4.93 31 Published Dec 14, 2020, Updated Oct 12, 2022 After seeing a few recipes for homemade chocolate turtles around the web I thought it’d be fun to make my own version — a bit healthier with Medjool dates instead of caramel and dairy-free dark chocolate chips for the chocolate. Medjool dates have a lovely caramel flavor and sticky consistency so I knew it would work well. What I didn’t realize is just how easy the homemade turtles would be to make. Seriously, it’s kind of an issue because now I want to make turtles every night for dessert.
You Only Need 5 Ingredients:
How to Make Healthier Homemade Turtles
Pulse dates – Place the dates into the bowl of your food processor and pulse a couple times. Add the sea salt and pulse until the dates are completely chopped and form a large ball. The date mixture will be very sticky! Use plastic wrap to cover your hands, remove the ball from the food processor and wrap it with the plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour. Roll date balls – After freezing the date mixture should be much easier to work with. It should be harder and less sticky. Pinch off small pieces of the dates and roll into small balls. Place on parchment paper or a cooling rack. Add pecans – After all of your date balls are formed, start adding three pecans to each ball in a triangle pattern. Make sure a little of each pecan sticks out. Place the turtle pecan-side down on the parchment paper or cooling rack. Melt chocolate – Melt the chocolate by adding chocolate chips and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute in the microwave. Stir the mixture until all of the chips have melted. Use a spoon to cover each turtle with melted chocolate. Freeze – Once all of the turtles are coated in chocolate, transfer them to the freezer to allow the chocolate to set up. This should only take 10-15 minutes!
How to Store Homemade Turtles
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. If I’m making more than a week in advance I usually store them in the freezer and then take them out about an hour before serving!
More Healthy Treat Recipes to Try:
Healthy Peanut Butter Balls5-Ingredient Healthier Peanut Butter CupsEasy Healthier ButterfingersNo Bake Almond CookiesHealthy Cookie Dough BitesHealthy Almond Joy BarsCrispy Chocolate Rice Cake Bars
