For Thanksgiving I made two pies – a regular pumpkin pie, made homemade from a sugar pumpkin (something I whole heartily recommend) and a second pumpkin pie topped with chocolate, caramel and pecan – essentially, a turtle.

This is super easy to do and it will impress any stick-in-the-mud relative that bitches about the same old, same old every year.

So, just bake your pumpkin pie as you like it ’cause that’s the base and I know you all know how to bake a pumpkin pie, even if it is from a can.

You’ll Need:
Chocolate covered caramel candies
Unsalted, finely chopped pecan pieces

As your pie is cooking, roughly chop some chocolate covered caramels. I used the kind sold at Trader Joe’s. If you cannot find the minced pieces of toasted pecans, just coarsely chop pecan halves or whatever you managed to find.

Mix these all up in a bowl and set aside.

When your pie is done, remove from the oven but leave the oven on – just turn the dial down to 300 F.

Spread your turtle mixture across the top of the pie.

Stick the pie back into the oven and bake until the chocolate and caramel is well melted – anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on your oven.

Serve warm or serve cold (I did the latter) ~ enjoy!