Pecan Praline for the Home Table

For Pecan Praline for the Home Table, the counter starts with unsalted butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Portion it for 16 pralines.

Count on 10 minutes of prep, 20 minutes of cooking, about 30 minutes from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups pecan halves toasted

How the cooking goes

1. Line 2 sheet pans with waxed paper. You can also use aluminum foil that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.
2. Butter the sides of a 3-quart sauce pot. A heavy-bottomed pot will produce the best pralines.
3. In the pot, combine sugars, salt, corn syrup and milk. Stir in order to wet the sugars. it helps to stir carefully to keep as little sugar from getting on the sides of the pot as possible.
4. Cook over a moderate flame and stir frequently until sugar dissolves. Ideally you want the sugar to dissolve before the mixture comes to a boil. This will help ensure the sugar doesn’t crystalize.
5. Bring mixture to a boil. Affix a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and cook until the softball stage is reached (235°F), stirring now and then.
6. Take it off the heat and cool for 10 minutes.
7. Put vanilla extract and beat by hand with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Add the pecans and continue beating by hand with a wooden spoon until the mixture loses its gloss.
8. Drop by the spoonful onto waxed paper lined sheet pans. Work quickly because the mixture stiffens as it cools. Do not scrape the sides of the pot. Like fudge, that outermost layer of candy will be crystalized.
9. Pralines dropped while they are too warm will spread but those dropped when they are cooler will be more crystallized. The ideal moment is right after the candy mixture loses its gloss but before it starts to harden. You can tell you from experience it is difficult to get all 16 pralines from the pot onto the sheet pan in that window! You stopped to film the perfect consistency, but still, it’s a short window.

After it comes off the heat

Give the plate the rest the method asks for. Cover leftovers and refrigerate them when the dish includes meat, eggs, or dairy.

If you want another plate from No-bake sweets, open No Bake Whiskey Smores Pie Cooled Before Slicing and How to Make Toffee with a Clear Method.