Hi everyone, can you believe it? Finally, I am this close to Graduation (Imagine me pinching my pointer finger with my thumb) 😀 – And with graduation comes performances, baking, class parties, baking, muck up days and lots of baking!
Before I graduate though, here I am ploughing through my workload because before every beautiful part of life, comes this hideous, clawing at your neck part known as my final exams. Eep! And because I cannot bake my butt off right now, I would like you to enjoy a huge range of wonderful guest posters especially chosen just for you!
So close to the end of school, I can taste it! Au revoir mes cheris!
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Turtles. Tuuuurtles. TURTLES! The first word which pops in my head when I think of the super creative, super fabulous Kim from Cravings of a Lunatic – if you have not heard of her blog, her insanely delicious and crazy blog, where have you been? 😉
A blogging Willy Wonka if you will, you really have to wonder where she gets her ideas for the insane desserts she shares with her readers!
I am sure you guys are going to enjoy this post to kick off my guest posts 😀 – Go Kim! Go Turtles (you shall see why…)
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Hi folks. Let me introduce myself before things get a little nutty here. I’m Kim and I blog at Cravings of a Lunatic. It’s a bit of an indulgent blog, I make things like Trix Krispies and Pink Popcorn. I bake way too much and have a serious penchant for anything sweet. I blog savoury food too, but sweets tend to be my first love.
When Uru asked for some of her peeps to help her out by providing guest posts I was thrilled to offer up my services. I love this girl. Her love for food makes me super happy, and her zest for life and writing styling keep me coming back to visit her time and time again. She’s just good people, and it’s a pleasure to know her. I think she’s one of the most supportive bloggers I’ve ever met. I sent her an email asking if she had any requests and she said something turtle related would be great. Ah, a girl who knows me and my obsessions. I love it.
You see I’m a Canuck, and we have these chocolates here called Turtles which are chocolate, caramel and pecans shaped into a bit of a cluster. They resemble little turtles, hence the name. I’m wildly addicted to them and love any excuse to turn something into a turtle inspired treat. I have everything from Turtles French Toast, to Turtle Tailgate Mix, and even Turtle Apples for Halloween. I think my all time favourite is my Turtle Popcorn Gone Wild. It’s sort of addictive and not good for your waistline at all. So when Uru mentioned turtles my mind was spinning with possibilities. Even though I already have oodles of turtle recipes on my site, I knew I could come up with more. It’s a never-ending journey for me. I will never run out of ideas for my beloved turtle recipes.
I mulled over some ideas and finally settled on hand pies. I was not too sure how they would turn out, but I’m very adventurous so I knew I had to try. They are actually super easy to make. I was sort of surprised how easy to be honest. I almost felt bad about it, but I was just too busy shoving turtle hand pies in my own pie hole to really care all that much. These things are freaking amazing. I loved them hot out of the oven, when everything was ooey and gooey. I could barely contain myself while taking photos. And let’s be honest, I did not contain myself very well at all. I was eating the hand pies before I even glazed them. I mean who wouldn’t. Just look at these things.
Since it’s smack in the middle of a hot, humid summer here I opted to cheat and use pre-made pie dough. You can totally make your own. But if you don’t make your own don’t feel bad about it. We all cheat from time to time. Life man, you gotta do what you gotta do. And this girl was battling weather and a busy schedule while coming down with a summer cold. So I took the easy way out and it left more time for gobbling these bad boys up. I may have even hidden a few before the family came home. Survival of the fittest, and fastest in our household. Blink and your food disappears. So hiding some is always a good option here at the B household. Not going to lie. My family members are like rabid wolves some days. Rabid wolves who like chocolate, and caramel, and pecans.
Turtles Hand Pies:
Ingredients:
- 1 package of pre-made refrigerated pie dough
- 1 package of caramel candies
- 1 package of chocolate chips, or wafers
- 1/2 cup chopped, or crushed pecans
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C)
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out your dough onto parchment paper. Use cookie cutters, or biscuit cutters to cut small shapes. I did half with hearts and half with rounds.
- For me this made 10 hand pies. So you will need double that amount of shapes since you have a top and a bottom.
- Once you cut them out you can roll out leftover dough to cut more shapes.
- Lay half of your shapes on top of the parchment lined cookie sheets.
- Fill each pie dough with a small amount of chocolate, I used two wafers per pie. Don’t over-stuff or they’ll leak. If using chips I’d say use about 1 tablespoon per pie dough.
- Add one to two pieces of caramel to each mini pie shape. I found cutting the caramels into smallish pieces really helps to keep them from getting too much height that it would be hard to get the top pie piece on later.
- Now add about one to two pecan halves, crushed or broken into each pie dough.
- Place your top piece of pie dough over top and smooth out.
- Press down gently and then go around the edges with your fingers to press them tight so nothing leaks out.
- Take a fork and press the edges again so they are tight. Go around the entire edge with the fork. Then poke little holes in the top of the pie dough so steam can release out the top as the cook.
- You can brush them with egg wash if you like, I oddly was out of eggs so I didn’t worry about that.
