This turtle candy is chocolate, caramel, and pecans, clustered into bite-sized candies using your slow cooker. The slow cooker melts the chocolate low and even, and the caramel comes from a bag of Rolos, so this recipe skips the step that scares most people off. Wrap a few candies in a cellophane bag and you’ve got a homemade gift that everyone will love.
I started making these the year I realized I needed simple gifts for six neighbors and three teachers and had very little free time. Two batches of turtle candy covered nearly all of them.
Homemade candy has a well-deserved reputation for being a whole production. There is the soft-ball stage, sugar crystals, and candy thermometers to juggle. But not with this recipe, and the secret to making these so easy is store-bought Rolos. They take care of the caramel for you, so there’s no candy thermometer and no standing over the stove.
And while it’s a Christmas tray staple at my house, there’s no rule that says it has to stay in December. Make it for a birthday, bring it to a potluck, or throw a batch together on a random day when you want chocolate and caramel and don’t feel like thinking too hard about it.
Below, I’ll walk you through the exact way to drop the chocolate over each Rolo so the caramel goes fully gooey in the center, and the one thing you have to be careful of when using a slow cooker to melt chocolate. If you can operate a slow cooker and a spoon, you can make these.
Looking for more easy homemade candy ideas? Try homemade peppermint patties, chocolate covered honeycomb candy or buckeyes.
Ingredient Notes
For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below
- Rolo candies
- Pecan halves
- Chocolate almond bark: This is the candy-coating chocolate you’ll find near the chocolate chips at the grocery store, usually in a block. It melts smoother than regular chocolate and sets up firmer once it cools.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- German’s sweet chocolate: A mild, sweeter baking chocolate, usually sold in a brown wrapper near the baking chocolate. If your store doesn’t carry it, semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips work fine in its place.
- Vanilla extract
- Sprinkles
How to Make Slow Cooker Turtle Candy
- Add the pecan halves to the bottom of your slow cooker, then layer the chopped almond bark over them, followed by the chocolate chips, then the chopped German’s chocolate on top. Cover it and walk away. Don’t stir yet.
- Cook on LOW for 1½ to 2 hours, and leave the lid alone for the entire first hour. Chocolate melts slowly and gently in a slow cooker, which is the whole reason to use one instead of the stove. Stirring too early just slows that process down.
- At the 1 hour mark, check it. Lift the lid straight up and away instead of tilting it, so the condensation that’s collected on the underside doesn’t drip back into your chocolate. Once it’s started to soften, give it a gentle stir to bring the pecans and chocolate together.
- Keep checking every 15 to 20 minutes, stirring each time, until everything is completely melted, smooth, and the pecans are coated all the way through. Slow cookers run at different temperatures, so don’t go by the clock alone. Go by what you see.
- Turn the slow cooker off and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Unwrap every Rolo and set them out on the sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Working while the chocolate is still soft and pourable, scoop about 1 heaping tablespoon over each Rolo. Use the back of the spoon to spread it just enough to cover the candy underneath, but don’t smooth it out flat.
- Decorate 4 to 5 candies at a time with sprinkles right after you scoop them, while the chocolate is still wet enough for the sprinkles to stick. If you wait until the whole tray is done, the first ones will have already started to firm up and the sprinkles will just roll off.
- Once every Rolo is covered and decorated, let the candies sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the chocolate is completely firm. If your kitchen runs hot, put the baking sheets in the fridge for a few minutes to speed things along.
- Once they’re set, lift the candies off the parchment. They should come up clean without sticking.
Serving Ideas
I almost always end up with a stack of candy tins by the time December rolls around, and this candy is the perfect way to fill them. It travels well and doesn’t need to be kept cold, so it’s an easy one to hand off to a neighbor or drop in the mail.
For a cookie exchange or a dessert table, I like setting these out next to a few other bite-sized sweets on a tray or a board. They also hold their own on a candy board alongside peppermint bark and toffee if you’re putting together a bigger spread.
How to Store
Keep the candies in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to a week, with parchment or wax paper between the layers so they don’t stick together. If your kitchen tends to run hot, especially in the summer, store them in the fridge instead.
They’ll keep for up to 2 weeks that way. Just let them sit out at room temperature for a few minutes before serving so the caramel center has a chance to soften back up.
You can also freeze them for up to 2 months. Layer them with parchment paper in a freezer-safe container, then thaw them in the fridge overnight and let them come the rest of the way to room temperature before you serve them.
