Chocolate Caramel Turtles

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Make some delicious chocolate caramel turtles for loved ones this holiday season.

For as long as I can remember my mother has been making chocolate caramel turtles around the holidays. It was our gift that we would give out to family and friends. I loved this Saturday with my mom and brothers. We got to unwrap all the caramel, eating a couple pieces here and there, dip our fingers in the warm chocolate, and take in all the smells of the season. Making these candies in the cooking studio this year, brought back a wave of memories of my childhood, and how these little turtles were the kick off to the holiday season. I promised myself that I needed to continue the tradition for many holiday seasons to come!
 
What you'll need:
 
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips- (18 oz)
Soft Caramel (28 oz)
Pecans Halves- 16 oz. (20 oz)
Wax paper
Double Boiler or a small pot with a large metal bowl that rests on top of the pot, without touching the bottom.
 
What to do:
 
Stretch out three 3-foot lengths of wax paper on a working space. I like to use the kitchen table with the chairs removed, just so I can work on all sides on the table.
 
Pour about ½ inch of water into the double boiler and place on stove top. Place the top bowl on the pot of water Pour the 18oz of chocolate chips into the top bowl, and bring the water to a simmer (medium heat). Gently melt and stir the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Once the chocolate is melted, remove the bowl with the melted chocolate and head over to your workspace.
 
Place the bowl on a hot pad, and once the chocolate is cool enough to work with, dip your finger into the chocolate, and make a silver dollar size round circle on the wax paper.  Repeat this process, spacing 1 inch part in rows, until ONE of the 3-foot wax paper is full.



Place the chocolate back on the double boiler.  Gently press 4 legs (pecan half’s) on the silver dollar chocolate circles.  Once you have finished one piece of the wax papers, grab the melted chocolate off of the double boiler and repeat the chocolate and pecan process.






During this process you might have to re-heat the chocolate. Just place the chocolate bowl on the simmering water, re-heat until the chocolate is melting again.  Once the wax papers are full, place the remaining chocolate on the simmering water and reduced the heat to low.
Unwrap all the caramel pieces and place into a medium saucepan.



Place the saucepan over medium heat, and with a wooden spoon, stir until the caramel is smooth and melted.  You can add a bit of milk in this step to help smooth out the caramel.  Moving quickly, spoon about 1 teaspoon of the melted caramel over the pecans, on all three wax papers. TIP: move quickly during this process, swirling the teaspoon of caramel onto the pecans.



Once the caramel is hard, about 5 minutes, turn up the heat on the double boiler, and re-melt the chocolate.  Head over the caramel turtles and spoon about 1 teaspoon of chocolate on top of the caramel, using the swirling technique as you used in the caramel stage.

Let the candies harden overnight (6-8 hours). Gently peel the turtles off of the wax paper, and place in gift boxes, or a platter to be served.



Makes 80.  Try and eat just one. I think it might be impossible! Happy Holidays!


Kathryn and Dash, the women behind the Yankee Crafty B*tch blog [2], bring you the best in the world of crafts, food, sewing and gardens — all on the resourceful Yankee budget. So kick back, check out their posts, and get your craft on.