Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

I'm so glad I finally got around to making these cookies because they are so pretty. My parents always make fun of me because it seems that whenever I bake something - I've been wanting to make it for "ages". But this time I'm not being the slightest bit dramatic when I say I've been wanting to make these cookies for a very long time. I think I have printed out the recipe every christmas since high school and just never got around to making them. They are pretty labor intensive as far as cookies go and they require a couple ingredients you don't normally have hanging around the house like pecans or heavy whipping cream. But this time I just happened to have every single ingredient that I needed.

I had made caramelitas for my mom because she buys them a lot from whole foods and I thought it would be worth taking a shot at homemade. I nailed it up until I forgot to turn off the burner that I was slow melting the caramel on and subsequently burned a solid circle at the bottom of them when I was supposed to be letting them cool. So dumb. So so dumb. Some of them were salvageable but I was so annoyed about the situation that I didn't bother taking pictures. I also bought two bags of the caramels bc I had never made them before so I wanted to make sure I had enough for the recipe, or if I made a stupid mistake. Turns out I DID make a stupid mistake but I really didn't need to make them again.

Thus, with my fathers overly stocked freezer full of pecans due to excessive purchases during the thanksgiving holidays, I had all the ingredients I needed to make these guys. I didn't have the shortening or coconut oil because I left my shortening at school and my mom couldn't find her coconut oil, but those turned out to be optional. And who is going to buy a big tub of something when you only need one teaspoon anyway.

Turtle Thumbprint Cookies 

For the Cookies:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp


1/3 cup granulated sugar
 (can also use all granulated)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg, separated


2 tablespoons milk


1-teaspoon vanilla extract


1 cup all-purpose flour


1/3 cup cocoa powder


¼ teaspoon salt


1-cup pecans, finely crushed/chopped

For the Caramel:

16 unwrapped caramel squares


3 tablespoons whipping cream


Fleur de sel or other flaked sea salt

For the Chocolate Drizzle:


1/2 cup semi-sweet (or milk) chocolate chips


1-teaspoon coconut oil or shortening, optional

My cocoa powder is dark so to sweeten them up I used milk chocolate for the drizzle. Next time I will try and find regular cocoa powder because I thought they were just a little too dark.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Keep the egg white in a small dish in the fridge until ready to use. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Then add the egg yolk, vanilla and milk. Then gradually add the flour dry ingredients to the wet until just combined. Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk the egg white until foamy. Using a melon baller, roll two scoops together (or shape them into 1 inch balls – but the melon baller kept them consistent in shape and size) Dip the dough ball into the whites, and then roll into the pecans until completely coated. With your thumb, press down gently in the center to get the indentation going (will be further pressed after baking). Place on tin foil or silpat.

Bake for 12 minutes. When you remove the cookies from the oven, press down into the previous indentation with a teaspoon and then let cool completely.

While the cookies are cooling, heat the caramels and cream over very low heat until completely melted. When the cookies are cool and the caramel is no longer piping hot, use the teaspoon to pour the caramel into the cookies. Let cool completely.

Melt the chocolate however you prefer. Since I used milk chocolate (and also Hershey – aka not the highest quality), the microwave was quick and easy.

Southern Candied Pecans

Before I started working at Sucré, I would have laughed out loud - yes lolled - if you told me my next new obsession would be pecans. I have never liked pecans. Actually never. Every year when my stepmom made pecan pie for thanksgiving, I would only eat the crust and the goowy stuff - everything but the pecans. Just one of these pecans and I was hooked. Thanks my internship, I luckily got to learn the secret behind this decadent sugar-coated crack. The funny thing is, all of the ingredients are written directly on the can we sell in the store - and it doesn't take a rocket scientists to kind of figure out the rest. Because the ingredients are literally written on the label, I think it would be fair if I posted them here. It takes a little time and work though. So if you don't feel like getting your hands dirty, I highly suggest you stop by the store on Magazine or Lakeside (pref magazine, cause that's where ma gurls at) or order them online (yeah they do that too) cliggity click it to see what i'm talking about.

Ingredients 

a lot of Granulated Sugar
Simple Syrup (Equal parts water and sugar dissolved via the microwave or stovetop)
1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup water 
about 3 tablespoons Praline Liquor
about 2 teaspoons of Salt  
Bag of Pecans (16 ounces)

Directions fo da confections

first dip in the pool

1. Preheat the oven to 300. Toss of the the ingredients (but only using half of the simple syrup mixture) together until well coated and spread on a sheet of parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes.


2. Remove the pecans from the oven and let cool completely.

3. Repeat step one with the same amount of ingredients. Make sure the pecans are liberally coated in sugar. Increase the oven temp to 325. Sprinkle even more sugar on top right before placing them back into the oven. Bake for another 25 minutes, tossing the pecans around once or twice during the baking process to make sure they bake evenly.

Second dip in the pool

*warning* don't eat them until they are cool! you will regret this I promise. one because they are blazin hot and two they don't get crunchy until they have had time to dry out.

4. Let the pecans sit out for at least an hour. They are best stored in a tin container or something that can be sealed properly.

To show my appreciation for this super special treat, I decided to show you a variety of glamor shots of them in all of their pecany glory.