Holiday Turtle Cookies

Directions

1. 1
   Mix together the first 7 ingredients (butter through baking powder) in the bowl of a stand mixer until well blended - but do not overmix.
2. 2
   Warm up your waffle iron. When your waffle iron is hot, drop the batter by teaspoon fulls onto waffle iron and close lid. Wait for a few seconds and check them, it doesn't take long and you do not want to burn them. They will be fragile when you take them out (I use a fork to flip them up and out into my hand) but they will stiffen up when cooled.
3. 3
   Okay....next... Make a million of these little turtle shaped waffles, until you've used all of your batter.
4. 4
   When ready to assemble, melt your caramels in the microwave a few seconds at a time... Always make sure to stir between heating intervals, as you don't want to let it bubble. If it does, it will get too hard and you will not be able to frost the cookies.
5. 5
   When the caramel is smooth and melted, use it to frost the top of each cookie and let cool.
6. 6
   Then make your chocolate frosting; melt butter in the microwave (heat it for 30 seconds at a time) and once melted, stir in cocoa. Put this in a mixing bowl then add powdered sugar and milk beating until smooth and spreading consistency. Add additional milk if needed. Add in vanilla and almond extract at the end and mix well. I double or sometimes triple the recipe. Frost all the cookies.
7. 7
   When done, top each cookie with a whole pecan or walnut whichever you prefer. Enjoy... You won't believe how good these are and they go very quickly so double, triple or even make 4 batches, you will be glad you did.
8. 8
   **I do not freeze these cookies, just keep cool. Enjoy!