Peanut Turtle Candy
If you like Turtle candies, then you will love these Peanut Turtle Candy! This homemade candy is a sweet and salty candy loaded with peanuts and chewy caramel that's coated in milk chocolate!
If you like making homemade candy, check out Mint Meltaways, Chocolate Cream Drops, Strawberry Chocolate Bars, or Pink Peppermint Ice.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Peanut Turtle Candy
- Ready In: 45 minutes
- Makes: 24 candies
- Main Ingredients: peanuts, milk chocolate, salted butter, cane sugar
- Flavor Profile: salty peanuts, caramel, and smooth milk chocolate
- Dietary Info: eggless, gluten free, no seed oils
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: twist on classic turtle candies with peanuts instead of pecans
Summarize & Save This Content On
You'll Love This Recipe
- Twist on a Classic: You will love this take on the classic Turtle candies. This Peanut Turtle Candy uses roasted and salted peanuts in place of the traditional pecans. This sweet and salty candy is a twist on a classic!
- Chocolate + Peanuts: If you love the chocolate peanut butter combo, you will love this homemade candy with chocolate and roasted and salted peanuts!
- Caramel Candy: This Peanut Turtle Candy are peanut clusters coated in a chewy, gooey homemade caramel (with just 3 ingredients), and then coated in milk chocolate.
- Sweet & Salty: The combination of sweet milk chocolate, roasted and salted peanuts, and sweet chewy caramel makes for the best sweet and salty treat.
- No Candy Thermometer: I make homemade true caramel where we dry burn the sugar (no corn syrup needed!) and you don't need a thermometer for it!
While traditional Turtle candies are made with pecans, I make these with roasted and salted peanuts for incredible flavor! The combination of salty peanuts, milk chocolate and chewy caramel are match made in heaven. If you love chocolate and peanut butter, you'll also love Vegan Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups, Vegan Snickers Bars, and Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.
I make homemade caramel with only 3 organic ingredients. So, while store bought turtles can contain soy, seed oils, artificial flavors and other ingredients that are not ideal, you can easily avoid them when you make your own! If you love the caramel here, you'll also love Caramel Lollipops and Homemade Caramel Sauce with Bone Broth for this holiday season!
Ingredients
- Peanuts: I use organic roasted and salted peanuts. Don't use raw as you get all the flavor from the roasted and salted peanuts.
- Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar for the caramel component.
- Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter, you can use your favorite. If you're using unsalted, add a little pinch of salt to the caramel and taste it to ensure it's to your liking.
- Milk Chocolate: I use organic milk chocolate to coat these. Make sure to use a milk chocolate bar or milk chocolate that was made for melting as milk chocolate chips (made for cookies) may not melt well. If you want to use dark chocolate, you can also do that.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips for Peanut Turtle Candy
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results. With caramel, the ratios are what is important, so weighing them is crucial.
- I use a 2-quart stainless steel pot to make the caramel in. If you're new to making caramel, you can check out my Homemade True Caramel post for a more in depth explanation and tutorial on making caramel from scratch!
- I use a high heat spatula. This is key whenever making something like caramel or butterscotch where it is high heat for an extended period of time. If you don't use a high heat spatula, it can actually melt and warp your spatula! I have had pieces of spatula burn off into caramel before!
- I use roasted and salted peanuts in this recipe for extra flavor. So make sure you aren't using raw peanuts as they will be lackluster.
- I use milk chocolate here, but you could also use dark chocolate or even white chocolate! This recipe would be equally delicious with both, whatever you prefer.
- I don't always temper the chocolate when I make candy. If I am gifting it to someone, then I definitely do as it can sit out and not melt. But, if I am just making candy for myself then I don't temper it as I usually store them in the fridge or even the freezer so they last longer! If you want to temper the chocolate, check out my post How to Temper Chocolate for Candy Making for more info.
How to Make Peanut Turtle Candy
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the peanuts into a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In a small saucepan using a high heat spatula, add the cane sugar and cook until it begins to melt.
- The sugar will begin to melt and clump, continue to stir to ensure there are no chunks of sugar.
- Allow the sugar to melt completely before adding in the butter.
- Add the butter, and stir to combine completely. Careful as steam will rise up.
- Slowly add in the heavy whipping cream and stir to combine completely. Remove from the heat.
- Pour the caramel into the bowl with the peanuts.
- Stir to combine completely. Work quickly, as the caramel is beginning to cool.
- Using a soup spoon, spoon clusters of peanut and caramel mixture on the baking sheet. You should have 24 candies.
- Using a double boiler, add 80% of the milk chocolate, and melt until it reaches 110°F on a chocolate thermometer. Remove from heat, and add in the remaining 20% of chocolate and stir to combine completely. Allow the chocolate to come back down to 91°F. You can skip this step if you do not want to temper the chocolate and melt it all completely in the double boiler. Or, you can melt all the chocolate in the microwave doing 30 second intervals. I will always temper if I am gifting chocolate as a gift, but if it's just for me then I skip it!
- Drop each cluster into the chocolate. Using a fork like a spoon (to lift out the candy so excess chocolate drips back into the bowl). Place the candies back on the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge (or freezer for speed) to set the chocolate. Enjoy candies at room temperature.
Recipe FAQ's
Traditional turkey candy is made with pecans, chewy caramel, and coated in chocolate. The chocolate is usually milk chocolate, but you can find them in dark chocolate or white chocolate too.
This candy is called turtle candy because sometimes there are pecans poking out to resemble feet and a head, while the middle is coated in chocolate creating a “turtle-like shell”. While the candy originated in Chicago from DeMet's Candy, I grew up eating them from Fannie May Candies who coated theirs completely in chocolate. So, that's what I do too (because more chocolate is better!).
