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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!

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Turtle Cookies

By: Jamie
4 from 15 votes
Servings: 18 5-inch 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

-For regular sized cookies, use a heaping tablespoon and bake for approximately 12 minutes.
-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.

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108 Comments

  1. CAROLINA says:

    CAN You tell me how IS THE WEIGHT OF A STICK OF BUTTER? MANY THANKS

    1. Jamie says:

      Carolina-
      I stick of butter equals 113.4 grams or 4 ounces. Have a great day!
      -Jamie

  2. Cassie Laemmli says:

    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!

  3. Carrie says:

    When I go to print the recipe, the directions part doesn’t print :( All that shows up is the ingredients and notes

    1. Jamie says:

      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

    2. Jenny Lou says:

      I just tried printing it and couldn’t get it all either. Hope you can get it fixed soon! My cookie monster is waiting!

    3. Jamie says:

      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

  4. Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says:

    Mmmm anything turtles is good for me! Yum!

  5. Brenda says:

    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!

  6. Kathryn says:

    These do look like the best cookies ever – I’m going to have to try them!

  7. Emily says:

    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!

  8. Baker Street says:

    Jamie! These look so good! Can’t wait to try it. Big fan of caramel.

  9. lidia@ sugarslut says:

    mmm turtle cookies, what more can one ask for?

  10. Ann says:

    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!