Pralines

In my latest video I share my must make Christmas candy recipe. I’ve been making pralines since the girls were toddlers. I make them every Christmas and folks seem to really like them, I know I do.

The girls were rambunctious toddlers (actually they’re now rambunctious 24 year olds!) and their propensity to get into things is actually the reason I found the praline recipe in the first place. I explain the story in the video 🙂

Follow this link for the recipe.

If you give the pralines a try I hope you like them as much as we do. What type of candy do you make at Christmastime?

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20 Comments

  1. Your buttermilk pralines look delishous Tipper! I love buttermilk, pecans, and of course sugar! Thank you so much for thhe recipe!
    I haven’t been around for a while because back in May I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I had a mass as large as a baby’s head. I had surgery in Winston Salem at Wake Forrest Baptist Hospital, was in the hospital about a week and then went through monthes of chemotherapy and being severely tired. They also found a bloodclot in my lung. I’ve had so much blood work and have had blood transfusions and blood platelet transfusions. I finished chemo a few weeks ago but will have to go for a CT scan every 6 months for a while. My Oncologist said I’m doing good. I thank God for getting me through this difficult time.
    I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!

  2. Tip, your pralines are extraordinarily good! I could easily grab the whole batch and run to the corner with them and not come out till I’ve eaten them all…that’s how good I think they are!!

  3. You grabbed my attention right away when you said “buggy.” I thought wow she uses the same word I do. Years ago when we went to grocery store, I would tell one of our sons to go get me a “buggy.” He would usually say Mom, it’s a cart! Didn’t matter what he called it, I called it a buggy. Your Pralines look delicious! Maybe 6 years ago, my husband and I were in Savannah, GA., down on the river walk. There was a candy store there and they had samples of Pralines. I thought they were the best thing I had ever tasted in candy. I’m going to try and make some with your recipe. I usually made peanut butter fudge for Christmas, as that was my husband’s favorite.

  4. Ingles has parking places reserved in the parking lot that say “Parents With Children”. I haven’t worked up the nerve to ask yet but I have some serious questions for their management. Don’t you have to have children to be a parent? People without children are not parents, are they? Do your children have to be there with you? My daughter is almost 50, do I qualify if I bring her? If she brings her children too, can I take up two spaces? Does it have to be my children? Can I borrow one of the neighbors kids?

    You can get two kids in a regular buggy. One goes in the seat and the other one in front on the bottom. The one on the bottom pulls the buggy along with his feet while the one in the seat leans way out over to first one side then the other causing the buggy to careen wildly down the aisle. Be sure to buy a watermelon so it can help with the stability of the load. You must keep one hand firmly grasped on the buggy at all times lest you find it in the candy aisle half full of Milky Ways and Mars Bars already. If you are a trained gymnast you might find a few seconds to check the exp date and see if it is gluten free and keto friendly. Most importantly though you must always be prepared to declare “THAT’S NOT MY KIDS! I’m just watching them for a friend who is in the hospital having another one!

  5. Pralines are my fave, but I also make Peppermint Bark. So simple: Melt 2 bags of white almond bark in double boiler or crockpot (possibly in microwave, although I haven’t tried that). Lightly crush 4 or 5 candy canes (in a plastic bag, with a rolling pin). Stir candy into melted almond bark. Spread on a cookie sheet. When cold, break into pieces.

  6. I’ll have to try your recipe for pralines. It’s similar to Miss Daisy King ‘s of Nashville except she uses 3 tablespoons butter and no vanilla. She doesn’t use a thermometer but says bring the sugar, soda and buttermilk to a boil then add the butter and cook until soft ball stage. Remove from heat and beat until thick before adding pecans.
    My mother made marshmallow cream fudge but not the recipe I find on the cream container today. Grease a large rectangular Pyrex bowl or 9x 13” cake pan with butter. Then in a large heavy pan slowly bring to a boil, stirring gently, 5 cups sugar, 12 oz. can evaporated milk and 2 sticks butter . Boil and stir 8 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, 12 oz chocolate chips, 1 pint (2cups or 16 oz) marshmallow cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla (and nuts if desired). Beat until smooth and thick. Pour into mold then cut when cooled and set. She also used butterscotch chips instead of chocolate for another batch for Daddy’s favorite.
    If I can plan ahead I love to make chocolate covered cherries. (the cheap ones in the stores are good too.) This recipe is from Better Homes & Gardens Snacks and Appetizers cookbook 1974. Needs to be made a few weeks ahead so the acid from the cherries can make the nougat center into delicious juice. It takes 60 Maraschino cherries with stems drained very well. (Takes several hours to drain cherries. If damp the nougat will not stick well.) Combine 3 tablespoons butter, softened, 3 tablespoons light corn syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in 2 cups sifted confectioners sugar. Knead until smooth. Chill if too soft. Shape 1 teaspoon of nougat mix around each cherry. Place on waxed paper. Chill. Melt 1 1/2 lbs dipping chocolate over hot water as instructed. Dip cherries one at a time holding stems. Cover very well, especially around stems so liquid will not run out later. Chill on waxed paper then store in covered container in a cool place. Set to ripen a week or two. (Test a sample every few days!-Are ready when nougat center liquifies-if any are left by that time!) Melted chocolate chips can be substituted for dipping chocolate. Tiny paper candy cups are great to capture any liquid that might escape, especially if gifting. Do not stack.
    I love pralines but don’t think I’ve ever made them. But I might have to try your recipe soon. Thanks and Happy Holidays to all! Watch for snow!

