Soft, chewy caramel, crunchy pecans, and smooth rich chocolate make the most amazing homemade turtles.

We love pecan turtles at our house. We usually buy them to enjoy.

But this year, I decided to make them. I will never go back to store bought! This one is going in the recipe box to be made again and again.

turtle candies made with homemade caramel

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE TURTLES RECIPE

Name: Homemade Chocolate Turtles
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 36
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup corn syrup; 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk; 1/2 cup salted butter; 1 tsp vanilla; 2 1/2 cups pecans; 1 (11.5 oz) bag chocolate chips (I used milk, but semi-sweet works too.)

I started out with my homemade caramel recipe as the base. Add some pecan halves, roughly chopped, and top with delicious chocolate.

This turtle candy recipe has just a few ingredients. It's easy to make, but it does require time since we're making the caramel from scratch.

Don't be intimidated by homemade caramel. If you've got a candy thermometer, you can make this caramel.

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INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR HOMEMADE TURTLES

sugar
brown sugar
corn syrup
sweetened condensed milk
salted butter
vanilla
pecans
milk chocolate chips (semisweet chocolate will make dark chocolate turtles)

HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS

A candy thermometer is a necessary tool for making the caramel for these turtles.

candy thermometer
thick bottomed pan that distributes heat evenly
parchment paper

HOW TO MAKE TURTLE CANDY WITH HOMEMADE CARAMEL

Let's get started making these chocolate turtles with pecans.

It all start with the pecans.

You can use pecans straight from the bag, or you can toast the pecans to enhance their nutty flavor.

To toast pecans, simply lay the pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake them for 10 minutes.
Give the pecans a very course chop and set aside. I like big pecan pieces. But you can chop them finely, or you can use whole pecans. Do what you prefer.

Before starting the caramel, set out some parchment paper. I lined cookie sheets with a layer of parchment to easily move them around as needed.

ingredients for pecan turtle recipe in a pot

Next add the butter, sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk to a sturdy pot.

Heat over medium heat until the butter melts.

Add your candy thermometer to the pot and heat to boiling. Cook until temperature reaches 240 degrees. Make sure you stir the caramel constantly.

NOTE: Make sure you take into consideration elevation and calibrate your thermometer.

An easy way to make sure you cook to the correct temperature is to calibrate your thermometer. Not only does this take into account fluctuations for your specific thermometer, but elevation will be accounted for.

Here's how:

1. Add your candy thermometer to a pot.
2. Add water. (Make sure the measuring point of the thermometer is covered by 2-3 inches of water.)
3. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.
4. Look at your thermometer (at eye level) and write down what temperature it is. (Mine was 192)
5. Take 212 (boiling point of water at sea level) minus the temp you wrote down. (212 - 192 = 20)
6. Use the number calculated in step 5 to minus from the temperature called for in a recipe.

Example. The caramel in this recipe should be cooked to 240 degrees. In my case, I take 240 minus 20 degrees. So I need to cook my caramel to 220.

This accounts for my elevation (which is 4500) and any inaccuracies in my thermometer.

This is super important for good results. It's been a few years since I've made candy. I had forgotten about this.

Let's just say my first batch of turtles the caramel was cooked 20 degrees too high and the result was caramel that was "pull your fillings out" chewy.

Once the caramel has reached the correct temperature, remove from heat. Stir in the pecans and vanilla.

Next add scoops of the caramel pecan mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheets.

You can make these as large or as small as you'd like. Keep in mind that the caramel spreads just a bit, so you can scoop them smaller than you think.

Mine ended up bigger than I anticipated. Next time I will do small clusters to make more of a bite size candy.

homemade caramel pecan turtle with chocolate

Next place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Then melt for 30 seconds, stirring halfway.

I like milk chocolate, but you could use dark chocolate if you prefer.

Spread the chocolate over each of the pecan clusters.

Allow to cool and enjoy!

Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

MORE HOMEMADE CANDY RECIPES

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