Turtle pie

The most decadent pie you'll ever find is right here. My take on a turtle pie made with a brownie base, soaked in carmel, topped with extra caramel, pecans and chocolate ganache brings everything you love about the candy turtle into a decadent fudgy and indulgent pie.

Pie season is here and with pumpkin and apple desserts stealing the limelight for Thanksgiving, all the chocolate lovers out there will be happy for this one!

A fudgy brownie in a pie?? Yes please! Soaked in caramel then covered in extra caramel and chocolate ganache and pecans?? I just about died of happiness...and so will you.

Why you'll love this recipe

I feel like this is one of those recipes I don't really need to explain why you'll love it, but here goes:

• The fudgy brownie base. So many turtle pies have a cheesecake base, which is great, but for me a turning the beloved turtle candies into a pie is not the same as cheesecake. I wanted something super rich and decadent (like the candy) so went with a brownie pie instead.
• It'a a fudgy brownie that gets soaked in caramel. As if I didn't have you with the brownie base alone, this turtle pie recipe soaks the hot, out of the oven baked brownie in caramel. Poking small holes in the hot brownie and pouring caramel on top allows the caramel to soak right into the brownie itself, making it exceptionally rich and decadent.
• It is simple to make, but look super impressive. While if you choose to make a homemade caramel sauce, it isn't quite so simple, but you can totally use your favorite store bought caramel sauce making this a super simple dessert that will impress everyone.

What is the flavor of turtle pie?

Turtle pie is always chocolate, caramel and pecans. However how you choose to use those flavors in your pie is what makes them all unique. For this recipe, we use chocolate in the brownie base, pecans in the brownie and on top, caramel soaked into the brownie, and caramel and chocolate ganache drizzled on top.

Why is it called turtle pie?

This pie gets its name from a famous candy. Turtle candies are large pecans covered in a thick caramel that sets, and then they are covered in melted chocolate.

Ingredients

This recipe has a few elements that all come together to create the ultimate decadent pie. Here's what you need to make the brownie base of the turtle pie:

• Melted butter. I think it was Ina garten who once said "whoever makes brownies without butter should be arrested." I can most definitely get on board with that.
• Cocoa powder
• Sugar
• Vanilla
• Eggs
• Salt
• Flour
• Pecans

Instructions

Making the brownie base for this turtle pie is super simple.

• Stir together the melted butter (while still warm) with the cocoa powder, sugar, salt and vanilla
• Add the eggs and stir in vigorously in with a wooden spoon or a spatula
• Gently stir in the flour until just combined
• Stir in the chopped pecans last and pour into a greased pie pan

This will get baked for about 35 minutes. Do not cool, because turning this into a turtle pie happens right when this comes out of the oven.

How to turn the brownie into a turtle pie

Now comes the fun part, takin gour hot, freshly baked brownie pie, drowning it in caramel, and letting the caramel soak through the entire brownie pie. Here's how you do it:

Grab a cake dowel, a cake pop stick, chopstick or bamboo kabob skewer; this will poke decent sized holes into the brownie to ensure all the caramel goes through and soaks into the entire pie.

Poke holes in the brownie immediately out of the oven, while it is still hot. Poke straight down all the way to the bottom of the pies. The more holes, the more decadent caramel will soak through.

Taking a spoon (or you could use a squeeze bottle), cover the brownie pie in the caramel. It will seep into pie through the holes .

Covering the entire pie with caramel while it is warm will ensure the pie soaks it all in. Any that doesn't will stay on top of the pie and that is just fine.

After pouring the caramel on, cool the pie to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours. The pie gets finished with an extra drizzle of caramel, a drizzle of chocolate ganache, extra pecans and whipped cream.

Do I have to make my own caramel?

Absolutely not. I use homemade caramel, because I usually have a jar of it in the fridge. You can totally use a store bought caramel sauce in this turtle pie, though and it will be great. In fact, if you want, you can also use store bought hot fudge sauce in place of the ganache...even simpler and totally easy if you don't have heavy cream and chocolate laying around.