- You can also sprinkle them with sugar at this point if you like. I tossed some Demerara sugar on half of mine.
- Place them in a preheated 400 degree F (204 degrees C) oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
- While they cook you can prep some drizzle for the top.
- Take about 1/2 cup of chocolate and melt it in the microwave (or use a double boiler if you prefer that method) for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Check and stir every 15 to 30 seconds since every microwave cooks differently. You wanted it melted and smooth for drizzling.
- Take about 1/2 cup of caramels and melt them the same way. (If you over cook it try adding a touch of cream to loosen it up a bit.)
- Crush some extra pecans, about 1/4 cup, for tossing over top of the hand pies.
- Once the hand pies are out of the oven drizzle them first with chocolate, then caramel. Now you can toss pecans over top.
- Serve with big old Turtles smile! 😀
I cannot even begin to describe how good these are. They are also remarkably easy to make. Which is good since there’s nothing worse than taking all day to make something and the family inhales it in 1.39 seconds. This is a dessert I can feed them and feel like I got some bang for buck time wise. That rarely happens around here. Mostly because I inhale everything myself in 1.31 seconds so I can beat them to the punch. A girls gotta eat people. If it means inhaling food, hiding food or even stealing food out of my family’s hands I’m down with it. Happy Mama, Happy Family is my motto.
I’d like to thank my lovely friend, Uru, for allowing me the great pleasure of being here today. I am thrilled to do this and hope the turtle recipe makes her wildly happy. I also hope she passes her exams with flying colours.
Thanks to all you Go Bake Yourself readers for allowing me into your world today. I hope you get a chance to make these amazing Turtles Hand Pies. You will become as wildly addicted to Turtles as I am.
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What a way to kick off guest posts right? Bet you don’t miss me at all 😉 – Thank you so much for Kim for sharing your expertise on Turtles and such a delicious dessert – being a hand pie means it should constantly be held/devoured right?
To see more crazy fabulous creations, head on over to Cravings of a Lunatic 😀
So cool to see Kim here (Kim you rock!) and of course when I think of Kim I think of turtles. ^.^
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I amm in fact pleased too read this website posts which contains lots of valuable data, thanks for providing such statistics.
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Insanely good!
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What a beautiful & very tasty guest post! Love these special filled desserts a lot! The filling looks so goewie & smashing too, lovely written too!
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These look deadly decadent and chocolate and caramel is a killer combination!
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These could become an addiction.
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Love Turtles, they were the first in my Dad’s yearly Christmas Candy Tray to “disappear”! Love this idea of a turtle hand pie- brilliant!
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Oh my goodness!! These look so ridiculously good!!! I love turtles so I am sure I would LOVE these!
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There are so many reasons to smile about this post. Uru’s intro. Kim’s writing & photography. All things turtle. Turtle hand pies! Thank you both for blessing my day (and sweet tooth.)
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Oh Kim, I’m always in love with your Turtle EVERYTHING. Pinning! Uru, good luck with exams!
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Gorgeous !!
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-Just copied these little sins. WOW. They look Utterly DEEElish.
Are you graduating from High School or College, Choc? Xxxx
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What a terrific guests post Kim! Its too tempting and cant wait to try it this weekend! Good luck with your exams.
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I meant good luck with your exams CCU!
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Wow, these look so cool!!!! Yummm!!!!! @Uru: Good luck with your exams, I am sure you will kill them as usual.
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These are gorgeous–and I’ll bet they taste as good as they look!
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Such a lovely treat, my dear! Your parents must be so proud of u.
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What a wonderful recipe with possibly the best things in the world in it! Good luck with the exam Uru!
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These Turtles Hand Pies are simply beautiful. I love it. SO glad that you’re getting closer to graduating, that must be super excited. I wish you all the best on exams and all those baking and celebrations! 😉
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Kim, you are truly the queen of turtles! Your ingenuity when it comes to baking/cooking with these things is unparalleled! I’d push my own grandmother over to get to these hand pies! Uru, you’re almost there girl. It’s the home stretch and I’m sure you’re kicking butt with all of your exams.
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I’m wondering if you could use the “Kraft Caramel Bits”? These look fabulous!
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I’m wondering if you could use the Kraft caramel “bits”? These look fabulous!
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I am partial to turtles too! Caramel and pecans and chocolates what’s not to love? And then stuff it in pie dough…I’ve died and gone to heaven! Great guest post Uru!
Nazneen
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Thanks so much for introducing me to Kim, and Cravings Of A Lunatic! I’m heading over right now to check out more of her recipes!
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Wow, those look amazing! I need to go and read your recipe more carefully. Hope all is going well with the exams.
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i’ve never heard of a turtle pie before but i know i want to try one now. looks great
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Nice to “meet” you Kim. I’m mighty tempted to indulge in these sinful pies. The fact that pre-made pie crust is possible to use makes me almost as happy as actually eating two or three! (see how I skipped just one, lol)
Thank you so much for sharing and thank YOU Uru for keeping our tummies full while you finish your exams. Good Luck!
