Turtle Sugar Cookies

I have been getting back into baking since I now have all my supplies out of storage. I've been experimenting with a few different recipes, and this one seemed to be a big hit.

TURTLE SUGAR COOKIES

You will need:

• Sugar cookie dough
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 12 Caramels
• Parchment or Wax Paper
• Pecans (halves or pieces)
• About 1 cup hot Fudge ice cream topping (DM Tip: Melted chocolate, ganache, or melted Candy Melts would work really well too.)
• 1 tablespoon Milk
• Misc.: cookie sheets, microwaveable bowl, spoon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Mix dough with the extra flour.

3. Roll dough into 1 inch sized balls and place on cookie sheet. DM Tip: I have started placing a piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet and then placing the cookies on. It makes sure the cookies don't stick to the sheet and makes for a lot easier clean up!

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are just golden brown.

5. Remove from oven and let cool.

6. Microwave caramels (make sure to remove wrappers first!) and milk for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for 30 seconds more if needed.

7. Dip end of cookie into caramel and set aside to allow it to harden. I set mine on parchment paper (wax paper would work well too) for easier clean up. It also helps if you only get the caramel on the top of the cookie.

8. Place a small amount, about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of fudge topping on the center of the cookie.

9. Next, place pecan on the fudge topping and let sit.

DM TIP: These cookies can be really sticky and messy. After letting the cookies sit out overnight, the caramel finally set. However, the fudge topping never really hardened. If you need to stack these, use parchment or wax paper between layers. You could also try melted chocolate, ganache, or melted Candy Melts instead of the fudge topping since those harden to make stacking easier.