Zebras are my playful twist on traditional pecan Turtles. These impressive looking cashew, caramel and chocolate confections are surprisingly easy to make and are a great holiday gift idea. The unbeatable combination of salty with sweet and chewy with crunchy is to die for.

All you need: Lightly salted whole cashews, caramel, melting chocolate disks (dark, milk, white).

First, lay wax paper onto a baking sheet. Arrange cashews 2 inches apart in tight 3-4 nut clumps.

Melt caramel in a double broiler until smooth. Stir frequently, adding a few drops of water if it gets too sticky. If you don’t have a double broiler, a microwave-safe bowl will do (heat caramel in short 20-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted). Spoon caramel over cashews to just cover each clump. Put tray in fridge until caramel is completely cooled, at least 20 minutes.

Take caramels out of fridge and remove each clump from wax paper, transferring onto a plate. Place a new sheet of wax paper onto the same baking tray. Melt milk chocolate in a double broiler until smooth, stirring frequently (or in a microwave as above). Dip each caramel clump into the warmed chocolate until completely coated, then with a chocolate dipper or fork, place back onto wax paper. Repeat until all clumps are covered with chocolate, then place tray back into fridge to cool completely, at least 20 minutes.

Once cooled, place the chocolate clumps next to each other creating lines that run from the top to the bottom of the tray, with about an inch in between each line of chocolates. Melt dark chocolate in the same fashion as above. Dip a fork into the chocolate and fling back and forth from side to side, creating a striped pattern. Repeat multiple times until well-striped. Once finished with the dark, repeat with white chocolate until the stripes look as you wish. Cool completely in fridge. Before serving, cut off excess stripes that go over the edge of each clump with a knife.

These delightful little Zebras are sure to be a hit at any holiday party and will stay fresh for about 2 weeks if stored in an air-tight container. Enjoy!