate Caramel Turtles, Cookies, Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Cookies, Gluten-free, Recipes, Salted Caramel, Thumbprint Cookies, Turtle Cookies, Turtles, Valentine's Day