• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Amish 365
  • About
  • Amish Recipes
  • Amish Culture
  • Amish Marketplace
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Amish Recipes
  • Amish Culture
  • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Amish Recipes
    • Amish Culture
    • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Amish Candies

    Yoder's Old-Fashioned Amish Turtle Candies

    Published: Nov 30, 2022 · Updated: Nov 30, 2022 by Kevin Williams | 4 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Christmas means candy among the Amish and Yoder's Old-Fashioned Amish Turtle Candies are a favorite homemade treat from Amish Cook columnist, Gloria Yoder. This is probably my favorite turtle candy recipe ever, it is perfect for the holiday season! If you are looking for easy homemade turtles, this is the recipe for you.

    Finished Christmas Turtle
    Finish off your Christmas with some amazing Yoder's Old-Fashioned Amish Turtle Candies!

    A lot of Amish families celebrate the season through candies, pastries, and other edible treats. You don't see Santa or Christmas trees in many Amish homes. You will, however, find a lot of Christmas caroling. And exchanging Christmas cards is a pretty popular pasttime among the Amish. If you go to an Amish home this time of year, chances are you'll see pretty Christmas cards taped up on a wall or on a mantle.

    Jump to:
    • 🍬 Old-Fashioned Amish Turtle Candies Ingredients
    • 📋 Instructions
    • 🍬More Amish Candy Recipes
    • 🖨️ Full Recipe

    The Amish Cook wrote about these candies and how they are a wonderful family tradition. She first wrote about the candies in 2016 and this is what she had to say:

    You really should try some of the homemade candy that my sister Anna Faith makes at our uncle’s store. They have a mouth-watering variety of all kinds of options to choose from with the turtles probably ranking top on the popularity list. Anna Faith has helped make over a thousand of these the past several months. Why not drop in and try one for yourself? Okay, I know it’s not that easy. How about at least trying their recipe?  Yes, I do actually have permission to share their recipe with you.  Be sure you have plenty of people to share these with or you will be tempted to eat a belt-stretching amount.

    Jessica was kind enough to try out these turtles, probably my favorite candy recipe, for us and, I think, did them amazing justice. Here is what she had to say:

    They are pretty and taste amazing and we can't stop eating them. I also went off recipe and sprinkled sea salt on a few

    Now, that sounds like a good idea!

    Okay, before we get to the recipe, let's take you on a little photo tutorial.

    Boiling a can of condensed milk
    Boiling a can of milk - for 3 hours!

    The step that calls for boiling a can of condensed milk kind of blows me away. But, according to Jessica, it worked perfectly!

    Put the pecans on the setting white chocolate
    White chocolate gives this a nice Christmas touch!

    I've never been a huge white chocolate fan, but in this recipe it works so well, all the flavors meld and complement. Lay out the parchment paper on a cookie sheet just to give more support and if you have to move it from your counter, it'll be easier to do.

    Caramel in a can
    This is some good caramel after 3 hours of boiling!

    Who knew that to make amazing caramel all you had to do was boil a can of sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours??? And you get a nice creamy caramel, not a chewy caramel.

    Caramel over the pecans
    Spoon the caramel over the pecan halves and white chocolate.

    I can see a turtle taking shape!

    inside of a turtle
    Delicious turtle candy!

    These candies are a rich Christmas tradition among some segments of the Amish and you can make them part of yours too!

    Finished Christmas Turtle
    Finish off your Christmas with some amazing Yoder's Old-Fashioned Amish Turtle Candies!

    These yoder’s old-fashioned turtle candies, which kind of resemble pecan clusters, make a super Christmas gift for someone.  Just put them in a nice, colorful tin or airtight container and give some away. They don't need to be kept in the refrigerator or freezer, although you can (I like cold candy).   Some like to swap out the decadent pecans for almonds, but they are expensive too, and I think pecans work best and taste best.

    This recipe works just fine as is - more than fine - but you can add a few splashes of flavor to the milk chocolate as you melt it.  Feel free to add a couple teaspoons of vanilla or a couple tablespoons of brown sugar.  We'll forget about calories for this one and just enjoy them as Christmas Day approaches. This candy is a nice change from the typical Christmas cookies (although you'll want to make this also). But hopefully these turtle candies will become part of your holiday traditions.

