Turtle Cookies
from a cozy mystery novel: Scarfed Down by Maddie Day: Phil makes these, mimicking turtle candies, for dessert on the Two Turtle Doves day.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter (1 stick) at room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, separated
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup pecans, finely chopped
For the Caramel
- ⅔ cup caramel chips or regular caramels (about 15)
- ½ tsp water
Chocolate topping
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Combine flour, cocoa and salt. In a separate bowl
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Mix in the egg yolk, milk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until just combined.
- Chill dough in the refrigerator for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Whisk egg white in a shallow bowl until frothy.
- Place chopped pecans in another shallow bowl.
- Remove dough from the fridge. For each cookie, scoop out less than a tablespoon and roll into a small ball.
- Roll each ball in the frothy egg whites, and then roll and press in the chopped pecans. Place on a greased baking sheet or silicone baking mat.
- Use the back of a small round measuring or soup spoon or your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each dough ball or use your thumb.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or just until set. Don't overbake, as cookies will harden as they cool.
- As the cookies come out of the oven, gently repress the indentations with a small round spoon.
- In a microwavable bowl mix the caramel bits and water. Microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until caramel is melted (1-2 minutes).
- Pour small spoonfuls of caramel into the indented cookies. Let cool.
- Melt chocolate and drizzle lines over cookies.