Mix cake as directed on back of box. You'll need eggs, water and oil.

Full cupcake holders about 1/2-3/4 full of mix.

Place cupcakes in oven (preheated at 350) and bake for about 20 mins. Baking time may vary between ovens. You don't want to bake them completely!

Remove cupcakes from oven. Use a sharp knife to cup a slit in the top of the cupcake. Push the turtle chocolate into the cupcake as far as it will go. Bake for an additional 4 minutes.

After cupcakes have completely cooled, ice using store bought or home made icing. In the interest of time, today I am using store bought whipped chocolate icing!

I used a large star tip to pipe icing onto the top of the cupcakes.

Then I used a smaller, circular tip (#5) to pipe the caramel sauce on top of the icing. You can also use caramel sundae topping-it's less messy!

Finished! Top with chopped peanuts or sprinkles if you like!

How to make chocolate turtles cupcakes

You can make these cupcakes from scratch or by using store bought cake mix and icing. If turtle brand chocolates are unavailable, a chocolate square, caramel block and some peanuts works too!