Pecan Pralines Recipe

With the right tips and methods, you can make delicious, old-fashioned candy right at home! This classic Pecan Praline recipe uses our world-class mammoth Pecans with both granulated and brown sugar to impart the most flavor. These make wonderful gifts over the holidays, for co-workers, family & friends. Or make them as a gift for yourself!

Ingredients

• 1 cup

  sugar

• 1 cup

  light brown sugar

• 1 cup

  evaporated milk

• 2 cups

  mammoth pecans

• 1/4 cup

  butter

• 1 teaspoon

  vanilla extract

• an evenly heating pan, like a cast iron skillet

• wooden spoon, best for candy making because it does not absorb heat

• wax paper

• dish towel

• candy thermometer, optional but helps!

Directions

Choose a cool, dry day to make your candy. A warm, humid day can cause the candy to not set up correctly, or turn out grainy. Know you will spend at least 20-30 minutes in front of the stovetop, you can not leave its side!

Ready your stations. First measure out all of your ingredients, this helps have everything ready when you need it. A few seconds wasted while you search for a roll of wax paper can make your candy burn! Roll out two to three sheets of wax paper, invert two cookie sheets and place the wax paper over them. Set them aside.

Once you have everything ready, place your cast iron skillet on the oven over medium-high heat. Add the sugars and milk. Cook over the high heat until the grains disappear, stirring constantly.

Add the pecans when small bubbles appear around the edges. When the mixture starts to boil, set your timer for 10 minutes. Stir constantly, and take the temp occasionally. When the 8-10 minutes is almost up, the pecans will start to clump together in the pan, and the liquid will have started to thicken. Use your wooden spoon to slice through the middle of the pan, if it leaves a trail that takes a few seconds to fill back in, it’s ready. This is the soft ball stage, about 236-degrees.

Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the butter. Stir to combine and add the vanilla extract.

Use a metal spoon to portion the candy into clumps on the wax paper. The liquid will spread slightly and the pecans will stay in the middle.

While they cool, wash your pan, otherwise you will need a jack hammer to clean it!

The candy will be completely cooled in about 10 minutes. Store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.