These amazingly Super Easy recipe for Turtle bars come together in minutes and are reminiscent of a Twix bar and a Turtle candy. Keep reading to see how easy they are to make!
I had a hard time coming up with a name for this recipe because it resembles two different loves in my life: Twix Bars and Turtles. In the end, I decided to keep my life easier and not name it after a copyrighted candy bar :). So Turtle Bars, it is!
Make It More Affordable – No Nuts Necessary…
If you have anyone who is allergic to nuts or if you’d like to make this recipe WAY more affordable, feel free to leave those out. I usually do, mainly due to the expense (for the price of a bag of pecans I could cook an entire supper for my family).
Ingredients you will need in this recipe for Turtle Bars are:
- A roll of sugar cookie dough
- Chocolate Chips
- Dulce de Leche (Homemade:Dulce De Leche Creamy Caramel Goodness)
- Pecans.
As always the complete recipe is in printable format at the bottom of this post.
How to Make This Recipe for Turtle Bars
Line a 9×13 baking dish with foil, being sure to leave an overhang so that you can easily pull the bars out after they are done. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Pat cookie dough out evenly into the pan and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned*.
Keep in mind…
Ovens vary in how fast and hot they cook. That is why you often see bake for __minutes OR until ____ in instructions. The good thing is we usually get to know our ovens and know what to expect if we use them on a regular basis but I just wanted to give you a little heads up since that came to mind.
What is Dulce de Leche?
I used to prepare this from the can but boiling the can itself got me worried about all those chemicals that could be leaching in the food by heating up the metal. Now you can still do it if you like or you can check out this homemade recipe for Dulce de Leche. If you haven’t tried it in my Samoa Brownies recipe, make sure you hop over there after you’re done with this post!
You can also prepare Dulce De Leche in the microwave as well. Use a can of sweetened condensed milk, open the can and pour it into a bowl and microwave it at 1-2 minute intervals, stirring after each, until it turns brown and caramelizes.
My recommendation:
Give yourself permission to do things the easy way sometimes. Bee bop on over to the Mexican foods section of your grocery store and pick up a can or two of this instead.
- Pour the can of caramel in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 1-2 minutes until it is soft and spreadable. Spread it over your entire pan of cookie bars.
- Sprinkle the entire bag of chocolate chips over this and then place pan back in the oven for about five minutes to melt the chips. Remove from oven and spread the chips until the entire top is covered with chocolate. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired.
- Allow them to cool slightly and then score lines across the entire pan with a knife before allowing them to harden completely. I usually pop mine in the fridge to speed up this process.
- Once completely hardened, remove the cookies from the pan by pulling up on the aluminum foil and cut them all the way.
These make excellent gifts, are great to make for the holidays or bake sales, and they are sure to be appreciated by your family as well.
No matter what you celebrate this season, I hope you take time to slow down and cherish as many moments as you can with your family. The real present from our families is their presence.
Ingredients
- 16.5 ounce roll Pillsbury cookie dough doesn't have to be Pillsbury but that is what I used
- 12 ounce package semi sweet chocolate chips
- 13.4 ounce can Dulce de Leche
- 1 cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Line a 9x13 baking dish with heavy duty aluminum foil, making sure it comes up and overhangs a bit so you can easily pull it out later. Spray this lightly with baking spray. Pat cookie dough out into the bottom of the pan to cover it.
- Bake at 350 for about twenty minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely.
- Empty caramel into a bowl and microwave it at thirty second intervals, stirring after each, until soft and spreadable, about 1-2 minutes. Pour on top of cooled cookie crust and spread to edges.
- Sprinkle entire bag of chocolate chips evenly over the top of this and place it in a 350 oven until chips become soft, 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven and gently spread the chocolate so that it covers the caramel. Sprinkle pecans over the top, if desired.
- Allow to cool until almost hardened and then score the bars into little squares with a knife before it hardens completely. Cover and refrigerate to harden all the way. Remove bars from pan by using aluminum foil. Cut along the scored lines into little squares. Enjoy!
Nutrition
If you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.
~Unknown
You might also enjoy these cookie and bar recipes!
Lemon Bars Recipe and Video Tutorial
Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies AKA Cloud Cookies
Love this fast smarty pants recipe!! I’ve also put heath bar pieces on top instead of pecans or in addition to them. Love your food and your point of view. And your family is a joy to read about.
Thank you so much, Annette! I’ll have to try Heath! I appreciate you being here and thank you for the encouragement! 🙂
Where does the Carmel come from?
The caramel comes from the can of Dulce de Leche.
Love your recipes, Christy AND your AMAZING wit!
Thank you Rita!!
Love this post (cookies look great too), I’ve been going out every morning to see the break of day and yesterday even the air was gold. We miss so much that God gives us by rushing around and sadly it took some bad news to a family member that made me slow down.
God Bless you and your family! I too am going through a time! As my gram use to say Stop and smell the roses for one day it will be over! God is so wonderful!
To finish my comment, sorry bout that, I had to settle a little I had it first squabble, the kids will be out of school for Christmas in a few weeks and for that week they’ve all agreed to give up their phones. A lot of drama, 3 teens and a preteen, but, they’re gonna do it. We’ve decided to go back to the table and conversations. I’ll let you know how my cookies came out and if I survive Christmas week, LOL. I wish all of ya’ll a very Merry Christmas and I wish you peace and quiet, even for a few minutes a day. From south Mississippi, Pam
I hope that you have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas Pam!!
Oh, these sound/look marvelous!! I’ll be making them for Christmas!!! I wonder how they would taste with butterscotch chips or by adding peanut butter chips to the chocolate? I guess I’m making three batches!!! Thanks for another winning recipe, Christy!!!!!
Thank you Susan! Let me know how the variations turn out!!
I forgot to come back and comment…and found it after reading your post and checking out the comments!! The variations were good, but I liked them made with chocolate best! However, my dad can’t have chocolate and he enjoyed both the butterscotch and peanut butter cookies.
I will definitely be making some of this! I will have to try making it with heath candy also. Thank you for all of the great recipes!
I hope you enjoy them Donna!! Let me know how the Heath bar version comes out!!