Gingerbread Turtle Cookies

I decided to try my hand at another of the best Christmas cookie recipes and made these Gingerbread Turtle Cookies. Soft, gooey, and perfect.

They’re like the sweet combination of gingerbread, caramel and chocolate in a little parcel made just for me. And the people I’m sharing with. But not that one. I’ll give them their own cookie. LOL!

If you can’t wait to enjoy a sweet and chewy, gooey and chocolatey gingerbread cookie, let’s get baking!

What Do You Need to Make Gingerbread Turtle Cookies?

• 3/4 C unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
• 3/4 C packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 C molasses
• 1 large egg
• 3 C flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp all spice spice
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 24 Ghirardelli milk chocolate melting wafers
• 1 C chopped pecans
• 1 Bag of Caramel Squares, unwrapped and melted

How To Make Gingerbread Turtle Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, kosher salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.

In a second bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.Beat in the molasses, egg and vanilla.

Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients in 1/3 increments, mixing well between each increment.Place the chopped pecans into a small bowl.

Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoon of dough out and roll into a ball.

Roll the dough in the chopped pecans until fully coated.

Repeat with all of the cookie dough.

Place cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Using the back of a teaspoon or small spoon make an indent in the middle of each of the cookie dough ballsBake for 8-10 minutes.

Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool to the touch.Using the back of a teaspoon, make an indent in the center of each cookie.

Melt the caramels in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment.Spoon melted caramel into the well in each cookie.

Melt 1 cup of the melting chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment. Drizzle over cookies.

Allow chocolate to harden.

Enjoy!

If you love these you might love our gingerbread thumbprint cookies too!

HOW LONG DO Gingerbread Cookies LAST?

Well, basically, they don’t last long on my counter–because we eat them all pretty fast. But, if you were to store you cookies in an airtight container, they will last 3-5 days. Be sure to store them in the airtight container, though, because if you don’t, the cookies will dry out and be hard. Which is no good. So stick with an airtight container.

Don’t put them in the fridge because the chocolate will get that film on it and you won’t be happy with them anymore.

CAN These Gingerbread Thumbprint COOKIES BE FROZEN?

No, because of the chocolate, these really don’t make for a good freezer treat. So, what I do instead is make the gingerbread cookie dough and then I freeze that. Make sure you put it in an airtight container. If you don’t, you’ll have freezer-burned cookie dough. So sad.

WHAT TO DO WHEN Gingerbread COOKIES ARE FLAT?

Oh, your cookies came out flat? That’s too bad. Good news, though? I have a handful of tips to troubleshoot your flat cookies:

• The butter wasn’t room temperature, but was melted. You have to use room temp butter. Melted butter changes the properties of the butter and that changes the end result of the cookies.
• The oven was too hot. If you didn’t set the oven to a higher temperature than the recipe called for, your oven might need to be calibrated.
• The oven was cold. Yeah, if your oven wasn’t fully preheated or never reached the required temperature, the cookies might not have risen. So, again, if you didn’t pop your cookies in the oven too early, then you might need to calibrate it.
• You used really old baking soda. Did you know baking soda can go “flat”? Yeah, it totally can! So, be sure your baking soda is no more than 6-months old and has been stored in an airtight container.

Continue to Content

Gingerbread Turtle Cookies

Yield: 36

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

I decided to try my hand at another of the best Christmas cookie recipes and made these Gingerbread Turtle Cookies. Soft, gooey, and perfect.

Print

Ingredients

• 3/4 C unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
• 3/4 C packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 C molasses
• 1 large egg
• 3 C flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp all spice spice
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 24 Ghirardelli milk chocolate melting wafers
• 1 C chopped pecans
• 1 Bag of Caramel Squares, unwrapped and melted

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, kosher salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.
3. In a second bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.
4. Beat in the molasses, egg and vanilla.
5. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients in 1/3 increments, mixing well between each increment.
6. Place the chopped pecans into a small bowl.
7. Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoon of dough out and roll into a ball.
8. Roll the dough in the chopped pecans until fully coated.
9. Repeat with all of the cookie dough.
10. Place cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
11. Using the back of a teaspoon or small spoon make an indent in the middle of each of the cookie dough balls
12. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
13. Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool to the touch.
14. Using the back of a teaspoon, make an indent in the center of each cookie.
15. Melt the caramels in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment.
16. Spoon melted caramel into the well in each cookie.
17. Melt 1 cup of the melting chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment.
18. Drizzle over cookies.
19. Allow chocolate to harden.
20. Enjoy!

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 36 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 190Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 112mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 2g