I don’t know if you can count these as breakfast, it might be a nice Valentine’s Day breakfast but these are uber decadent and probably a good portion of your caloric intake for a day. But everyone once in a while, you have to live it up!
Turtles are one of my favorite chocolate candies, I mean… who doesn’t love caramel and pecans all covered in chocolate. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty, with the gooeyness of the caramel and the crunch of the pecans. These donuts are no different.
It starts off with what is basically a chocolate cake batter, but instead of putting it in a cake pan you divide it into a donut pan. These donuts are baked (which is about the only “healthy” thing they have going) and come up super moist and soft.
While the donuts are baking, I whipped together a super decadent caramel glaze to top them with. In the realm of homemade caramel making, this glaze is pretty foolproof and it comes out so good that you want to eat it with a spoon.
It’s important to frost the donuts when they are completely cooled and the glaze is still warm. The caramel glaze sets really quickly, but if you find that it is becoming difficult to work with, you can always return it to the stove to heat it just a bit. This will help return it to a frostable glaze.
After I glazed each donut, I sprinkled them with chopped pecans. It’s best to do this immediately after frosting each donut, while the glaze is still warm, so that the pecans stick.
These turtle donuts are decadent, sweet, quick to make and just the perfect treat to serve to someone you love.
turtle donuts
Author: Jessica
Serves: 10 donuts
Ingredients
chocolate donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
caramel glaze
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
chocolate donuts
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Spray a donut baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar.
- In a small bowl, whisk together milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla. This mixture may look funny, almost like it has curdled, but it’s fine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together just until combined. Be sure to scrape all the edges and bottom of bowl.
- Transfer batter to a large plastic bag or frosting bag. Pipe mixture into greased donut pan until each mold is about ⅔ full.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the donut and comes out clean.
- Transfer donuts to wire rack and let cool completely.
caramel glaze
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the brown sugar and cream until smooth. Boil for one minute, then remove from heat.
- Whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth and thick.
to assemble donuts
- While cooled donuts are still on the wire rack, spoon caramel glaze over donut and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
- Repeat for each donut.
- Allow caramel glaze to cool and serve.
