Turtles Cookies

Ingredients

Cookies:

1 1/2 cup / 375 ml

all-purpose flour

1/2 cup / 125 ml

cocoa powder

1/2 tsp / 2 ml

sea salt

1 cup / 250 ml

granulated sugar

3/4 cup / 175 ml

softened unsalted butter

2

Naturegg Nestlaid shell eggs (or Omega-3), separated

1 tsp / 5 ml

vanilla extract

2 cup / 500 ml

finely chopped pecans (approx.)

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Caramel:

1/2 cup / 125 ml

granulated sugar

3 tbsp / 45 ml

unsalted butter, cut into 6 cubes

1/4 cup / 50 ml

35% whipping cream

1 pinch

sea salt

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Drizzle:

1/2 cup / 125 ml

semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 tsp / 1 ml

neutral-flavoured vegetable oil such as canola

Directions

1. Cookies: Whisk flour with cocoa and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Beat sugar with butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, followed by vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir until well mixed. Chill dough for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

3. Whisk egg whites with 1 tbsp/15 ml water in a shallow bowl until frothy. Arrange pecans in a second shallow bowl. Form dough into 1 1/4-inch/3 cm balls; dip into egg whites and roll into pecans to coat.

4. Place balls, 2-inches/5 cm apart, on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Use the back of a round half-teaspoon measure to press an indent into each ball.

5. Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes or until tops appear set. Remove from oven and gently reinforce indents if they've bubbled during baking. Cool cookies completely.

6. Caramel: Melt sugar in a small heavy saucepan set over medium heat; stir occasionally, watching carefully and adjusting heat down as needed to avoid scorching but allowing sugar to turn an even amber colour.

7. Once sugar has turned amber, reduce heat to very low and whisk in butter, 1 cube at a time. Carefully whisk in cream and increase heat to medium. Boil gently for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salt. Cool for 20 minutes. Spoon about 1/2 tsp/2 ml warm caramel into each cookie.

8. Drizzle: Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on Medium power for 1 minute; stir and continue to heat on Medium at 15-second intervals, stirring until melted. Stir in vegetable oil. Drizzle over cookies. Let stand until set or chill for 15 minutes. (Alternatively, chocolate can be transferred into a piping or zip top bag and the corner snipped for more controlled drizzling.)

Tips

1. Leftover caramel can be stored in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

2. If making homemade caramel is intimidating, you can shortcut by using 24 unwrapped soft caramels placed in a heat-proof bowl. Add 4 tbsp/60 ml whipping cream and heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until melted; stir until smooth.

3. Cookies can be stored, between layers of parchment at room temperature for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 1 month.