Flourless Chocolate Turtle Cookies

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Flourless Chocolate Turtle Cookies {naturally gluten free recipe} by Barefeet In The Kitchen

Flourless Chocolate Turtle Cookies are crisp and chocolatey with plenty of chewy caramel throughout each bite. The original Flourless Chocolate Brownie Cookies are awesome cookies that can be stirred together in just a few minutes.

When I saw the caramel bits at the store, I couldn’t resist picking them up to see if I could create a turtle cookie. The additional caramel and pecans in this recipe turned out to be a fun variation that my whole crew voted two thumbs up.

I chopped up some of the remaining Chocolate Turtle Cookies and added them to a batch of vanilla ice cream. Turtle Cookie Ice Cream might have been my best idea this week. (Although, I won’t be recreating that dangerous combination again any time soon!)

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Flourless Chocolate Turtle Cookies by Barefeet In The Kitchen

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Flourless Chocolate Turtle Cookies

5 from 1 vote
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 22 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients 

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • ¾ cups dutch process or special dark cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1 large egg
  • cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup caramel bits
  • ½ cup chopped pecans plus a few more for topping if desired

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. Whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt. Add the eggs. Whisk again until smooth. (Using an electric mixer will make this even easier, but it's quite simple by hand.) Stir in the chocolate chips, caramel bits, and pecans.
  • Drop by tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Top each cookies with a few extra pecan pieces, if desired. Bake 12 minutes, until the cookies are just set. They should be puffy and cracked across the top. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Notes

The parchment paper in this recipe is a requirement. For most recipes, I use my silicone mats and parchment interchangeably, but the parchment makes a difference here. The cookies are very sticky when warm and they will come off of the parchment smoothly. Not so much with a plain baking tray or a silicone mat. 
Caramel bits are little chocolate chip sized balls of caramel. Same as the big squares of caramel that you buy in a cellophane wrapper, but conveniently unwrapped for baking. You can find them in the baking aisle at the grocery store.

Nutrition

Calories: 132kcal · Carbohydrates: 23g · Protein: 2g · Fat: 4g · Saturated Fat: 2g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g · Monounsaturated Fat: 2g · Trans Fat: 0.005g · Cholesterol: 7mg · Sodium: 117mg · Potassium: 96mg · Fiber: 2g · Sugar: 20g · Vitamin A: 16IU · Vitamin C: 0.04mg · Calcium: 16mg · Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @barefeetkitchen or tag #barefeetkitchen!

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Mary Younkin

Mary Younkin

Hi, I’m Mary. I’m the author, cook, photographer, and travel lover behind the scenes here at Barefeet In The Kitchen. I'm also the author of three cookbooks dedicated to making cooking from scratch as simple as possible.

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    • Mary says

      As with all GF foods, it depends on whether the individual is choosing to avoid gluten for their own health and/or personal reasons, or if there is a full allergy involved. If the person for whom you are baking is celiac or truly allergic to gluten, check ALL labels, for the chocolate chips and cocoa powder as well as the caramels. The amount of gluten in those things does not bother our family at all, but it would certainly bother a person with a more serious allergy. We avoid "wheat" specifically, because it affects my son, however the trace amounts of gluten in everything else don't bother him. So, as always, check labels carefully!

    • Mary says

      Whoops! Yes. I had a note at the bottom with an asterisk and I moved it into the notes above the recipe. Thanks for catching that!

    • Mary says

      I'm glad you like them, Melissa! Hopefully your FIL will as well. I soooo wish I could be there. The lineup of speakers looks fantastic. Enjoy it for me!!

    • Mary says

      The caramel bits I used were little round balls, soft enough to squeeze with your fingers. After baking, they were gooey caramel. I hope that helps!

  1. not entirely sweet says

    These look really good, but I am afraid they may be incredibly sweet. Reading the ingredients, it seems like where there would have been flour, there is sugar instead. I can see there is a meringue, which lightens these up, but even without the caramel pieces and chocolate chips, these almost seem frosting-sweet. Please tell me I am wrong. They look so very good, and chewy, and chocolatey….

    • Mary says

      Yes, they are sweet cookies, but the amount of cocoa powder almost balances it. They aren't overly sweet, but they are rich.

  2. Kathleen Risa says

    I just found this recipe and am anxious to try it! In gathering the ingredients, have been unable to find the caramel bits (and that is after calling 3 or 4 specialty places, and looking at 2 grocery stores.) Can I substitute chopped up square caramels in this recipe?

    • Mary says

      Yes, you should be able to chop up caramels very small for these cookies. However, I am really surprised the caramel bits weren't in the baking aisle at your stores. They are standard in every grocery store here! They're made by Kraft and they're usually with the chocolate chips. Sorry it's been such a hassle for you!

  3. Joanna says

    Hi! I have tried the recipe, but i am probably doing something wrong. It it very liquid and it doesn't keep the shape of the tablespoon. I used the exact listed ingredients. What could i possibly be doing wrong? Also, do you whisk all ggs together or separately the egg whites?
    The taste was incredible!

    • Mary says

      I simply add the ingredients as listed in the instructions above. Did you try baking them? This isn't a stiff cookie dough, it's closer to the consistency of a brownie batter. I've also heard that different altitudes affect these cookies, but I haven't tested that myself.

    • Sadie says

      The recipe says 24 cookies, but I am sure it highly depends on the size of the cookie.

  4. Linda says

    Love these cookies! Used recipe exactly and they came out just as expected. Needed a cookie that was gluten free for my granddaughter’s birthday and something she hasn’t tried baking herself. Thank you so much!5 stars

  5. Pat Hill says

    I followed the recipe exactly. The “cookies” ran all over the cookie sheet – I had a chocolate run. I’m glad I used parchment paper otherwise, I would have had a total loss of ingredients. Good thought, but poor execution. Maybe 12 minutes is too long of a cook time.

    • Mary Younkin says

      Sorry to hear that the recipe didn’t turn out well for you, Pat. Did you by any chance happen to substitute/omit any ingredients? This should be a very consistent and reliable baking recipe. I also always recommend keeping an eye on the oven while baking, since the way the cookies look/spread is inevitably going to be a better metric than just trusting the cook time. Either way, I hope your next baking project turns out wonderfully; happy cooking!