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Homemade Turtle Clusters

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Caramel for Turtles Place 1/2C butter in med pan. Melt it over medium high heat Add 1C brown sugar 1/2C light corn syrup& 7oz sweetened condensed milk to pan Increase heat just a bit& stir continually Cook& stir until it reaches 235-240 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 1/2t vanilla Drizzle caramel over nuts Work quik Be sure Caramel covers cluster It works like glue

Oh how I love Turtle Clusters and they are even better when they are homemade!  So I believe I’ll try these this Holiday season!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 C pecans
  • 1/2 C butter (I use salted)
  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 1/2 C light corn syrup
  • 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 of a 14 ounce can)
  • 1/2 t vanilla
  • 1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 t shortening

Instructions

  1. Toss 2 1/2 cups of pecans into a large skillet. Cook them over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they have darkened just a bit and smell wonderful. Should only take a few minutes.
  2. Use 2 large cookie sheets. Line them 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.
  3. Make your caramel (full tutorial with pictures found here). Place 1/2 C butter into a medium-sized sauce pan. Melt it over medium high heat. Add 1 C brown sugar, 1/2 C light corn syrup and 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk to the pan. Increase the heat just a bit and stir it 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.
  4. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
  5. Carefully drizzle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of caramel over each nut cluster. You’ll need 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
Recipe for Homemade Turtle Clusters - Oh how I love Turtle Clusters and they are even better when they are homemade! So I believe I’ll try these this Holiday season!
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