Pecan Caramel Turtles

 Pecan Caramel Turtles 

I remember the first time I ever made Pecan Clusters. It was in my home economics class during my sophomore year in high school. The year was.....never mind the year.  My teacher's name was Anna Hanna and she taught us how to be spend thrifts and make our own Eastern candy one year.  We made up cute little baskets of these delicious little morsels and took them home to our families. She allowed us to eat the bad ones....the ones that didn't turn out to be pretty enough for our baskets. I could never seem to make mine look like turtles so I ended up eating more than I took home.  I still do that when I make them.  I find that I eat a lot more than I give away.  LOL!  

Pecan Caramel Turtles 

2 1/2 cups pecans
1/2 cups butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 of a 14 ounce can)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco)

Toss 2 1/2 cups of pecans into a large skillet. Toast them over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they have darkened just a bit and smell fragrant and wonderful. Should only take a few minutes.

Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray. Arrange your pecans into clusters, three to a group works well. You want to leave some space (about an inch) between each cluster.

Make your caramel 

Place 1/2 cup butter into a medium-sized sauce pan. Melt it over medium high heat. Add  1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup light corn syrup and 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk to the pan. Increase the heat just a bit and stir continually. Cook and stir until it reaches 235-240 degrees. I generally remove it from the heat when it reaches about 234 degrees. It will continue to rise in temperature just a bit even without the direct heat, making the caramel just the right texture.  Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Carefully drizzle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of caramel over each nut cluster. You’ll want to work quickly, as the caramel will begin to set up. Be sure there is caramel touching all of the nuts in your cluster. The caramel works like glue, sticking the nuts together.

In a microwave safe bowl pour 12 ounces of milk chocolate chips. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each cooking interval. Add 1/2 teaspoon of shortening to the melted chocolate. Allow it to sit for a minute or two (so it can melt and make the chocolate chips more spreadable). Stir it all together.

Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of melted chocolate over the top of the caramel and nuts. Swirl it around along the top making a pretty swoop with your spoon. Allow the chocolate to set up. Once it has hardened and cooled you can serve them immediately, or transfer them to an air tight container.  Enjoy!

Makes about 40 clusters

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