Chubby's Pralines

Total Time: 54 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 9 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• kosher salt, a pinch
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (preferably mexican vanilla)

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350°.
• 2 arrange pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast until golden brown and aromatic, 7-9 minutes; set aside.
• 3 in a saucepan set over med-high heat, bring the sugar and milk to a boil; decrease the heat to medium and cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (234° to 240° on a candy thermometer).
• 4 remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter, salt, pecans, and vanilla.
• 5 beat the mixture for about 5 minutes with a wooden spoon, or until the mixture begins to stiffen.
• 6 quickly drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper (if you aren't fast enough, the mixture will become too hard to scoop).
• 7 wrap individually in waxed paper, or store in an airtight container.
• 8 *variation-to make even whiter, omit the vanilla extract and drop in a halved vanilla bean with the sugar and milk; remove the bean as soon as the mixture comes to a boil.
• 9 use the pointed tip of a knife to dig out the vanilla seeds and add them back to the praline mixture.