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You are correct. This is a fantastic guest host kick-off. Delicious!
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That is one delicious pie!
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So Kim-ish! And so turtle-ish. And so easy! Yay!
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Ha, thanks Abbe. xx
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Great recipe Kim, these look insanely delicious!! If all the guest posts are going to be this great I’m going to gain a lot of weight…lol!! 😉
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You’re so sweet. Which I totally dig…obviously. Thanks Suzie.
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eeee congrats on being so close to graduation Uru!!!
And yayyy Kim! Doin’ turtles! Of course! love love looove
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It’s my thang. I love turtles way too much. Turtle all the things. Ha!
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yum! what a wonderful dessert!
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Thank you.
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Good luck with everything! These turtle hand pies look incredible!
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Thanks so much.
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Hi Kim, great recipe love your Turtle hand pie’s. They look so delicious. Uru, best wishes and Happy Graduation!!
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Thank you so much. I love these little pies.
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Can we re-name these crack pies? lol they look addictive!
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Ha, we should. So good.
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Pingback: Turtle Hand Pies | homethoughtsfromabroad626
Kim, thank you for these easy and delicious recipe!
CCU, we are rooting for you!
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Thanks so much. I had fun being here today.
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No, no, no, no, nooooooooo!
These are
just
TOO
easy!
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Lol, that cracked me up. Thanks Colette.
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Those turtles look amazingly good. Best of luck on those exams – isn’t it exciting that you’re so close?
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Thanks so much.
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Kim is the Turtle Queen! And only she would think of turtle hand pies! Super fun idea from a super creative blogger. Excellent guest post – thanks so much.
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Awe thanks John. I had so much fun with this one. So thrilled to be here today.
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I have to admit that the heart shapes were the first thing that drew my eye and then the oozing caramel filling. The glaze really makes it.
Fingers still crossed about your exams, CCU.
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Thank you. I just had to use my heart cookie cutter on them. I heart turtles, way too much.
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Good luck with your exams Uru! These pies are simply irresistible!
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Thank you.
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What a terrific guest post. Kim makes the most outrageous (and wonderful) dishes. I saw the photo on Google+ and had to follow it home.
Good luck with the exams, Uru!
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Thank you so much Maureen.
ps I got your reply to my email but my son is visiting so I’m not balancing work and life really well right now. Be in touch when I have some down time. xx
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G’day and BIG congrats Kim, true!
“YOU GO GIRLFRIEND too!”
When I saw your photo, I could NOT take my eyes off of…seriously,
I reckon this recipe is now on the list for me!
Cheers! Joanne
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Thanks so much Joanne. I had SO much fun with this post. I just adore Uru so I felt compelled to “go big or go home”. I am so pleased they turned out so well.
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These hand pies look divine, Thank you, Kim, for sharing this divine recipe!
Good luck with your exams, Uru!
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Awe thank you Angie. I really appreciate your kind words.
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Kim+turtle anything=bbf
And heart shaped! The only problem would be to wait and not burn my tongue… these are insane!
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Ha, it’s like a sickness at this point. I cannot help myself. I swear my tongue got lit on fire with these but I figured oh well, no pain no gain. Wait, that can’t be right.
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Aaah! How have I not met Kim already?! Heading over to Cravings of a Lunatic right now!! Good luck with your exams Uru. Thinking of you! xx
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Nice to meet you. Always happy to connect with new peeps.
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Thanks so much for allowing me to take over your site for the day Uru. I really am so pleased to be here. It was so much fun to dream something up that was Go Bake Yourself worthy. I’m so glad you liked these. I wish we lived closer so I could bring you over a study picnic basket. I hope you’re kicking butt in your exams. Thanks so much for being such a supportive blogger and friend. I’ve never met anyone as kind and thoughtful as you. I’m lucky to know you. xx
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Good luck with your exams CCU! And you’re killin’ me with a guest post like this! Too yummy!
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Thanks.
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How did I know seeing a turtle recipe had to do with Kim… well… she’s the turtle recipe queen after all. 🙂 These look spectacular!
I can’t wait to see you graduate my dear… best of luck on your exams. 🙂
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Ha, thanks Ramona. I have such a serious addiction to turtles. It’s almost borderline ocd at this point. Oh who am I kidding, it’s full on ocd. And I love it.
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Pingback: Turtles Hand Pies | Cravings of a Lunatic
Good morning from New York State, CCU. What a great way to start off the day with these lovely little creatures(!) created by Kim. You two must be related. She certainly thinks with a sweet-focused mind like you do. I’m sure you’ll ace your exams, CCU, and thanks for thinking of us by bringing in all the guest posters.
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Awe how sweet are you Kathleen. I would love to be related to Uru, she’s such an amazing gal. I was telling my own kids all about her today.
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Good luck with your exams CCU! Kim these are just drop dead delicious looking. I am sure that CCU would like a few hand delivered to help her get through those next few weeks of final exams.
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Thank you. I really just had a blast from start to finish with this one. There’s just some recipes that are a riot to shoot.
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