The true caramel that I make here is all about ratios, the right ratio of cane sugar, butter and cream is what creates a soft and chewy caramel. If these ratios are off, your caramel can be too hard or too soft. The biggest reason this happens is not measuring ingredients properly, so that's why I always recommend using a digital food scale to weigh everything properly.
When the cream is completely combined and the caramel is smooth, then it's ready to be removed from the heat. It helps to watch the video below!
If your caramel burned you either had the heat up too high, or you left it unattended. Never leave caramel, always stand over the stovetop the entire time. If your caramel is grainy, it most likely means the heat was too low and the sugar crystals couldn't caramelize or melt enough. Making true caramel is a delicate dance of having the heat hot enough to melt and caramelize the sugar, but low enough that it doesn't burn. All stoves are a little different, so sometimes it takes a try to find out what is best for your range.
This is a soft, chewy caramel so it's not going to harden immediately. But, you do want to work quickly to coat the peanuts as soon as it's done.
If you didn't coat them in enough caramel (too many peanuts for the amount of caramel), they can crumble.
You can use the double boiler method of melting chocolate if you're worried about burning. But, if you are using the microwave method, just ensure you are doing 30 second intervals and stir between each one. The intervals and stirring between each one will help distribute heat evenly, and prevent burning. You also want to ensure milk chocolate is chopped evenly so it melts evenly. Having larger pieces that won't melt can cause chocolate to burn if you are microwaving it longer than needed.
No, you don't. I only really temper chocolate if I'm gifting it or if I'm making it for a party where it will sit out. If you don't temper the chocolate, it can sweat, so you may just want to keep it in the fridge (which is where I usually store it anyways!).
I like to use a fork, like a spoon, to dip the clusters in the milk chocolate. This allows excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl and it prevents large pools of chocolate from forming when you set the chocolate on the baking sheet.
Just until hard and the chocolate has set. This can vary depending on temperature in your kitchen or if you put them in the fridge or freezer.
No, you don't need to store these in the fridge. You can if you want, but they are find at room temperature.
Store in a cool dry place or in the fridge.
Yes, just store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. You can thaw in the fridge or at room temperature and they're ready to enjoy.
More Chocolate Peanut Butter Recipes
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Peanut Turtle Candy
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- 3-Quart Pot
- Half Sheet Pan
- Heatproof Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 170 grams cane sugar
- 57 grams salted butter
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 284 grams roasted and salted peanuts
- 454 grams milk chocolate (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the peanuts into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan using a high heat spatula, add the cane sugar and cook until it begins to melt.
- The sugar will begin to melt and clump, continue to stir to ensure there are no chunks of sugar.
- Allow the sugar to melt completely before adding in the butter.
- Add the butter, and stir to combine completely. Careful as steam will rise up.
- Slowly add in the heavy whipping cream and stir to combine completely. Remove from the heat.
- Pour the caramel into the bowl with the peanuts.
- Stir to combine completely. Work quickly, as the caramel is beginning to cool.
- Using a double boiler, add 80% of the milk chocolate, and melt until it reaches 110°F on a chocolate thermometer. Remove from heat, and add in the remaining 20% of chocolate and stir to combine completely. Allow the chocolate to come back down to 91°F. You can skip this step if you do not want to temper the chocolate and melt it all completely in the double boiler. Or, you can melt all the chocolate in the microwave doing 30 second intervals. I will always temper if I am gifting chocolate as a gift, but if it's just for me then I skip it!
- Drop each cluster into the chocolate. Using a fork like a spoon (to lift out the candy so excess chocolate drips back into the bowl). Place the candies back on the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge (or freezer for speed) to set the chocolate. Enjoy candies at room temperature.
- Store in a cool, dry place, or in the fridge.
Video
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results. With caramel, the ratios are what is important, so weighing them is crucial.
- I use a 2-quart stainless steel pot to make the caramel in. If you're new to making caramel, you can check out my Homemade True Caramel post for a more in depth explanation and tutorial on making caramel from scratch!
- I use a high heat spatula. This is key whenever making something like caramel or butterscotch where it is high heat for an extended period of time. If you don't use a high heat spatula, it can actually melt and warp your spatula! I have had pieces of spatula burn off into caramel before! I've linked the high heat spatula I use here.
- I use roasted and salted peanuts in this recipe for extra flavor. So make sure you aren't using raw peanuts as they will be lackluster.
- I use milk chocolate here, but you could also use dark chocolate or even white chocolate! This recipe would be equally delicious with both, whatever you prefer.
- I don't always temper the chocolate when I make candy. If I am gifting it to someone, then I definitely do as it can sit out and not melt. But, if I am just making candy for myself then I don't temper it as I usually store them in the fridge or even the freezer so they last longer! If you want to temper the chocolate, check out my post How to Temper Chocolate for Candy Making for more info.
- High Altitude — Follow the recipe as noted.
Nutrition
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These are so good!
I love these! Each bite is a perfect balance of salty and sweet. The peanuts add a satisfying crunch that beautifully contrasts with the rich, buttery, and gooey caramel. The thick layer of smooth milk chocolate brings everything together for a truly decadent treat.
Going to make these very soon. Just wondering if I could leave the caramel clusters in the fridge overnight, then dip them in melted chocolate the very next day after returning the clusters to room temperature? They look so good. Will roast the peanuts myself without salt but shall add more salt to the caramel to make it salted caramel. Thanks for a lovely gift idea.
Hi! Yes, of course you can make the caramel clusters and leave in the fridge overnight and dip the following day. That’s totally fine and a great way to prep them! And, yes you can do that to the peanuts and the caramel if you prefer, enjoy!