One day I was scrolling around on Pinterest, and I came across a picture of some chocolate turtles, which are delicious caramel-based chocolates with pecan chunks inside to look like a turtle! I then got motivated to try and make a vegan recipe of this delicious dessert! I discovered that dates and peanut butter make a delicious caramel! I then used maple syrup to caramelize the pecans and then poured some delicious vegan chocolate on top of each chocolate turtle! this quick recipe is great to make for a party or even on a Friday night when you are craving a delicious treat!

Ingredients:

Caramel:
-1.5 cups of medjool dates
1/2 cup peanut butter
-1/2 cup water

Pecans:
-1/4 cup maple syrup
-1 cup of pecans.

Chocolate:
-2 vegan chocolate bars
-1 tbsp coconut oil
-1 tbsp maple syrup

Topping:
-sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

2. Blend the medjool dates, peanut butter, and water in a food processor until smooth.

3. Once everything has blended, scoop about 1/2 tbsp of “caramel” for each turtle onto a tray lined with parchment paper.

4. Now that our caramel is sorted, let’s start working on our pecans! Line a tray with parchment paper and pour 1/4 cup maple syrup onto 1 cup of pecans. Evenly coat each pecan with maple syrup by mixing it up with a spoon.

5. Now place in the oven to bake for 5 minutes. Be careful they burn quickly!

6. Now place 2 pecans on top of each turtle and another 2 popping out of the sides.

7. Now for the final part of these indulgent bites…. the chocolate!! Melt 2 bars of chocolate, the coconut oil, and the maple syrup over a Bain-marie on low heat.

8. Once all the chocolate has melted, carefully spoon about a tbsp or 2 of chocolate over each turtle, until the pecans are somewhat covered.

9. Once done with covering all turtles with chocolate, sprinkle with a little sea salt, and place your tray in the freezer to set overnight.

10. Then ENJOY!

Recipe Notes:

* A bain-marie is when you take a saucepan and fill it up halfway with water and then place a heatproof bowl over the saucepan in order to slowly melt the chocolate.

* Store in an airtight container in the fridge

* My favorite vegan and refined sugar free dark chocolate is Lily’s Dark Chocolate

Step-by-step Photos:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Blend the medjool dates, peanut butter , and water in a food processor until smooth. Once everything has blended, scoop about 1/2 tbsp of “caramel” for each turtle onto a tray lined with parchment paper.

Now that our caramel is sorted, let’s start working on our pecans! Line a tray with parchment paper and pour 1/4 cup maple syrup onto 1 cup of pecans. Evenly coat each pecan with maple syrup by mixing it up with a spoon. Now place in the oven to bake for 5 minutes. Be careful they burn quickly!

Now place 2 pecans on top of each turtle and another 2 popping out of the sides. Now for the final part of these indulgent bites…. the chocolate!! Melt 2 bars of chocolate, the coconut oil, and the maple syrup over a Bain-marie on low heat.

Once all the chocolate has melted, carefully spoon about a tbsp or 2 of chocolate over each turtle, until the pecans are somewhat covered. Once done with covering all turtles with chocolate, sprinkle with a little sea salt, and place your tray in the freezer to set overnight.

Then ENJOY!