      1. My wife used to use something called invertase or invert sugar in her chocolate covered cherries. Their centers would turn liquid in only 2-3 days.

  7. Buggy when I was a kid at home. Cart now. Another Appalachianism going away? But I lost more than words by going away.

    Two kids in the grocery store and just of the age to reach and pull down or pull out stuff from lower shelves. Hmmm. No wonder the Bi-Lo buggy made Bi-Lo the place to go without looking any further for a reason.

    I seem to recall our Mom describing us as ‘rambunctious’ to. Btw, about that, I have a cute story. The other evening we were in a small town near here, just strolling around looking at the lights. We met a couple with the Dad in front pushing a stroller down the walk with the littlest one(s). Behind him was the Mom.with a little dark-haired boy. He was down on his hands and knees peering into the little holes in a manhole cover. He wanted to know what was done there. I told his Mommy, “Them holes need looking into.” She smiled and laughed and said, ” Yeh. ” I could tell by her expression and tone she meant, “Yes, he is all boy but he is all mine. The sweet little dickens.” Or anyway, something very close to that. I wish I had had my camera and could have taken a picture to send her.

  8. This looks like candy I could really enjoy. I am amazed at how you get the time for all you do. I am a list person and it seems I never get around to all the stuff on the list, and the must dos take priority. Randy’s citron preserve comment reminds me of so many recipes and traditions that we once enjoyed that seem to have fallen by the wayside. I had a small bush/tree that somebody had planted in an inconvenient place. So, for years I trimmed it back to keep it from growing into the side of the house. One year I neglected the extensive pruning, and it bore fruit that looked much like a small apple without the stem. A quick google showed me I had a Quince tree. Although I have never tried it nor eaten it used to ne popular in jelly. Quince jelly never made it to my list, so I may have to settle for buying it at one of these little out of the way markets that specialize in hard to find jellies and jams. Gonna run over and catch your video.

    1. There is a “flowering quince” which – I have discovered – is not the same as the quince that bears the apple-like fruit used to make jams and jellies. We called the flowering quince a “burning bush”. It is not native to the US and only occurs as planted. The old timers had them but they seem much rarer now. I have one and it is absolutely covered in red bloom very early in the spring, before the leaves open. Mine has a very few bloom on it right now. It usually blooms a little this time of year. Out of all the spring bloom it may have two or three very mis-shapen fruits.

      I have seen ‘quince’ at Walmart at this time of year and they resemble a Yellow Delicious apple but are a paler yellow. One of these days I’m going to break down and buy one just to taste.

  9. I think you posted this recipe years ago without the video and I ran to the store for the ingredients to make them. I had never made pralines and was surprised at how easy they were to make. Maybe it was beginners luck, but my first batch turned out perfect and didn’t last ten minutes when I put them out for my family. The video will be helpful when I make them again this year. Your recipe is the best!

  10. YUM, TIPPER!!!! The pralines turned out beautiful and I bet the taste was out of this world!!! I make hard candy and cinnamon seems to be most requested. I also make fudge that’s chocolate on the bottom and peanut butter on the top half! It’s pretty tasty. It’s easier and tastier than the peanut butter balls in my opinion. I just love making candy, don’t all you ladies???? Merry Christmas as we count down now….

  11. My comment has nothing to do with today’s blog except to say the pralines seems similar to mother’s way of making peanut brittle. The one I was really interested in was the pear preserves, mother and grandmother would make them but I haven’t had any in a long time. My mother made citron preserves, that I dearly loved as a child. The citron would come back up voluntarily each year in the garden. She said she didn’t know how it first started. These are similar to watermelon preserves but are not the same. The citron looks like a watermelon but is very hard and not good for much of anything as far as I know. Deer won’t even eat it. Except for some older ladies most people have never heard of it. I would sure love to get some of these preserves and see if they were as good as I thought they were.

    1. I’ve been worrying all day about those citrons your mother made. A citron is a tropical fruit and is not frost tolerant. It looks like a lumpy lemon. Most of them are grown overseas but a few are grown in south Florida. They are not really good to eat but they can be candied. If you’ve had fruit cake they are the little yellow crystals in it.
      I think I have figured it out. What your mother had was probably a citron melon. They do look like little watermelons and are related to them. They are not really good to eat as is but they are full of pectin and make good jam, jelly and preserves. Seeds are available online.

  12. My sister and I just made three batches of pecan brittle on Saturday. This is an annual tradition for us. It is a recipe my late husband found and always made at Christmas time, and it makes us happy to carry on the tradition for several years now.

  13. This was so fun. I love pralines. I sometimes call them naked turtles. I don’t know if you know the turtle candy – essentially, it’s pralines with some chocolate melted and spooned over top. It’s a soft and gooey caramel. They are ever present at Christmastime in our family. – I hear you on the double seat grocery cart (I wasn’t sure what you were referring to with buggy! 🙂 ). My kids like to divide and conquer. One runs in one direction and the other in the other direction. But, if we’re at a grocery store that has a lobster tank, I know they’ll stay still watching the lobsters for a while. Thanks for making and sharing this video. I love them all.

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