Pecan Pralines

Directions

Spread your pecan halves onto a cookie sheet.  Put the sheet in the oven at 350 and toast the pecans for about 4 minutes, then take the sheet out of the oven, use a spatula and turn the pecans over and return the sheet to the oven for another 4 minutes.

Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and move to a wire rack.  Let the pecans cool completely on the sheet.

Once your pecans are cool you can put everything together.  It’s a little messy but really easy.

Line a couple other cookie sheets with parchment paper and set them aside – you’ll need them shortly.

Put the butter into a medium saucepan and melt it over a low flame.  Next, add in both sugars, the salt and the whipping cream.  Whisk until the sugars melt.  Next, turn up the heat to medium and bring the saucepan to a boil.  Keep boiling, whisking very occasionally, until the temperature reaches 245 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Remove from the heat immediately add in the vanilla and whisk until combined.  Then add the pecans and continue whisking until the liquid starts to thicken.

Working as quickly as you can (you need to get everything out of the saucepan before the liquid hardens completely), take tablespoon-sized clumps of pecans and place them onto your prepared baking sheet.  The pecans will stick to the spoon, so use a second one to kind of push the mixture off the original spoon and onto the parchment.

Since you’re not baking these, you don’t need to worry about spacing them far apart.  You can put them close together, just don’t have them touch or they’ll stick together.

Let them cool on the baking sheets and store them in an airtight container.  And enjoy your candy goodness!

Makes a couple dozen pecan pralines, depending on how big you make each one.