Tips & Tricks
Be sure to check out the step by step instructions
- When you are using a slow cooker to melt chocolate it is very important to lift the lid straight up instead of tilting it. Slow cookers build up a lot of condensation on the underside of the lid, and if it tilts and drips into the chocolate, you can end up with a grainy, seized mess.
- Always cook this on LOW, never HIGH. Direct heat is what scorches chocolate on the stove, and a slow cooker set too hot can do the same thing over time.
- Start checking at the 1 hour mark instead of trusting the clock. Every slow cooker runs a little differently, and it’s easier to catch it early than to fix chocolate that’s gone too far.
- Almond bark sets up firmer than chips alone, which means these hold together in a candy tin.
- Don’t go overboard on the size of each cluster. A heaping tablespoon is already rich, and a bigger scoop just makes these harder to eat in a couple of bites.
- Leave some pecan visible around the edges instead of burying it completely. That’s the detail that makes people recognize this as turtle candy instead of plain chocolate bark.
- Red, green, and white sprinkles look the sharpest against the dark chocolate if you’re making these for a holiday tray. Other colors work fine the rest of the year.
- Add a pinch of flaky sea salt on top of each candy while the chocolate is still wet if you like salted caramel.
Reader Questions
Give it 1½ to 2 hours on LOW, and start checking at the 1 hour mark since every slow cooker runs a little differently. You’ll know it’s ready when the chocolate is completely melted and smooth with no streaks, and the pecans are coated evenly all the way through instead of clumped in one spot.
Yes. The texture works the same either way, so it comes down to how sweet or how rich you want the finished candy.
It’s a candy-coating chocolate sold in blocks near the chocolate chips, and it’s what gives this candy its firm, forgiving set. Chips alone tend to set up softer and stickier, which makes the candy harder to package up for gifting.
Yes, semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips work in its place if your store doesn’t carry it. German’s chocolate is milder and sweeter, so swapping it out will shift the flavor slightly toward whichever chocolate you use instead, but the candy will still set up the same way.
Yes. The heat from the fresh chocolate softens the caramel inside each Rolo as the candy sets, so by the time you bite into one, the middle is soft and gooey without you ever touching a caramel recipe.
That usually happens when a little water gets into the chocolate, often from condensation dripping off the lid, or from cooking it too hot too fast. Cooking on LOW and lifting the lid straight up instead of tilting it are the two things that prevent this. If it does happen, there’s no saving that batch, so be careful with the lid from the start.
No, not unless your kitchen runs hot. At normal room temperature they’re fine in an airtight container for about a week. The fridge is for hot kitchens or if you want them to last longer than a week.
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Slow Cooker Turtle Candy Recipe
Ingredients
- 24 to 30 Rolo candies unwrapped
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 16 ounces chocolate almond bark roughly chopped
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 ounces German’s sweet chocolate roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sprinkles
Instructions
- Put the pecan halves to the bottom of a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Add the chopped chocolate almond bark over the pecans.2 cups pecan halves, 16 ounces chocolate almond bark
- Sprinkle the semi-sweet chocolate chips over the almond bark. Add the chopped German’s sweet chocolate on top.12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, 4 ounces German’s sweet chocolate
- Cover and cook on LOW for 1½ to 2 hours. Do not stir during the first hour.
- After 1 hour, check the chocolate. Once it has begun to melt, gently stir the chocolate and pecans together.
- Continue cooking on LOW as needed, checking and stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth and the pecans are evenly coated.
- Turn off the slow cooker and stir in the vanilla extract.½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the Rolo candies and arrange them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.24 to 30 Rolo candies
- Working while the candy mixture is still soft and pourable, scoop approximately 1 heaping tablespoon of the chocolate-pecan mixture directly over each Rolo candy.
- Use the back of the spoon to gently spread the soft chocolate mixture just enough to cover the Rolo while keeping the candy thick and clustered.
- Working with about 4 to 5 candies at a time, immediately decorate the tops with the sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet.¼ cup sprinkles
- Continue scooping and decorating the candies until all of the chocolate-pecan mixture has been used.
- Allow the candies to stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the chocolate is completely firm. If your kitchen runs hot, place the baking sheets in the refrigerator briefly to help the candies set.
- Once completely set, carefully lift the candies from the parchment paper and serve or package for gifting.
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
