Southern Style Pecan Pralines

Classic Southern style pecan pralines are a sweet, nutty confection that literally melt in your mouth. They are crumbly, not chewy, and dotted with crunchy toasted pecans in a burnished, buttery blend. They harden quickly and are gobbled up just as fast. While you’ll love eating them straight up, this buttery sweet pecan candy can also be used as an ingredient in other recipes to take them to the next level.

Unfussy. That’s how I’d describe homemade Southern pecan pralines. They aren’t uniform or standard, but rather just clusters of crunchy toasted pecans enrobed in a blend of melted sugar, cream and butter. This crumbly, crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth confection is famous from across the South from Virginia through Texas and you can make them famous in your house too.

I first tried pralines as a kid, mistakenly thinking they were like a “blondie-fudge”. Nope. No way.

These Southern pecan candies bear little resemblance to thick, dense, sink-your-teeth-into-it chocolate fudge.

Instead, real pecan pralines are firm, but not brittle or hard, crunchy, but more from the toasted nuts than the praline mixture itself. They’ve got a crumbly, granular, sugary texture that melts as soon as it meets your tongue.

Traditionally made with sugar, cream and nuts, this version has a a bit of molasses to give them a hearty, deep flavor that pairs perfectly with the maple flavor of toasted pecans.

In other words, these candies taste like the South.

History of pecan pralines. Where did they come from?

Though this pecan candy is well known throughout the South, it actually has its stateside origins in New Orleans… and France before that.

Created in the early 1700’s by chef Clement Lassagne, the personal chef of César, duc de Choiseul, Comte du Plessis-Praslin (for whom pralines were named), the original candy was made with almonds enrobed in a sugary, caramelized coating.

From here, this nutty confection became renowned and spread across Europe, where it’s taken on very different styles depending on the country that’s making them.

In much of Europe, for example, they use ground nuts to make sheets of pralines which are smashed or ground to use in fillings for other decadent desserts.

In Belgium, pralines are typically formed chocolates with soft or liquid flavored fillings.

The evolution of this pecan candy in the U.S. was due to Ursuline nuns who emigrated to Louisiana in 1727 and used a similar candy-making method with local ingredients that were more readily available to them. Almonds were replaced with the ubiquitous pecan and Southern pralines came to be a heralded sweet treat.

Nowadays, you’ll find as many different praline recipes as the locales who claim them.

Different Styles of Pecan Pralines

There’s no “one way” to make pralines and variations abound. Traditionally, pralines are a combination of sugar, cream, butter and nuts, but different recipes will have you using all white sugar or all brown, everything from whipping cream to evaporated milk and corn syrup (which makes it chewy and less like the traditional, classic pralines) to molasses which adds a deeper, more intense flavor.

Beyond the classic, though, you’ll find pralines in a multitude of flavors from chocolate to coconut to peanut butter and beyond.

This pecan praline recipes uses a combination of sugars and molasses (for a deeper, richer flavor), whipping cream and natural flavorings.

What you’ll need for Southern Pecan Pralines Recipe

Steps to make homemade pralines

1. You want to toast the pecans in the oven before you start the candy portion of this recipe because it goes very fast once you start. The pecans should be cooked to a medium-dark color and and smell toasty, not burnt with a maple-y aroma.
2. Combine the sugar, brown sugar molasses and whipping cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan and (stirring constantly) bring to a boil over medium high heat.
3. Boil the sugar and cream mixture for about 4-5 minutes or until it reaches the soft-ball stage (240° F). I recommend using a candy thermometer to accurately measure the temperature and take the guess work out of it.
4. Remove the pot from the heat and immediately stir in the butter, salt and vanilla with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the toasted pecans and stir the mixture vigorously for 2-3 minutes.
6. Spoon the pecan pralines onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (to prevent sticking) and let cool completely before you touch them. (You’ll want to work very quickly for this last part — I say this because the praline mixture starts to harden as it cools.)

What are the white spots on my pralines?

Something you’ll notice on all pecan pralines are small little white spots or “blooms” on the candy.

You might think you’ve done something wrong (I did), but the good news is, you haven’t.

Those blooms are actually the melted sugars trying to crystallize again as the candies cool. Corn syrup can help prevent the crystallization, but it also makes the pralines soft and chewy instead of the classic firm-crumbly texture.

Those white spots are a common occurrence even in professional candy shops. So don’t beat yourself up about it.

Most classic Southern pralines are roundish puddles of candy with whole pecans scattered through them. They aren’t uniform or molded candies, but rather free-form jumbles.

Dropped by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper these buttery sweet confections are perfectly imperfect in their formation.

As you get to the end of spooning out your pralines onto the parchment, the candy will already start to harden, making those last few clusters “not so pretty” at least that’s been my experience.

Not to worry.

Just like the ugly or misshapen vegetables in your CSA box, they taste just as good as the pristine ones. Crumble any unsightly candies over a dish of ice cream. The flavor is amazing and no-one has to know they got the “ugly one”.

Pecan praline FAQ’s and variations

What I like about this recipe is that it’s not an all-day endeavor. In fact, you can make a batch of homemade pecan pralines in a little over half an hour. If you’d like to try candy-making but don’t have all the molds and special equipment necessary for it, this is a good place to start.

If you like a lot of nuts…

I actually made several batches of these pralines, some using more nuts and some with a little less.

As a confirmed nut-lover, I prefer more pecans than less, but with so many nuts, you don’t get that classic round puddle of praline, but more of a rubbly cluster of pecans that’s barely held together by the sugary praline mix.

If that sounds good to you, increase the pecans in this recipe to 1 1/2 cups.

What to do with pralines?

I love to eat these nutty pecan candies as a snack, but they’re also great in other recipes. Here’s a few of my favorite ways to use pralines:

• Peach Bread with Pralines
• Bourbon Pralines and Cream Ice Cream
• Southern Pralines and Peach Scone Recipe

More pecan recipes you might like:

• Chocolate Dipped Pecan Shortbread
• Bourbon Pecan Caramel Sauce
• Salted Coconut Pecan Bars
• Toasted Butter Pecan Cookies with Sea Salt

More easy candy recipes you might like:

• Coconut Rum Truffles
• Sweet and Salty Harvest Mix
• Chocolate Bourbon Gingerbread Truffles

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