How to store the pie

Keeping this pie chilled gives it that candy like, sticky sweet and decadent texture that is similar to a turtle candy. Plus the whipped cream means it needs to be kept refrigerated.

If you opt out of the whipped cream, you can rewarm and serve warm.

Can this be made ahead

You can make the brownie pie itself ahead and freeze it BEFORE poking it and soaking with caramel. Bake it, cool to room temperature and wrap to freeze up to three months.

When ready to use, thaw the pie at least four hours on the counter, then reheat in a 350 degree oven about 10 -15 minutes until heated through, then finish the pie the remainder of the way, poking the holes and soaking with caramel.

Ingredient swaps and variations

Adaptability is key for me when creating a recipe and this one is no exceptions: Here is a few ways you can mix this up:

• Use walnuts. If you don't have any pecans, walnuts work just as well in this turtle pie.
• Use a boozy flavored caramel. My rum caramel sauce is amazing in the turtle pie.
• Add chocolate chips to the brownie batter. More chocolate is never a bad thing.
• Skip the ice cream, warm the pie and serve with vanilla ice cream. The ultimate decadence.

Other decadent desserts you'll love

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Turtle pie

A fudgy turtle pie made with a brownie base, soaked in caramel, topped with extra caramel, pecans and chocolate ganache brings everything you love about the candy turtle into a decadent fudgy and indulgent pie.

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Brownie pie, Turtle pie

Servings: 12 slices

Author: Katie Beck

Equipment

• 9-inch pie pan

Ingredients

For the brownie pie

• 10 tablespoon butter melted
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs chilled
• ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans

For the caramel sauce, if making but can definitely use store bought

• 1 cup white sugar
• ¼ cup hot water
• 6 Tablespoons salted butter room temperature cut up into 6 pieces
• ½ cup heavy cream at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the chocolate ganache, use store bought hot fudge if you prefer.

• ¼ cup chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
• ¼ cup heavy cream

Instructions

To make the brownie pie

• Heat oven to 375 and have a rack in the middle. Butter or grease a 9-inch pie pan.
• Place the melted butter, still hot, in a mixing bowl, add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs, beating hard with a wooden spoon or spatula - most importantly DO NOT USE A WHISK) to blend after each egg addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and continue stirring with a wooden spooning until blended. Gently stir in the pecans and pour the batter into the greased pie pan.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes.
• Immediately after taking out of the oven, poke holes throughout the entire brownie pie all the way through with a dowel, kabab skewer, chopstick or cake pop stick (something thicker than a toothpick). Spoon, pour or use a squeeze bottle to cover the entire pie in ⅓-1/2 cup of warm caramel sauce.
• Cool to room temperature and then place in fridge for 1-2 hours to chill and firm up.

Finishing the turtle pie

• To finish the pie, drizzle extra caramel on the chilled pie and the warm ganache. Top with the remaining ¼ cup of chopped pecans and whipped cream around the edges.

To make the caramel sauce

• Combine the sugar and hot water in a heavy saucepan, and cook over high heat until the sugar has dissolved. This takes about a minute. Keep cooking, swirling the pan a bit but DO NOT EVER STIR, EVER! If you stir the sugar it will crystallize and NEVER EVER CARAMELIZE. Just swirl the sugar/water around in the pan until sugar starts caramelize and color. The color you want is a deep amber color. It will take about 10 minutes on a medium high flame.
• When you achieve this color, turn the flame to medium-low and whisk in the butter CAREFULLY! It will bubble up. Continue to whisk until all the butter is incorporated. Cook without stirring for one minute.
• Turn your flame to low and whisk in your cream - also - CAREFULLY! It was bubble up and steam like crazy. Set aside until ready to use.

To make the ganache

• Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just about to simmer (do not boil), remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let the chocolate sit in the hot cream for five minutes before gently stirring to combine (this may take a few minutes but it will come together).

Notes

You can store this pie in the fridge for up to three days covered in the fridge.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!