There's a grocery store in Chicago called Jewel, and they have the best chocolate turtle cookies. They go by Gourmet Turtle Cookies, or sometimes Turtle Brownie Cookies. The cookies are packed 4 to a clamshell and sold in the bakery area. Kroger, which owns Jewel, has a similar cookie called Private Selection Turtle Cookies. I haven't tried Kroger's, but Jewel's are fantastic. Here's a picture of one.
Grocery Store Bakery Chewy Texture
The cookies weigh about 2 oz each and are loaded with toasted pecans and caramel bits. They do not skimp. And not only do the cookies taste sweet and chocolaty, but they have a chewy, fall-apart texture. This could be due to underbaking, a special ingredient, or maybe something entirely different. Whatever the case, they are one of the best grocery store cookies -- though I think Jewel might get the dough from a wholesale bakery.
Homemade Copycats
Well, you know where this is going. I wanted to try making some here in Raleigh since I miss the ones in Chicago. Before I made my copycat, I tried some of the other copycats out there and they were all very tasty too. The only problem was the caramel bits.
Caramel Bits
Good caramel is key in the Jewel cookies. The Jewel cookies have loads of caramel bits, some of which are melted and some that still hold their shape yet stay chewy and soft. Most USA home cooks have easy access to Kraft caramel bits. Unfortunately, sometimes Kraft caramel bits dry up during baking, so I had to find a way to keep them melty and soft. First, I melted them with a little cream, re-solidified in the freezer, then cut into chunks. Not only does it help the caramels to stay soft and melty, the creamy caramel causes the cookies themselves to spread more. This worked beautifully, but I also wanted to try getting the caramel bits to hold their shape without having to melt them.
Butter Barrier for Caramel Bits
For a second experiment, I tried tossing caramel bits in melted butter, then freezing the butter coated caramel bits so they'd have a frozen butter barrier. I then added the frozen butter coated caramel bits to the dough. Since the recipe calls for freezing the dough balls before baking, the caramel bits with their frozen butter coating bake harmoniously with the chocolate dough and don't dry out. They'll be a little chewy, but not hard as rocks. Yay!
Chopped Up Sander's Brand
If you don't want to deal with melting and setting the Kraft caramel bits, you can use a creamier or softer brand of caramel such as Sander's. The caramel is just a little darker, but they melt just right and give the cookies extra chewiness. But alas, the Sander's caramels are coated in chocolate, so boo hoo, you'll have to deal with extra chocolate in the cookies. So sad. Just kidding. The Sanders caramels work SO well,though it makes them less like Jewel's...and that is fine. Werther's soft caramels work too. Just unwrap, tear or chop into bits and freeze.
Turtle Brownie Cookie Tips
- Any all purpose flour should be fine, but try using a lower protein brand like White Lily, Pillsbury or Gold Medal. If you use King Arthur, which is higher protein, the cookies will still be awesome, but might be a little stiffer.
- For cookies with more cracks and crinkles, bake in a convection oven at 350. The air circulating in the convection oven tends to dry out the outsides a bit more and cause more cracks, which in this case is desirable because you want a little contrast between the crust and the soft, fudgy, inside.
- The grocery store bakery cookies are made with Dutch process cocoa. Using natural cocoa powder will change the flavor and the leavening action, so stick with Dutch. I use Guittard, Ghirardelli or Callebaut.
- Since these are underbaked, you may want to bake with pasteurized eggs from a carton. I've been using Bob Evan's brand egg whites. Egg Beaters should be fine too. Or just go with one whole egg.
- Be sure to toast the pecans. Dry toast in a skillet, toast in oven or use the microwave. Put the pecans on a paper towel and heat on high for 1 minute. Shuffle and keep heating on high at 30 second intervals. This may take some trial and error since microwave oven have different power settings.
- Chocolate Chips -- The original cookies don't have chocolate chips, but no one is stopping you from adding a few! Since the cookies are so rich you only need a few. I got the best results just by poking a few Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chips into the already formed dough balls.
Recipe
Jewel Turtle Cookies Copycats
Ingredients
Caramel Bits
- ½ cup caramel bits (100 grams)
- 2 teaspoons melted butter plus a dash of vanilla if desired
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup pecan halves, toasted and chopped (114 grams)
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (114 grams)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- 1 teaspoon molasses (7 grams)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 medium or large egg oe use 45 grams pasteurized eggs like Bob Evans egg whites or Egg Beaters, room temp.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, low protein like White Lily works well. (125-130 grams)
- ⅓ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (35 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon of salt (omit if using salted butter)
Instructions
- Toss the caramel bits in melted butter. For an extra burst of flavor you can add a little vanilla to the melted butter. Spread the butter coated caramels on a parchment lined plate and freeze until butter is solid. Keep frozen until ready to use. You can do this right before you bake or far ahead of time.
- Toast the pecan halves by laying them on a baking sheet and baking at 350 for about 10 minutes or just until fragrant. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
- With mixer on low speed, mix together the softened butter, sugar, molasses and vanilla just until blended. Add the room temperature egg and mix just until blended, scraping the side of the bowl often.
- Carefully measure your flour by weighing it or spooning it into a cup and leveling. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until very well combined and there are no lumps.
- Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir or beat on lowest speed to make a soft dough. Add chopped, toasted pecans and the frozen caramel bits.
- Line a small tray or dinner plate with parchment and scoop out balls of dough that weigh 2 oz each. You should get about 13 or 14 cookies. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and freeze until solid or until ready to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. If you have a toaster oven such as a Breville, use a sheet that fits in the toaster and preheat to the "cookies" setting or use convection.
- Set the frozen cookie dough balls on the baking tray and bake just until cracks start to appear on top and most of the sheet is gone -- about 10 minutes. You can experiment with the degree of underbaked-ness you like. If for some reason the cookies spread, push inward with a spatula and make a mental note to use a little more flour next time, a different brand or use more pecans. But the cookies should not spread too much.
- Pull from the oven when done and slide parchment onto the counter. While the cookies are still warm, transfer to the freezer and freeze.
- To serve, return to room temperature.
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