Chocolate Turtle Cookies (Caramel Thumbprint Cookies)

[PurplePuppy]

Chocolate Turtle Cookies (Caramel Thumbprint Cookies)



Cookies:
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
1/2 cup baking cocoa

Topping for cookies:
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (you can use regular sized, but they won't look as nice)
1 cup pecans chopped.
Mix these things together in a shallow dish. This made JUST enough for 20 large cookies, with the last cookie with barely enough on it. Make sure you use a FULL cup of pecans and chop them.

Caramel filling:
14 vanilla caramels unwrapped
3 tbsp cream
***NOTES****
I used 2 tbsp of milk in the video and I recommend you use only 1 tbsp of milk if you want a more solid center.
Place caramels and milk or cream in bowl and microwave for about a minute until caramels are melting. Stir until smooth. BE CAREFULL the caramels will be HOT.

About 3 oz of melted chocolate chips in a zip-lock bag with a small hole cut in one corner (for drizzling over completed cookies).
You can thin the chocolate with 1 tsp of shortening if desired).

Cookie instructions:
Stir/whisk/sift together the flour,salt (I omitted this because I used salted butter) and cocoa, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.
Blend in egg, vanilla, milk and molasses.
Stir in dry ingredients until combined.
Transfer batter onto a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it up and chill for about 2 hours until you are able to remove a piece and easily roll it into a ball without too much mess.

Take a piece of dough, roll it into a ball and then roll in the topping mixture, pressing gently so the topping sticks,
Place balls on cookies sheet (greased, or with silicone mat or parchment) about 2" apart, they spread a lot.

Take a small measuring spoon or your finger and press a dent into the center of each cookies.
Bake at 350F for about 10-15 minutes until the tops of the cookies look set (they may seem underbaked).
Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack if desired. Re-press the dent into the center of the cookie with a measuring spoon again.
Allow to cool some more and then fill the dents with the caramel mixture. Allow to cool completely an then drizzle melted chocolate over the cookies.

I found that the cookies spread a lot, so that's why I decided to try baking the balls as is first and then putting in the dent in the center.
They spread exactly the same way though and the dents cracked the cookies a bit, so put the dents prior to baking is my recommendation.