Cashew Turtles Candy

Course Candy, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword cashew-turtles-candy, cashew-turtles-recipe

Prep Time 20

Stand time 1

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 269kcal

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly spray with cooking spray.
Arrange 12 even clusters of cashews on each pan.
In a small heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat melt together the caramels with heavy cream for 6-8 minutes. Cook while stirring until completely smooth. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract.
Drizzle warm caramel over each cashew cluster beginning at the center, leaving some cashews visible. Set the pan into the refrigerator to set while you melted the chocolate. (A small meatball size scoop is perfect for keeping the caramel in even portions)
In a double boiler melt together the chocolate chips with vegetable shortening over one inch of simmering water. Melt for 6-8 minutes or until completely smooth. Stir well to combine.
Divide warm chocolate evenly between the cashew turtles spreading over caramel.
Place the pan back into the refrigerator and chill until firm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or chilled in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Optional Topping: Sprinkle Cashew Turtles with coarse sea salt or additional chopped cashews while chocolate is still wet.

Chocolate - You can use milk chocolate chips, rich dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips for a vanilla flavor twist. You could also use chocolate melting wafers like Ghirardelli or similar.
Nuts - You can make these caramel turtles using pecans, almonds, walnuts or peanuts.
Roasted Cashews - You can use salted or unsalted whole cashews for this recipe. I don't recommend using balanced cashews, roasted cashews will have the best flavor.
Scoop - I have a tiny meatball size scoop that I use to divide the caramel and chocolate for the turtles candy. It works like a charm for keeping them uniform in size.
Utilize a Double Boiler - A double boiler works best as it's also helpful for keeping the chocolate warm while you work. To make your own double boiler: Use a tempered glass bowl or metal bowl placed over an inch of simmering water. Don't let the water touch the bottom of the bowl.
Microwave Melting- Should you opt to melt the chocolate in the microwave, do so in 30 second increments or using the melt function on your microwave to avoid scorching the chocolate. Stop and stir each time repeating the process until it's completely smooth.