How to Make the Best Pecan Pralines (2024)

FAQs

Why are my pralines not getting hard? ›

If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

Avoid The Humidity

Plan to make your pralines on a cool, dry day. If it's humid or rainy, as it was the first time I made pralines, the candy might end up with a more sugary, grainy texture. While delicious, my first batch never did fully harden.

A little crystallization in pralines is inevitable but adding a bit of corn syrup can help keep crystals from forming. In this recipe I also butter the sides of the pot and only stir before the sugar comes to a boil. After the candy reaches soft-ball stage, it is left to cool for 10 minutes without agitation.

Since the problem is mostly that the sugar in the pralines gets hard and crystallized, you might try softening them the way you'd soften hard brown sugar. Place a terracotta sugar saver in the container or something else that's slightly damp, like a few slices of apple or a slice of fresh bread.

If your pralines don't set up, or they get dry and crumbly, don't toss them out! Eat them with a spoon, ball them up and dip in chocolate, or chop them up and use as a topping on cake or ice cream!

235° F–240° F

At this temperature, sugar syrup dropped into cold water will form a soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand. Fudge , pralines, and fondant are made by cooking ingredients to the soft-ball stage.

Sometimes, as syrup boils, sugar starts to form back into crystals, which turn hard and cloudy. Crystallisation can be caused by stirring, or a grain of something other than sugar getting into the pan, or often just bad luck.

The white spots are a natural process called crystallization. Because our pralines are made with NO preservatives, the white spots occur over time as the cooked sugar returns to its original crystal form. The process begins as soon as the candy leaves the pot, and does not affect flavor.

If you don't want to buy invert sugar, a simple way to prevent crystallization is to “invert” the sucrose by adding an acid to the recipe. Acids such as lemon juice or cream of tartar cause sucrose to break up (or invert) into its two simpler components, fructose and glucose.

Throw all of your pecans in a sauce pan, and pan-fry for about 2 minutes. This will soften the pecans, and really accentuate the nutty flavor.

Why are my candied pecans soft? ›

Why are my candied pecans soft and sticky? If your pecans are soft, it's most likely because they weren't baked long enough and are still retaining moisture. The sugar needs to bake long enough to caramelize and form a brittle coating on the nuts.

Wait until the water boils. Then, bring the boil to a simmer by slightly turning down the heat. Add your pecans and keep them in the simmering water for up to 15 minutes. Drain them and place them on an unlined baking sheet to cool.

If your candied coating isn't hardening, the candying mixture did not reach a high enough temperature. Allow your candying mixture to cook until it bubbles, thickens, and turns a rich golden color, sort of like caramel. Then, quickly turn off the heat so it doesn't burn.

If you don't beat it long enough, then pralines won't set properly and will stay soft and sticky. Work quickly to drop heaping tablespoons of pecan praline mixture onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. I find that it works best to use a cookie dough scoop.

Traditional Southern recipes say never make these on a rainy day! Humidity and moisture can affect the finished texture of the candies.

If the caramel forms a pliable soft ball, for instance, it's around 240°F. If it forms a hard ball, it's between 250°F to 260°F, etc. Sometimes recipes will even use the descriptors below to specify the stage your caramel should be cooked to. Hard toffee, brittle, etc.