Homemade Turtle Candy

4.72 from 7 votes

Homemade Turtle Candy are a quick no-bake holiday treat, that are both sweet and salty. My mom made these at Christmas time, and they are bringing back all the memories.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword homemade turtle candy

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings turtles

Calories 159kcal

Author Sue Ringsdorf

Ingredients

10 oz. pecan halves
11 oz. Kraft caramels
2 Tablespoons half and half - or more
10 oz. chocolate melting wafers - Ghirardelli
sprinkle of kosher salt

Instructions

Line a muffin pan with parchment paper liners (or something non-stick)
Add small piles of pecans to each cup, using about six pecans for each turtle.
Toast the pecans in a non-stick pan until fragrant. Be careful to avoid burning..
Melt half of the caramel and one tablespoon of half and half in microwave, stirring every 45 seconds, until melted. I use 50% power. Add a spoonful of caramel to each pile of pecans.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, at 50% power. This should only take a minute or so. Spoon a mound of chocolate over each mound of caramel. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt to each turtle.
Place turtles in the refrigerator to set. Then remove them from the liners and repeat with remaining ingredients.

Notes

When melting the caramel and the chocolate, do it in increments and stir so you don't burn it.
You may need to add extra half and half to the caramel (and maybe even microwave it again) as you design the turtles, because the caramel will start to set up.
It's SO much easier to use a tin and parchment liners because the pecans will stay in place. If you use a regular sheet pan, the pecans will spread apart allowing too much caramel to seep through and all around the pecans. This makes a sticky mess.

Nutrition