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Make turtles easily by melting chocolate in your slow cooker! This slow cooker turtle candy is sweet and salty. The perfect candy to give as a gift!

I’m slightly crazy for homemade chocolate candies. Melted chocolate desserts are not only easy to make but they are great for gift giving too!

Our love for chocolate and caramel is strong (remember these caramel cookies and our massive pretzel turtles?) So it was only natural to bring you a new homemade candy with caramel.

What is turtle candy?

Turtles are chocolate candies with caramel and pecans. You’ll find this candy in many different forms…even cakes and pies! But if you hear about a “turtle” dessert, you can bet it probably has chocolate, caramel and nuts.

Melt Chocolate in the Slow Cooker

What is really fun about this recipe is that we used our slow cooker to melt the chocolate. Have you ever tried melting chocolate only to have it burn…seize up…harden beyond repair?

It can be devastating to throw away chocolate. I’ve done my fair share in the past.

Using your slow cooker on the low heat or even “keep warm” setting will give you beautifully melted chocolate. Pure and smooth, ready for chocolate candies, buckeyes and chocolate dipped cookies.

There are two methods to melting chocolate in your slow cooker:

Add the chocolate to the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to low. Cover and leave the chocolate to melt. It will take about 45 minutes, give or take a few minutes depending on how much chocolate you have. The most we’ve done is 24 ounces of chocolate.
If your slow cooker runs hot, you may want to first place the chocolate in an oven proof bowl that will sit inside your slow cooker. Add some water to the slow cooker, then place the bowl in the slow cooker. Add the chocolate to the bowl. Cover and heat for 45-60 minutes until the chocolate is melted. This is probably the best method if you have an old slow cooker that heats unevenly or doesn’t have a low setting.

What chocolate is best for melting?

We find that using a high quality chocolate works best. Don’t buy super cheap chocolate chips and expect them to melt smoothly. Also, don’t use old chocolate chips. They don’t melt well either. Head to the store and buy new chocolate chips or melting wafers.

Use a combination of any type of chocolate for this recipe. We like to use one bag of dark chocolate wafers or chips and another bag of milk chocolate wafers or chips.

**Pro Tip: We find that Ghirardelli Melting Wafers work beautifully in the slow cooker.**

How to Make Slow Cooker Turtle Candy

Place the chocolate in a slow cooker and cover.

Set the slow cooker to low and allow the chocolate to melt for about 45 minutes. This is what it should look like after that time:

Stir the chocolate.
Add in the caramel bits and pecans. Mix well.

Replace the cover and allow the chocolate to melt for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the caramel barely starts to soften.
Turn the slow cooker off and add the crushed pretzels. Mix again.

Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using spoons, spoon the chocolate onto the paper in as big of drops as you’d like.
Press a pretzel into the top of the chocolate. Or you can sprinkle with sprinkles if you prefer.

chocolate candies with pretzels on parchment paper

Allow the chocolates to set. Let them cool to room temperature first, then if you’d like you can place them in the refrigerator to finish setting.

How do you store homemade chocolate?

Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place. About 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal.

Can you freeze chocolate?

Yes! You can freeze chocolate. It can be tricky thought to prevent the white “sugar bloom” that occurs on the outside of chocolates. One way these white spots happen is when you expose the chocolate to extreme temperatures. (Such as placing melty chocolates into the freezer.)

That’s why we suggest allowing the chocolate to come to room temperature first (24 hours), then placing the chocolate in the fridge (for 24 hours). Then you can place it in the freezer.

It’s important to wrap chocolate well. And when you want to defrost it, allow it to fully defrost in the storage container before opening it. It will help keep your chocolates looking good!

This is a great article about storing chocolate.

Other Chocolate Recipes