Pecan Pralines

Directions

Start by melting 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium sauce pan. Once melted, stir in 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 3/4 cup of regular sugar, a few shakes of Lane’s Chocolate Sea-Salt Caramel Seasoning, 3/4 cup of half-and-half, and 3 tablespoons of butter. Turn the heat down to low and stir constantly to keep it from burning to the bottom of the pan. The sugars should dissolve and form a caramel-like syrup.

Now stir in 2 cups of pecans and allow it to come to a boil. Continue stirring and let it go until a candy thermometer reads 238 degrees. If you have a good instant-read like a Thermapen, you can use that. Depending on the size of your sauce pan, be careful not to let your thermometer touch the bottom of the pan, or it will read much hotter than the actual liquid. Reaching 238 is the low standard for making candy because it’s called the soft ball stage, which means if you drop a ball of the syrup into cold water it will form a ball, but if you remove it from the water, it will flatten out.

Once your syrup has reached 238, remove from the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir if for 2-3 minutes until it thickens up, then use an ice cream scooper to place scoops onto parchment paper. Let cool for a few minutes and they will harden. At this point, they should be ready to eat.

Feel free to substitute the vanilla for any flavoring you like. Maple, chocolate, almond, hazelnut, you name it. These pralines take 10-15 minutes to make and taste just like any praline you’ll get down south. Give ’em a try for the big game this weekend or your New Year’s Eve party.

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