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These are seriously the BEST Southern Praline Pecans! With the amazing flavor of brown sugar and butter, these are pure heaven! A little bit candy and a little bit cookie, they melt right in your mouth!
Southern Praline Pecans Recipe
I have been SO darn excited to share this Pecan Pralines recipe with you guys! After testing them for weeks with the help of my mother-in-law (a self-proclaimed pecan praline lover who tastes them wherever she goes), I’m telling you that these are the BEST Pecan Pralines. I’m completely addicted.
So What Makes Good Praline Pecans?
Well I imagine that may vary based on who you ask. And depending on the recipe you try or the shop you buy them from, they’re all different. There are a fair number of pecan pralines that I would describe as being quite firm – even hard – and I’m really not into that version.
And then there are some that are more grainy or even super chewy.
Personally, I like something that’s right in the middle of all of that. Not too soft, but definitely not hard. Not grainy and not chewy, but again, not hard. And definitely melt-in-your-mouth with lots of butter and brown sugar/caramel-y flavor.
What you will find in common between the various recipes is that pecan pralines consist of these main components – pecans, sugar, butter and milk or cream of some sort. There are a few additional things in these pralines that contributes to their flavor and texture and makes them a step above the rest.
Ingredients for Praline Pecans
- Sugar/Brown Sugar – After testing various versions of these, we found the white sugar and brown sugar combination to be the best. When using all brown sugar, we ended up with a grainy and unappealing texture. When using all white sugar, you have to use baking soda to get it to caramelize and the flavor just isn’t quite the same. The combination of the two was the best – you get that classic brown sugar flavor, but without the graininess.
- Heavy Whipping Cream – You could use any number of options here. Milk, half and half, cream (as I used), buttermilk and even evaporated milk all worked well. I liked the extra creaminess and straight forward flavor of the cream, but I also really liked the evaporated milk. It gave a unique flavor that was also very nice.
- Butter – Adds totally necessary flavor that really adds to these pralines. It also helps to keep the pralines from getting too firm after sitting for a few days.
- Baking Soda – While not totally necessary, this ingredient is key for me with these pralines. It not only enhances the brown sugar and caramel-y flavor and color, it also keeps them tender. If you leave it out, you’ll have a firmer praline. And finally, it contributes to helping the sugars dissolve fully, so that you don’t have a grainy praline.
- Pecans – Clearly necessary here.
- Salt – For flavor. Never underestimate the power of a little salt.
- Vanilla Extract – Also for flavor.
How to Make Southern Praline Pecans
- To make these Southern Pecan Pralines, you’ll first want to set up your parchment paper and have a tablespoon sized scoop ready to go. Once your mixture is ready, it can firm up quickly, so you don’t want to not be ready.
- Add everything to a sturdy pot except for the pecans, salt and vanilla extract. Heat it all over medium heat, stirring regularly. It’ll melt and seem like it’s taking it’s time getting going, but it will finally begin to boil.
- When the mixture foams up and beings to boil, stir constantly until it reaches 236°F. You will want to have a candy thermometer or something similar handy. Candy is sensitive to temperature.
- Once it’s at the right temperature, remove the pot from the stove and add the pecans, salt and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously with a rubber spatula for about 3 1/2 minutes. The mixture will begin to thicken and the longer you stir it, the thicker it will get. The thicker it gets, the firmer your pralines will end up. It may take 2-3 times of making these to get comfortable with knowing that it’s the right consistency, but generally the 3 1/2 minute mark works well.
- Finally, drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture onto the parchment paper and let them cool and firm up. You can spoon a praline or two and see if you like the amount they spread and if they spread too much, just stir them for a little longer.
- At this point, you just have to let them firm up. That’s probably the hardest part for me. They are so good, I just want to eat them all! They will be firm enough to handle within an hour, but do firm up more as they sit overnight.
Tips for the Best Praline Pecans
Use a candy thermometer. You want to make sure you have the right temperature or your pralines will not turn out correctly.
Have plenty of ingredients on hand. While I’m hopeful these will turn out great the first time around, they often take people 2-3 times to get just right.
Work quickly when scooping out the pralines, so the mixture doesn’t firm up too quickly.
Enjoy them!! These are seriously SO good! No store bough pecan praline will ever be the same after trying this homemade pecan praline recipe and they don’t take long to make. It’s a must! And if you need a little extra help, check out my video of the process below.
And last, but not least – this is the first in a series of cookies (even though this is kind of a candy) that I’ll be sharing over the next few weeks as we head towards Christmas. I’ve got some super fun things coming and I can’t wait to share them with you!
More Great Candy and Cookie Recipes
Pecan Caramel Turtle Candy Bars
No Bake Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons
Quick and Easy Chocolate Fudge
White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge
Easy Salted Caramel Sauce
Watch How They’re Made
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Best Southern Praline Pecans
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: about 24 pecan pralines
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Description
These are seriously the BEST Southern Praline Pecans! With the amazing flavor of brown sugar and butter, these are pure heaven! A little bit candy and a little bit cookie, they melt right in your mouth!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 1 cup (225g) packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy whipping cream
- 4 tbsp (56g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups (212g) pecan halves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Set out parchment paper for making the pralines on and have a tablespoon sized scoop handy and ready to go.
2. Add everything but the pecans, salt and vanilla extract to a medium pot and heat over medium heat. Stir regularly until it begins to foam and boil.
3. When it begins to foam and boil, stir constantly until it reaches 236°F.
4. Remove from heat and add the pecans, salt and vanilla extract.
5. Stir vigorously with a rubber spatula for 3 1/2 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. The longer you stir, the thicker the mixture gets. You don’t want it to get too thick, or it’ll be hard to scoop the pralines and they’ll dry more firm.
