Turtle bars are a decadent chocolate, caramel, shortbread and pecan cookie bar that is easy to make. It takes 20 minutes to make a pan of these making them one of my go to holiday cookie recipes! (Any nut you like is fine here - pecans or walnuts are the most popular.)
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time18 minutesmins
Total Time38 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: turtle bars, cookie bars, holiday cookie recipes, best holiday cookies, turtle candy bar, shortbread cookie
Servings: 48
Calories: 159kcal
Author: Mirlandra Neuneker
Ingredients
For The Shortbread Layer
1/2cupsalted buttersoftened
1cuppacked light brown sugar
2cupsall-purpose flour
1cupchopped pecanscan sub walnuts or any nuts
For The Chocolate Turtle Layer
28small square caramels such as Kraft
1/2cuppacked light brown sugar
2/3cupsalted butter
2cupssemi-sweet chocolate chipscan sub milk chocolate
Instructions
The Shortbread - Caramel Cookie Layer
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a rectangular 9”x 13” glass pan.
Combine the ½ cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and 2 cups of flour in a large mixing bowl. Mash together with a fork until the mixture becomes a fine crumb.
Use your hands to press the crumb mixture into the glass pan so that it is firmly packed down to form the shortbread.
Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top of the top of the crust and set the pan next to the stove.
Remove the wrappers from all the caramels and microwave them in a small bowl for 30 seconds.
Add the soft caramels to a large sauce pan with the ½ cup brown sugar and the 2/3 cup butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (once the butter is melted switch to a whisk to beat the mixture smooth.
When it comes to a boil, immediately poor the caramel mixture over the nuts and crust. Use a spatula to spread the mixture all the way to the edges.
Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until caramel is bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
The Chocolate Top
When the caramel is set, microwave the chocolate chips until melted stirring with a fork every 30 seconds. When no lumps remain use the back of a spoon to smooth the chocolate over the caramel.
Cool again and cut into squares. You can cut 12 large squares or 24 medium squares or 48 small squares.
Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to five days. If you live in a warm climate store the cookie bars in the refrigerator to keep them from melting.