This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy.
I try to not to make lofty claims when it comes to the recipes you see here on MBA. I’m certainly known to wax poetic about my latest creations, but I try not to toss around words like best, perfect, etc. too often. That’s simply because I know tastes vary and what pleases my palette, may simply not entice you at all.
Then one day I created these Turtle Cookies. I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough base and added caramel bits and chopped pecans into the mix. After one taste of the dough, I knew I had something amazing sitting in my KitchenAid. I impatiently waited for the dough to chill, rolled it into balls and threw them into oven. Then I gawked at them through the oven door while crossing my fingers hoping that the caramel pieces wouldn’t do something funky to the cookies.
They baked up perfectly – the caramel pieces melted a bit and created an an incredible, buttery, flavor within the cookies. Once they cooled, the caramel bits turned into slightly crunchy little nuggets of toffee – which paired perfectly with the pecans and dark chocolate chips.
I was proud of these cookies and knew if I kept them in the house, I’d devour them – one after another until I ended up in a cookie induced coma. So I packed them up and dropped them off to my dad and John, my mom’s boyfriend. Within a few hours I received a text message from my mom and a phone call from my dad declaring these babies to be, “the best cookies ever”.
I really think I’ve got cookie nirvana here, but I’d love to know what you think. Although these cookies call for a 24 hour chill time, I guarantee you’ll think they are worth every single minute!
Turtle Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 ⅔ cups bread flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup caramel bits
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- 1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- 2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- 3. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.
- 4. Drop chocolate pieces, caramel bits, and pecans into dough and gently combine.
- 5. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
- 6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- 7. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet
- 8. Bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more.
- 9. Repeat with remaining dough.
Notes
-I used Caramel Bits from King Arthur Flour, but I have seen the Kraft variety at my local market - although I can not attest to how they perform in this recipe.
-Recipe adapted from Jacques Torres and The New York Times.
CAN You tell me how IS THE WEIGHT OF A STICK OF BUTTER? MANY THANKS
Carolina-
I stick of butter equals 113.4 grams or 4 ounces. Have a great day!
-Jamie
I have a family of chocolate chip cookie lovers that I would love to share these with. Most of them also love turtle candies so I’m sure this would be a winning recipe. I love pecans added to anything!
When I go to print the recipe, the directions part doesn’t print :( All that shows up is the ingredients and notes
Carrie-
This is the first time I used a new plugin for the recipe format. We tested it last night and everything seemed to be functioning properly – however, clearly it is not. I have contacted my developer and am hopeful that we will have this resolved today. Thanks so much for letting me know.
-Jamie
I just tried printing it and couldn’t get it all either. Hope you can get it fixed soon! My cookie monster is waiting!
Jenn Lou-
We are working on it right now. You can always highlight the recipe, cut it and then paste into a blank document for printing. We are hoping to have it up and running by tomorrow.
-Jamie
Mmmm anything turtles is good for me! Yum!
Sounds so yummy! Have you tried the recipe for choc chip cookies using unbleached King Arthur flour? Just trying to simplify and wondering what the cake/bread flour combination brings to the table. Thank you!
These do look like the best cookies ever – I’m going to have to try them!
I’m so excited to make these, they look amazing. You never disappoint me, and your recipes are always a success. I look forward to what you make next!
Jamie! These look so good! Can’t wait to try it. Big fan of caramel.
mmm turtle cookies, what more can one ask for?
YAY! Not only did you think they were the best…but your family did, too. Don’t you just LOVE when that happens?! Congratulations! I have to say…if they were in front of me, I’d probably be in a sugar induced coma, too! …..but not before I wrote a comment about how wonderful they are!