giant turtle cookies
I wanted to make giant cookies, so I made giant cookies. What of it? These guys are rich, soft, big enough to satisfy with one cookie but no one will mind if you sneak two. You’ll be a repeat offender after the first batch, like I was…though that was largely because I wasn’t happy with the first two batches. So not like I was.
These were the most stubborn of cookies. The first batch looked like a fluffed pillow. The second was better, but the tops were still Whitey McWhite despite upping the brown sugar. The third, ah, the third. More brown sugar, more chocolate, more fat, more size. The cookies spread dreamily but stayed poofy instead of collapsing like a blanket heaped overtop a mattress. They’re thick, loaded with nuts and dark chocolate and capped with pools of rich caramel. Did I mention that they’re also monstrosities?
No one this year especially should feel shame in indulgence. Over-indulgence, perhaps, is never a positive. If you’ve denied yourself a baking frenzy in seasons past, this is the year you should take that extra stride to find and accept comfort. I’ve struggled with the 2020 tumult most everyone else has – it’s crippled me some days. I fell into a heap of unintelligible sobbing one day at work and had to teach myself to breathe again in the breakroom over the course of 20 minutes or so. It was not graceful, and I’m not a pretty, soft, delicate crier – I’m a honking scarlet swollen mess. In various spheres, mostly at home, have these fissures opened. I don’t bake a lot in general, but currently I don’t want to hold back. As frustrating as the failures are, the successes are so satiating I want to do more to share. So, cue the Spotify Christmas Classics playlist, and I’ll be on my merry sleigh.
Homemade caramel isn’t as hard as you might think, just takes an observant eye. Like rice, you can’t just walk away from a pot of caramel or soon it will scald. I really recommend you try to make a batch for these and the Salted Caramel Mocha Fudge Brownies (coming soon!)
If you make and love this recipe, please leave a comment below and tell me what you think! Find me and my ramblings on Instagram and don’t forget to check out my other 12 Days of Christmas posts!
Day 1: Holiday Cookie Box 2020
Day 2: Butterscotch Snickerdoodles
Day 3: Graham Cracker Gingerbread Crumb Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, soft
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce, homemade or store bought
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream brown sugar, coconut oil, and yogurt until soft and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and blend, then add vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In two batches, add dry ingredients to wet and blend until combined but some tufts of flour are visible. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips with a spatula. Swirl 2 tbsp caramel into the batter, which will be fairly sticky.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup spoon to measure cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets. I recommend you don't add more than 4-5 cookies per baking sheet depending on how large your sheets are.
- Bake 10-12 minutes until centers are set. Cookies may look underbaked but will continue to cook on the sheet outside of the oven. Let stand on cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool for 15-20 minutes. Drizzle generously with caramel. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
