These are so quick and easy to make. With just four ingredients you can have the tastiest and freshest pecan turtles ever - in just a few minutes.
No time spent boiling sugar on the stove and adding cream to make caramel.
Garnish with Valentine sprinkles or drizzle with more white chocolate and you have some of the fanciest treats for your somebody special.
If you are not in the mood for more chocolate (of course, I cannot imagine having that problem), this Vanilla Valentine Pecan Turtles recipe is just the thing for Valentine’s Day. You only need caramels, caramel sauce and pecans. Immerse them in top quality candy wafer melts and garnish with your favorite Valentine sprinkles and you have some beautiful treats to share.
These are easy and fun to make. Get the older kids involved to make the caramels and gift boxes for parents, friends, teachers or grandparents. Wrap them in pretty tissue paper in pretty ribbon-tied boxes. It’s easy to make little gift cards, too, out of cardstock, letting the kids draw and write their Valentine messages.
This recipe makes about 24-36 Vanilla Valentine Pecan Turtles, depending on how large you make them.
Gather up your Ingredients:
11 oz Caramels, unwrapped (Kraft)
12 oz Caramel sauce (ice cream topping)
2-3 C Pecans, rough chopped
8-12 oz Candy wafer melts, vanilla (Ghirardelli)
Valentine sprinkles (optional)
Mix and coat your Turtles:
-Rough chop the pecans – not too small.
-Unwrap all the caramels and cut in quarters, putting them into a microwave safe bowl.
-Soften them up in your microwave, stirring, starting with a couple of 30 second increments. Then stir after each 15 second increment until soft and smooth.
-Stir in the room temperature caramel sauce. I like to use Stonewall brand because they have a variety of flavors, including bourbon, coffee, etc. Regular ice cream caramel sauce works well, too.
-You might need to microwave the two types of caramel together, just do it in 10-15 second increments, stirring well after each one. You don’t want the mixture to get too hot. Stir until smooth.
-Stir in the rough chopped pecans, adding 2 cups to begin with. Slowly stir in the rest of the pecans as long as you like the ratio of the caramel mixture to the pecans.
-Chill the bowl of caramel and pecans a little – up to 5 minutes. You want the mixture to be thin enough to spoon out dollops onto the parchment paper lined pan. But you want it thick enough so that the dollops don’t spread out too much. If it gets too thick, microwave it for 10 seconds.
-Using two teaspoons, scoop a spoonful and drop it onto the parchment paper line pan, using the second teaspoon to scrape it off the first spoon.
-Using the spoons, form each dollop of caramel and pecans into a flatter circle as soon as you drop them onto the paper. This will make them more uniform and easier to coat them with the melted white candy wafers.
-Once you’ve dropped all the dollops of caramel pecans onto the pan, place them in the freezer for 30 minutes until solid.
-Just before you’re ready to dip the caramel pecan rounds, melt the candy wafers in a microwave safe bowl according to package instructions. I like to use white Ghirardelli candy wafers in white or chocolate since they have delicious flavors and melt nicely.
-With a chocolate dipping utensil or two forks, dip the pecan caramels one at a time into the melted candy melt bowl. Tap and scrape off the excess wafer melts by sliding the bottom of the turtle across the edge of the bowl and carefully set it onto the parchment paper. It will be trial and error for the first few caramels you dip as to how much excess candy melt will remain on your caramels.
-NOTE: The warmer the candy melts are, the thinner the coating will be on your turtles. The thicker the candy melts are, the thicker the coating will be. That could affect how many melted wafers you use, and is why I have designated 8-12 ounces of candy wafers for this recipe.
-Immediately decorate with your Valentine sprinkles before the coating dries. Because the caramel pecan rounds have been frozen, they will dry very fast. Because the caramel pecan rounds are so cold, the melted wafers may tend to cool and solidify in the bowl, so you might need to microwave the wafers a bit more.
-Another way you can decorate the turtles, is to drizzle with another color of melted candy wafers after the first coating has dried.
Gifting:
-These are easy and fun to make. Get the older kids involved to make gift boxes for parents, friends, teachers or grandparents.
-Mix them with other Valentine treats for a variety of special giving.
-Wrap them in pretty tissue paper in pretty ribbon-tied boxes.
-It’s easy to make little gift cards, too, out of cardstock, letting the kids draw and write their own Valentine messages.
Storage:
-I keep our Vanilla Valentine Pecan Turtles in a parchment paper lined, covered tin. There’s no need to refrigerate unless your climate is excessively warm.
-They have never lasted more than a couple of weeks at our house, so I am not familiar with any need for longer storage.
-I usually make a half recipe, and share them with family. Enjoy them while they’re fresh!
Whoever you make these delicious Vanilla Valentine Pecan Turtles for, enjoy them and, “Bake your own Memories!”
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