12 Days of Goodies - Day 6: Turtle Cookies

I love turtles - the combination of caramel, pecans, and chocolate gets me every time. So when I saw a recipe from Betty Crocker called Caramel-Fudge Turtle Cookies, I knew it was one I wanted on my Christmas cookie list. The original recipe is here, but I changed it up to use more of a chocolate chip cookie dough base (minus the chocolate chips) and instead of fudge ice cream topping, I used melted chocolate chips because I thought the cookies would hold up and and travel better that way. I also turned it into more of a thumbprint cookie because I thought dipping half the cookie in caramel would also be too messy. The result was delicious, and I hope you give them a try!

Turtle Cookies
1/2 c. softened butter
1 c. white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
2 c. flour
12 caramels
1 T. milk
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. chopped pecans
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar on med.-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
3. Scrape down bowl, add egg, vanilla, soda, and salt and beat again for 3 minutes.
4. Stir in flour until just combined. Drop by Tbls. onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes.
5. Take out of the oven and press your thumb into the center of each cookie, and return to oven for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the oven and re-press your thumb to make an indentation, and allow cookies to cool.
6. Melt caramels and milk in microwave for approximately 1 minute, and stir to combine. Using a 1/4 tsp., spoon caramel into cookie indents, and use the back of the spoon to spread around.
7. Melt chocolate chips for appr. 1 minute, and use a 1/2 tsp. to spoon over caramel and spread slightly. Sprinkle a few chopped pecans on each and allow to cool. Eat up!

On a side note: The boys have been playing so nicely together lately, and sometimes it makes my heart so full of love I can literally feel it in my chest. It's the most wonderful feeling! We're gearing up for Christmas, and I think we'll celebrate over this coming weekend because we'll be heading to our families for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I can't wait to see how much fun the boys have - Asher is so excited, and Aiden gets excited just because Asher is. All I'm hoping for is good weather and healthy boys! I also finally got Christmas cards out this year after wanting to for four years now - I patted myself on the back already. ;)

The family photo we used for our Christmas card.

The other photo we used - I love Asher's smile in this one,
and that Aiden's reaching for him :)

We didn't use this one, but I think it's hilarious

Mr. Sweet Face