Turtle cookie cups come together quickly and are a delicious treat any time of day. I especially love them as a sweet pairing with a hot cup of coffee. The drizzle of chocolate and sprinkle of sea salt give them extra razzle dazzle, but you can also keep them simple with just the Rolos and toasted pecan halves. Whether you dress them up or dress them down, these cookies always hit the spot. 

Simple Keys to Better Cookies

Because cookies are often simple to make, I like to employ thoughtful tricks and techniques to level them up. 

Lean on the power of brown sugar: Whereas many cookie recipes use an equal amount of light brown sugar and granulated sugar, I prefer a higher ratio of light brown sugar in this recipe. The extra kick adds a strong caramel-y undertone to the dough, contributes moisture, and helps to create a cookie with a tender chew. Add vanilla to the butter: Beating the vanilla into the butter ensures that the vanilla flavor that helps to round out the cookies is carried through each bite. Mix the nuts in early: In developing these, I found the cookies to have a more prominent pecan flavor when the cooled, chopped pecans were first beaten into the butter rather than added after the flour. This also helps reduce risk of overmixing.  

Easy Substitutions

Any brand of chocolate covered caramel will work as long as it’s similar in size to a Rolo.You can use semi-sweet chocolate instead of bittersweet chocolate for the drizzle.If you prefer, melt chocolate chips in place of the chopped chocolate. You’ll need about 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips. 

Make Ahead Tips

The baked cookies are best freshly baked. However, the dough itself freezes well! You can make, portion, and store balls of dough in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, prepare the mini muffin pan and oven as described in the recipe. Bake the cookies from frozen as instructed in the recipe, noting that the cookies may need an additional few minutes baking time. 

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Once cool, set aside 24 pecan halves to top each cookie. Be sure to pick out the prettiest pecans!  Finely chop the remaining cooled pecans and set aside. You should have about 1 1/2 cups. Place a ball of cookie dough into each cavity of the prepared mini muffin tin. Do not press the dough down. You’ll see the chocolate get glossy as the heat from the cookie begins to melt it. Gently press a reserved toasted pecan half on top of the melty rolo. This helps keep the pecan attached to the cookie once it’s cooled. Carefully, holding the top of a cookie, twist to release it from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. If you find the cookie to be delicate and/or the chocolate to be moving around, allow the cookies to cool an additional couple of minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool on the rack while you prepare the chocolate for drizzling, if using. For a cleaner, more uniform look, transfer the melted chocolate to a resealable plastic bag, plastic piping bag, or parchment cornet and snip a small opening off the corner. Alternatively, you can use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate.  Arrange the cookies on the rack so that the pecan halves are running vertically. Set the rack over a baking sheet or newspaper to collect any drips. Drizzle the chocolate over one half of each cookie at an angle so that the chocolate crosses the pecan on a diagonal. Sprinkle each cookie with a very light pinch of flaky sea salt, as desired. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container in a single layer or stacked with a piece of wax or parchment paper between the cookies for up to 4 days. I don’t recommend freezing the baked cookies. Did you love the recipe? Leave us stars below!