The Most Indulgent Brownies
My turtle brownies have all the irresistible components of turtle candy: gooey caramel, rich chocolate, and crunchy pecans. The caramel in my version is homemade (of course) and covered in plenty of chopped pecans (toast yours for extra flavor!). A drizzle of chocolate on top is both for looks and taste. It’s such a decadent way to make a turtle dessert!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Carefully crafted to be decadent, but not too rich. I intentionally made the brownie layer different from my typical favorite brownies from scratch because I wanted the whole thing to be balanced. Uses a real homemade caramel sauce for the best flavor and texture. Don’t be intimidated by this, I’ll be walking you through all the steps in detail. Still a handheld treat despite it’s decadence! These turtle brownies are admittedly a little messy to eat, as the caramel will start to spill off just a little as it sits. But there’s no fork needed (unless you want to use one, which is totally fine).
What You Need
There are two main components to these turtle brownies: the brownie layer itself and the toppings (which really consists of 3 separate parts: caramel, chocolate, and nuts).
Corn syrup. This is necessary for our caramel sauce, it prevents gritty sugar crystals from forming in caramel candy. I often get pushback when I use corn syrup because people think it’s the same thing as high fructose corn syrup, so here’s a gentle reminder and easy read explaining that corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are not the same. If you are not located in the US and can’t find corn syrup, glucose syrup should work just fine here instead. Baking powder. I don’t use baking powder in many of my brownie recipes, but these turtle brownies benefit from a little lift from a leavening agent. Eggs. Room temperature eggs work best, so try to set yours out ahead of time. Usually I’d have you mix these really well with the sugar to create crackly brownie tops, but don’t worry about that here since we’re covering our brownies. Chocolate chips. I typically use semisweet chips in my brownie recipes, but I’m using use milk chocolate chips in these turtle brownies, since milk chocolate is most commonly used in classic turtle candies. Pecans. Use chopped pecans so they’re easy to bite into. If you really want to amp up the flavor, consider toasting your pecans before adding them on top!
SAM’S TIP: If you want a turtle dessert that doesn’t involve making homemade caramel, try my turtle cookies or caramelitas! Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Turtle Brownies
Make the Caramel Topping
Make the Brownies
Assemble
SAM’S TIP: Turtle brownies can be pretty messy, so I recommend cutting them as you need to instead of cutting all of them at once. If you cut all the squares and allow them to sit the caramel will start to slowly pool over the edges. Keeping them in their baking pan helps contain everything. These turtle brownies would make an amazing a brownie sundae with some vanilla ice cream 🤤 Enjoy! Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
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