Yield: 6 turtle cookies // Total Time: 30 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.
If there’s anything can settle all of your sweet cravings in one bite, it has to be these turtle cookies. Soft and chewy cookie dough packed with semi sweet chocolate and pecans, stuffed with a soft caramel.
Small batch turtle cookies recipe tips
Weigh your ingredients
Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient. In a small batch recipe it is especially important to get those correct measurements because there is less room for error. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. This one is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out!
Room temperature ingredients
It is important that the butter and egg yolk are at room temperature so that they incorporate properly with the rest of the ingredients. Take out the butter and egg yolk at least 30 minutes before starting the recipe. If you are in a hurry and need some tricks to getting room temperature ingredients quickly, you can check out this post here!
Mix the dough carefully
When adding in the flour, only fold the mixture just until no flour streaks remain. Overmixing the dough leads to more gluten formation, which can make the cookies super tough and chewy.
Under bake for perfect cookies
Cookies continue baking after they have been taken out of the oven. The cookies may look a little underdone at 10 minutes, but it’s important to take them out to keep them nice and soft. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
Cookie scoot
If your cookies come out of the oven a little misshapen, don’t panic! Rarely do any cookies come out perfect. The way to fix this is to take a bowl or biscuit cutter that is slightly larger than your cookies, and swirl the cookie around in it on the baking sheet right when it comes out of the oven. This will put your cookie back into a perfect circle!
Ingredients and substitutions
All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
Baking powder: for helping the cookies rise.
Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the cookies
Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the cookies.
Light brown sugar: for flavor, sweetness, and adding mositure.
Granulated sugar: for sweetness and helps lock in moisture.
Egg yolk: for binding and for moisture.
Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
Semi sweet chocolate chips: If semi-sweet chocolate isn’t your thing, you can substitute in milk chocolate or dark chocolate as well!
Chopped pecans: for flavor and texture.
Soft caramels: I used Werther’s soft caramels, but any soft caramel will work!
How to make small batch turtle cookies.
Here are the steps to making these small batch turtle cookies.
Can I double these small batch turtle cookies?
Of course! Obviously they will not be small batch anymore but small batch isn’t always what we need! Simply double all of the ingredients in the recipe to make 12 delicious turtle cookies. I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.
Can I make these cookies ahead of time?
Definitely! Cookie dough only gets better with time. You can keep the cookie dough tightly covered in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. For longer term storage, you can also freeze the cookie dough. Just be sure to take the dough out of the fridge at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before you want to bake, so that it becomes soft enough to scoop again!
How to store small batch turtle cookies.
Like most baked goods, these cookies will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They will last for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Why do you measure in grams?
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!
A note on oven temperature
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
Tools and ingredients
Cookie Sheet: I absolutely love USA pan products because of their great quality. I use their cookie sheet which is always the perfect size for all of my small batch cookies!
Silicone baking mat: parchment paper will always do the job for cookies, but I like to use a silicone mat when I can to try to cut down on waste. This is the one I use.
Cookie scoops: I have gone through a lot of cookie scoops in my baking journey, and these ones have lasted me the longest without breaking. Plus they are dishwasher safe!
Vanilla: I love using Rodelle vanilla extract. Not only is it a great quality product, but it’s on the lower end of the price that vanilla can be! This is the one I use.
For a full list of tools, equipment and ingredients that I use and love, you can check out this page here.
Did you make these small batch turtle cookies?
If you made these small batch turtle cookies I would love to see them and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!
Small Batch Turtle Cookies
Ingredients
- 65 g all purpose flour (½ c.)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 50 g unsalted butter room temperature (3 ½ tbsp.)
- 45 g light brown sugar (3 ½ tbsp.)
- 20 g granulated sugar (1 ½ tbsp.)
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 100 g semi-sweet chocolate chips (½ c. + 1 tbsp.)
- 30 g crushed pecans (¼ c.)
- 6 soft caramels
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy (4 min.)
- Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla until well combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold the mixture together using a rubber spatula until the flour is almost all combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips and pecans. Fold the mixture together just until no flour streaks remain.
- Use a 3 tbsp. cookie scoop to dish out the cookies on the baking sheet, leaving at least 2" between each cookie to allow room for spreading.
- Use the back of a teaspoon to indent each cookie. Roll each caramel candy into a ball, and place one caramel into the center of each cookie. Slightly close the dough on top of the caramel, leaving some of the caramel showing.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Leave the cookies to rest on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. Serve and enjoy!
Not enough butter and egg for the amount of mix-ins and flour used. I ended up with blobs even after baking for 12 minutes.