Slow Cooker Chocolate Turtles are the easiest homemade candy! With only 5 ingredients and your trusted slow cooker, you’ll love making this fun candy recipe!
Making Slow Cooker Chocolate Turtles is a big tradition in my home! The combination of crunchy pecans and gooey caramel nestled inside rich, velvety chocolate is one that’s hard to resist! This turtle candy recipe is super simple, and your crock pot does most of the work. There’s nothing quite like awesome crock pot recipes!
SLOW COOKER CHOCOLATE TURTLES
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This recipe makes a big batch – around 8 dozen turtles, so it’s fantastic for sharing with friends and family! I usually make them around the holidays and pick sprinkles to match the time of year. They usually make an appearance at our 4th of July cookout and on my Christmas treat plates.
I wasn’t kidding when I said this turtles recipe is easy! You’ll just toss all of the ingredients (minus the center portion) into your crock pot and let it go for a couple of hours. It’s so, so good!
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Chocolate Turtles
- Chopped pecans – or you can buy pecan halves and chop them yourself
- Almond bark
- Semi-Sweet chocolate chips – milk chocolate is okay is you can’t find semi-sweet
- Baking chocolate – unsweetened or dark chocolate
- Rolos candy
- Sprinkles for topping (optional)
The Rolos are the perfect centerpiece for these homemade turtles! The combination of pecans and caramel and chocolate is heaven! You can also use chewy caramel candies if you prefer a big burst of caramel flavor.
Where can I find almond bark?
Don’t let the name fool you – there are absolutely no nuts in almond bark! Almond bark is basically white candy coating. You can find this ingredient in the baking aisle of your local grocer, near the chocolate chips and baking chocolate. It melts into chocolate beautifully and gives candies a smooth, but firm consistency.
If you need a quick substitution, you can also use white chocolate chips or a white chocolate baking bar in place of the almond bark. Another good option is to use white chocolate, but keep in mind that you will need to add a tablespoon of shortening to the mixture. The shortening will help the white chocolate to firm up and give your turtle candies a shiny coating.
How to Make Turtle Candy
- First, place the pecans, almond bark, chocolate chips, and baking chocolate into your crockpot and melt on LOW for an hour and a half to two hours. Uncover and stir to combine.
- Next, place the Rolos candies on a parchment paper or silicone mat lined baking sheet. Spoon the chocolate pecan mixture over the Rolos.
- Finally, top the chocolate turtles with sprinkles if you like, and allow them to cool to room temperature or until firm and hardened.
Try placing your Rolos about 2 inches apart to ensure that the turtles don’t stick together. I like to use a small cookie scoop to spoon the chocolate pecan mixture over the Rolos, but you can measure out a heaping tablespoon of the chocolate if you don’t have a cookie scoop.
Store turtles in an air-tight container in the fridge. I usually put a piece of foil or waxed paper between the layers of candy so they don’t stick to each other.
Melting Chocolate in a Crock Pot
I love using my slow cooker for this homemade candy recipe! Double boilers and microwave melting can cause chocolate to burn or splatter, and it can be difficult to get the right smooth chocolate texture.
Luckily, your crock pot produces a delicious pool of perfectly melted, velvety chocolate every time.
Remember to set your crock pot to LOW when melting chocolate. Otherwise, the chocolate may overcook and become bitter or separated. After about 1-2 hours when all of the ingredients are melted, simply give the mixture a good stir and it’s ready to go!
More Homemade Candy Recipes!
- Crock Pot Salty Sweet Candy
- Red Velvet Fudge
- Coconut Cream Truffles
- Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
- Homemade Raspberry Marshmallows
- More DESSERT recipes…
Tools used to make Slow Cooker Chocolate Turtles
Slow Cooker: I love this crock pot! The lid is very secure and I can pack it up and take it on the go if I’m heading to a potluck. This slow cooker is a workhorse in my kitchen and has worked great for years!
Baking Sheet: A nice big baking sheet is a must have for any kitchen. This half pan sheet is large than a regular cookie and works great for anything you’re baking.
Silicone Mat: I use a silicone mat on my baking sheet practically every time I bake. The mat makes for easy cleanup and my foods don’t stick to the pan.
Cookie Scoop: Cookie scoops are my favorite way to portion dough and batter when I’m baking. This set has 3 different sizes so I get the right amount in each scoop.
*This post originally posted on 12/06/2017.
Ingredients
- 4 cups pecans chopped
- 32 ounces almond bark
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 6 ounce chocolate baking bar
- 24 ounces Rolo candies unwrapped
- Sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Place pecans, almond bark, chocolate chips, and chocolate baking bar in a crock pot that is set to LOW.
- Heat candy for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until melted. Uncover and stir the chocolate mixture until evenly combined.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Lay Rolos on the prepared baking sheets 2-inches apart.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the chocolate pecan mixture from the slow cooker. Place the chocolate on top of the Rolo. Repeat until all the Rolos are covered.
- If desired, top each candy with sprinkles. Allow the chocolate turtles to cool until hardened.
Notes
- If you don't have a cookie scoop, you can use a heaping 1 tablespoon measuring spoon portion of the chocolate mixture. I highly recommend a cookie scoop though, it's SO much easier to use.
- If you want more caramel in each bite, you can substitute caramels in place of the Rolos.
Nutrition
Molly says
Can you just put the caramel in the slow cooker with everything else?
Erin Dischinger says
Can you use chopped almonds instead of pecans?
Sherry says
Use a better caramel than rolo- I bought the sea salted caramels from Sam’s.
Jane Moreau says
Can you just use melting chips instead?
kim says
chocolate baking bar, semi sweet, unsweet, or what kind, as there are many to choose from
Sonja Lee Sindell says
I made this recipe and it was delicious. I had made some other candy recipes but I liked your the best. I bought the cookie scoop and it worked far better than tablespoon. I used the foil cupcake holders and put the Rolo in center and just put a scoop over it and it worked out good. I had tried the paper holders but they left residue on bottom. Thanks for great recipe.
Reita says
Is the 2 pounds almond bark white or chocolate?
Aubrey Cota says
It is left ambiguous mostly because you can use whatever you prefer. As you can see from the pictures this recipe used white almond bark, which sometimes adds that extra bit of sweetness. Please feel free to use what is easiest for you to get your hands on or what you prefer most.