6. Quickly drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture onto parchment paper and allow them to cool and firm. If the mixture is too thin and spreads more than you want, stir a little bit more. If the mixture starts to cool too much as you’re scooping, place it back on the warm burner (but don’t turn it on) and let it keep the mixture warmer. I find it helps to stir the mixture after every few scoops.
7. When pralines are cool and firm, store in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pecan praline
- Calories: 165
- Sugar: 16.9 g
- Sodium: 104.6 mg
- Fat: 10.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Protein: 1.1 g
- Cholesterol: 9.3 mg
My review was supposed to say 5 star not 2…duh 🤔
The best praline Recipe I have ever had! Now a yearly tradition. Thank you for sharing!
Awesome! So glad you enjoy them!
I’m making these for an upcoming wedding party. How far ahead can these be made and stored?
They should be good for about 2 weeks. That said, they do start to crystalize a bit over time. You could try adding a touch of corn syrup to help with that.
I would like to use salted butter vs unsalted is this ok and do I eliminated the salt from the recipe when I do.
There’s probably not as much salt in the salted butter as there is in the recipe. You could try just reducing the salt by half and see how that goes.
This recipe is AMAZING!!! I started with a double batch, and when I treated all my friends, I immediately made a triple batch next to treat my coworkers. The only change I made was that I roasted the pecans at 275 for 30 minutes flipping after 15 minutes and it adds an absolute fantastic flavour!! I tried in Savannah Georgia and loved them so looked for a recipe online, but thought that roasting the pecans may add another another level of deliciousness which it did. These are even better than the ones I purchased at Savannah Candy Company!!!
What a compliment! I’m so glad you are enjoying them!
My first attempt at the sacred French Quarter Praline. This recipe spoke to me as being “The One” and now as I admire my cooling, firming beauties I’m certain. I boldly went for a double batch my first time out and made 30 medium-sized delights. I used five cups of pecans instead of the 4 1/2 that would be called for and measured whole pieces before halving those pieces with a cleaver. (Distribution anxiety). Besides, a more pecan and less sugar ratio is what I was aiming for. Also, in my double batch, I added a tbsp of Vermont Maple syrup with the Vanilla extract for added flavor. Lastly,
my candy thermometer was of questionable accuracy for 236 degrees, so I used the digital temperature probe thermometer ($15.00 at Walmart) that I Barbecue with. That worked perfectly. Stir! Stir! Stir!
I’m so glad you’re happy with them!
I tried to give this recipe the five stars it deserves, but the stars won’t stay lit!
Fixed! Thank you!
Just made these, easier than I expected, I am going to make another batch in a few minutes as I am taking these to a Mardi Gras pot luck tomorrow. I said I’d try to make them and as I am not a great cook had my doubts on them turning out. My arm had been badly broken with a steel plate put in and hasn’t a lot strength so all the stirring scared me. After looking at a lot of different recipes and videos I decided on yours. By the way your video link is not working. These were not that hard at all, I rested my arm a few times for about a minute while cooking and after putting the pecans, salt and vanilla in. They were perfect!
update after the potluck: I took about 50 pralines which disappeared rather quickly. I live only about 3 hours from New Orleans and some people at the party lived there or spend a lot of time there. I was told by several people that mine were the best they ever had and that included the best from NOLA. One gentleman told me he is very particular about his pralines and he never had any this good. Thank you so much for perfecting this recipe and sharing it and the very clear, easy instructions.
That’s really awesome to hear, thank you for sharing!
Extremely easy and extremely delicious! You cannot eat just one!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Thanks for sharing your yummy recipe. Shopped all over town and couldn’t find pralines, so I used your recipe for my wife’s 60th birthday “pageant” and received rave reviews. There is nothing better than a warm praline (and a happy wife)!
So glad they were a hit!
This recipe is TO DIE FOR! I gave up making pralines some years ago because the results were inconsistent with the recipe I used. This recipe turned out perfectly and I can’t wait to make them again.
So glad to hear that!
I’m excited to try this recipe, but afraid they may turn grainy as my other pralines usually do. What could I be doing wrong to cause this
It’s hard to say without knowing more about the other recipes. I hope you love these if you give them a try!
Do you think Walnuts would work well in this recipe?
Great video instructions! Thank you.
I think it really depends on your flavor preferences. I’m not a big walnut person. But they’d probably be ok.
I notied in the recipe it calls for pecans, but in the praline itself there is a variety of nuts? I see walnut, pecans and peanuts. My assumption you can put any nut you want? I pecan the traditional?
There are no nuts other than pecans in mine. That is the traditional way. You could certainly try other nuts though.
Can you use chopped pecans instead? If so how much? I know that it weighs heavier than pecan halves. Thank you
I imagine that’d be ok, I just haven’t tried it to say for sure if you need adjustments. The weight would actually be the same. The difference is that you could fit more into a cup, so weight would be more accurate. I also am not sure if it’d affect how the pralines actually set and spread.
This is not a complaint or criticism but they turned out terribly grainy. What happened? I wanted chewy or so.
Did you happen to adjust anything about the recipe? Like using all brown sugar? Maybe leaving out the baking soda? It’s possible they could’ve been over or under cooked as well. Did you use a candy thermometer?
Why can’t pralines be made with walnuts?
I think they’re just typically made with pecans. If you like walnuts, you can certainly give it a try. The flavor would be a little bit different since it’s a different nut, but otherwise, I would think it should be OK.
I am unemployed, no candy t. How do I know when to start to scoop?
The best way to test is the thermometer. But 236° is basically soft ball stage, so you could test for that.