    🍬 Old-Fashioned Amish Turtle Candies Ingredients

    • ⅓  pound white chocolate
    • 1 /2 pound pecan halves
    • 1 can sweet condensed milk
    • 1 pound milk chocolate

    📋 Instructions

    1. Melt white chocolate in double-boiler or microwave, then spoon dabs on wax or parchment paper. Dabs should be 1” in diameter.
    2. Press three pecan halves side by side into each dab of chocolate.  Leave until the white chocolate is set.
    3.  Place an unopened can of condensed milk in a 3 quart kettle , cover completely with water.
    4. Bring to a boil and boil gently for 3 hours.
    5. The can needs to be covered at all times, so keep monitoring how much water is in your kettle and add more if needed.
    6. Remove from heat. Let can set in water until it is room temperature.
    7. Remove from can and spread 1 rounded teaspoon of carmelized milk on top of the pecans.
    8.  Melt milk chocolate in a double boiler or microwave then spoon on top of caramel, covering all but the tips of the pecans.
    9. Let set and enjoy!

    🍬More Amish Candy Recipes

    Check out these super ones!

    Christmas Cornflake Candy

    Easy as a bowl of cereal!

    Gloria's Guilt-Free Fudge

    Indulge Guilt-Free!

    🖨️ Full Recipe

    larger version of turtles for christmas

    Yoder's Old-Fashioned Amish Turtle Candies

    Christmas tradition!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American, Amish

    Ingredients
      

    • ⅓ pound   pound white chocolate
    • 1 /2 pound pecan halves
    • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
    • 1 pound milk chocolate

    Instructions
     

    • Melt white chocolate in double-boiler or microwave, then spoon dabs on wax or parchment paper. Dabs should be 1” in diameter.
    • Press three pecan halves side by side into each dab of chocolate.  Leave until the white chocolate is set.
    • Place an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a 3 quart kettle, cover completely with water. Bring to a boil and boil gently for 3 hours. The can needs to be covered at all times, so keep monitoring how much water is in your kettle and add more if needed.
    • Remove from heat. Let can rest in water until it is room temperature.
    • Open can and remove and spread 1 rounded teaspoon of carmelized milk on top of the pecans.
    • Melt milk chocolate in a double boiler or microwave then spoon on top of caramel, covering all but the tips of the pecans.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « The Amish Cook: Homemade Turkey Pot Pie
    Old-Fashioned Amish Molasses Cookies »

    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Charles Patterson

      December 02, 2021 at 4:10 pm

      Kevin, please try to get in the habit of stating the quantity a recipe makes.

      Obviously, for a casserole it’s not as important as for turtles, for instance.

      Does it make 6 or 36 ??

      Thanks

      Reply
      • Kevin Williams

        December 02, 2021 at 6:24 pm

        It made about 24 turtles, yes, I am trying to get better about listing quantities, I did in today's recipe, this turtle recipe is a year old and I was sloppier about that then...

        Reply
    2. WeMa

      December 06, 2021 at 5:21 pm

      Is 3 hours boiling time correct?

      Reply
      • Kevin Williams

        December 07, 2021 at 3:57 pm

        Yes, believe it or not, that is correct...do keep an eye on it and add water as needed, plus turn the can occasionally to prevent scorching

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

    More about me →

    Latest Amish Recipes

    • Homemade Chocolate Crunch Easter "Eggs"
      Homemade Coconut Crunch Easter Eggs
    • 5 Amish Copycat Recipes (Fast-Food Favorites: Big Mac Dressing, Pizza Hut, and More!)
    • Amish Wedding Customs and Traditions
    • Amish Wedding Cake
      Amish Wedding Cake Recipe
    dutchcrafters

    Download The "Almost Amish" Ebook

    Footer

    Footer

    About

    • About The Amish Editor
    • Download "Almost Amish" Ebook
    • Amish Communities
    • Amish Marketplace

    Contact

    • Work With Us
    • Contact

    *As a member of various affiliate programs I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2000 - 2020 Amish 365 | Powered by Touch The Road