Easy Turtle Pie Recipe

pie server resting in a pie pan with cut into pie.

5 from 5 votes

Easy turtle pie has a creamy caramel filling, crunchy oreo crust, and is topped with buttery pecans, salted caramel sauce, and chocolate chips. It's a no bake pie that's also customizable and freezer-friendly, with make-ahead instructions provided.

Prep Time15

Cook Time7

Chilling Time6

Total Time6 22

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 693kcal

Author: MaryAnne

Equipment

1 stand mixer

Ingredients

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (cubed)
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Oreo Crust

2 ½ cups chocolate wafer cookies, crushed (or oreos with the filling scraped out)
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt

For the Pie

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup salted caramel sauce
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (topping)
¼ cup chocolate chips (topping)

Instructions

Make the Salted Caramel Sauce

In a medium saucepan, melt the sugar over medium heat, using a metal whisk to the stir the sugar. It will turn into clumps of sugar at first, but keep stirring until sugar is completely melted, about 5 minutes. After sugar is melted, let it sit for about 1 minute, until it turns an amber color. Remove from heat.
Add in half of the butter and stir until it's completely melted (it will bubble up quite a bit). Add in remaining butter and stir until thoroughly combined. Pour in half of the heavy cream and stir (this will also bubble up). Add in remaining heavy cream and stir until completely combined.
Add in salt and vanilla extract and combine well. *If your caramel hardens up, gently re-heat over low heat until it's soft enough to incorporate vanilla. Pour caramel sauce into a glass container and allow it to cool completely before using. Once cooled, it can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Make the Oreo Crust

Place cookies, butter, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor* and blend for several minutes, until you've achieved a mixture of fine crumbs. Pour into a 9" pie pan and press mixture on bottom and up the sides of pan. Chill until ready to fill (at least 30 minutes). *Alternatively, you can crush cookies in a large plastic bag using a rolling pan. Add crumbs to a mixing bowl and combine with butter, sugar, and salt.

Make the Pie

In a medium-sized bowl, use an electric hand-mixer to beat the cream cheese for roughly 2 minutes. Next, add the powdered sugar and ½ cup of the salted caramel sauce. Mix on low just until combined, then increase the speed to high and mix until smooth.
Into the bowl of a stand mixer, pour heavy cream and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high until medium peaks form. Add the whipped cream to your caramel cream cheese mixture and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped cream until it's fully combined and there are no streaks left (this will take a few minutes).
Spread pie filling over cookie crust and cover the pie with tented foil. Chill for at least 6 hours or overnight.
When ready to serve, drizzle remaining caramel sauce over pie and sprinkle with chopped pecans and chocolate chips.

Notes

Storage: Store (covered) pie in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
How to freeze: Wrap individual slices of pie in foil and place in a freezer storage bag. Pie can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in refrigerator overnight.
Make ahead: This pecan turtle pie can be assembled and stored in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. Right before serving, drizzle with remaining caramel sauce, and top with pecans and chocolate chips.
Use softened cream cheese. This will prevent a lumpy cheesecake filling.
Chill pie. Make sure that you chill your assembled pie for at least 6 hours to help it set up.
Refrigerate pie crust for at least 30 minutes before adding filling.
Thick caramel sauce. If you use store-bought caramel sauce, make sure that it's thick caramel sauce and not thin caramel syrup.
Cool sauce completely. If you do make homemade caramel sauce, be sure to cool it completely before using. To cool it faster, place it in the freezer for 20 minutes, giving it a good stir every 5 minutes.
Fold gently. When incorporating whipped cream into pie filling, make sure that you gently fold it in using a rubber spatula. This will prevent the whipped cream from deflating, keeping it light and airy.

Nutrition