This quick and Easy Turtle Pie Recipe is a homemade, no-bake pie made with swirled chocolate and caramel. An Oreo Crust with cool whip, caramel, and cream cheese just hits the spot. Step aside, Edwards pie, this copycat recipe is way better than any store-bought pie.
Why This Recipe is the Best
Turtle Pie is a timeless no-bake dessert that brings together everything we love about fall and winter flavors—rich caramel, smooth chocolate, and a buttery cookie crust. It’s a show-stopping addition to any dessert table, especially around Thanksgiving or Christmas. The best part? It’s incredibly easy to make ahead for family gatherings, birthdays, or holiday parties. This pie has been a staple in our family for years, and it never lasts long!
We love this easy cream-based pie. Make sure to try our other tasty pies like Caramel Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, and Reese's Peanut Butter Pie.
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Key Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients needed for this recipe. Follow our tips on each ingredient for best results.
- Cool Whip - make sure Cool Whip is completely thawed before use.
- Cream Cheese- We highly recommend Philadelphia. During recipe testing, we found that off-brand cream cheese would produce gritty or even lumpy results. Philadelphia produces the smoothest results. Either way, make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature for best results.
- Caramel Sauce- You will need this ingredient for both mixing into the cream-based pie and also for topping. We love using our caramel recipe.
- Vanilla- A must for anything caramel. In recipe testing, we found that pure vanilla made a difference for this recipe. Some recipes are fine with imitation vanilla, but where vanilla is a highlighted flavor, we found that pure vanilla made a noticeable difference.
- Chocolate Sauce- Pick your favorite to drizzle on top! Try this homemade chocolate syrup.
How To Make Turtle Pie
Use these process shots to help get the results you want. The pictures can help with presentation and texture.
- Thaw the Cool Whip and soften the cream cheese. Make the Oreo crust and set aside. Whip the cream cheese until it's smooth.
- Mix in the caramel sauce and vanilla and whip until smooth. Whip in the powdered sugar.
- Fold the 4-oz Cool Whip (making sure it's completely thawed) into the cream cheese and caramel mixture. You don't want to overmix on this step.
- Add the cool whip mixture into the Oreo crust. With a rubber scraper, smooth the pie. Add caramel and chocolate sauce to the top with more whipped cream and then pecans.
Common Mistakes
I made a mess of my pie by letting the caramel and hot fudge pool on the edges. Less is more when putting on the sauces. If more is desired, add it after serving.
Top tip
Once you add the Cool Whip, be careful not to over-stir or over-mix. Use a folding motion so that it stays light and fluffy. It's worth the extra minute or 2.
Recipe
Easy Turtle Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 24 OREO cookies
- 4 Tablespoons butter I used salted
For the Filling:
- 12 ounce cream cheese softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup caramel sauce homemade or store bought
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 8 ounce Cool Whip thawed
For the Whipped Topping (optional):
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Toppings:
- caramel sauce
- hot fudge sauce
- pecans
Instructions
For the crust:
- Place OREOs in a food processor and food process until it's a fine crumb with a small amount of coarse crumbs. Melt butter and mix into the crumbs until well combined. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate.
For the Filling:
- Using a paddle attachment to a stand mixer or beaters in a hand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese on medium high speed until perfectly smooth, about 30-60 seconds. Add the caramel and vanilla and beat on medium speed until mixed in. Add the powdered sugar and mix on medium low until well combined. See photos above for reference. Fold in the Cool Whip, being careful to fold and not stir the mixture.
Assembly:
- Place the cream cheese mixture on top of the crust. Refrigerate for 3 hours then decorate as desired. We like to use plenty of caramel and chocolate sauce and pecans.
For the Whipped Cream:
- Using a whisk attachment, beat the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla on high speed until stiff peaks form. Whipped Cream is optional.
Video
Notes
- Turtle Pie is popular frozen. Freeze and serve frozen, if desired. We like it when it's thawed for 30-60 minutes first.
- If you make this one of those shallow, disposable pie tins, this will likely overfill it a little bit. We recommend using a 9" pie plate.
- Add extra caramel and chocolate sauce after you serve so it doesn't make a gooey mess and run off the pie.
- This recipe doesn't use a ton of pecans. If you'd like to use more, we recommend placing a layer of pecans on top of the crust before adding the filling, then topping with more.
- Make sure your cream cheese is all the way softened! This will ensure a super smooth pie. If your cream cheese is cold at all, you will have little lumps of cream cheese throughout your pie.
Nutrition
Variations
We love switching things up when we're in the kitchen. Try any of these variations for something a little different
- Frozen- Try this tasty pie frozen. You can serve it frozen or you can thaw for 1 hour before serving. Thaw in the refrigerator. You can even cut before freezing to make serving later easier.
- Pecan Crust- For more nuts, add ¼ cup chopped pecans to the graham cracker crust.
- Graham Crackers - Use 1 ½ cups crushed graham crackers instead of Oreos. Or stick with the chocolate theme by using this chocolate graham cracker crust.
How to Serve Turtle Pie
Serve this for any holiday, and it will be a huge hit. I know it is at our house. We make this for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It also makes a great summertime pie, just like our Strawberry Pie.
This pairs great with our other holiday pies like our double layer pumpkin pie, or Peppermint Pie! It will be beautiful on your holiday dessert table.
Storage
Store the prepared Turtle Pie lightly covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. After that, it will begin to weep.
Freeze for up to 2 months in a freezer-friendly container. Serve thawed in the refrigerator or even enjoy it as a frozen treat.
This dessert is typically made with a combination of chocolate, caramel, and pecans. It's named after the "turtle" candy, which consists of caramel and pecans covered in chocolate to resemble a turtle's shape.
This dessert is named after the "turtle" candy, which is named because it looks like a turtle. The classic turtle candy is made by placing pecans or other nuts onto a bed of caramel and then covering the nuts and caramel with chocolate. The flavors of caramel, chocolate, and pecan are used, making a turtle pie.
The pie will last 2 days, then it will start to weep, and the crust will be a little soggy, but it won't go bad for at least 5 days.
Andrea says
This turtle pie is so easy and way better than the Edwards pie I bought. I will be making this for thanksgiving and probably Christmas too!
Nicole says
Yummm our family absolutely loved this pie. It's sweet and caramely and chocolatey and delicious!