The most fantastic, EASY candy you can make... sinfully delicious and habit forming. I have only seen this fail once, and then the disaster was the most marvelous gooey pecan praline ice cream topping.
If you wait and add pecans after sugars have cooked, it will cool the mix too much and it will set up prematurely. I have found that you can add the nuts in the original sugar mix and cook along with the sugars and it comes out just great.
Read Morenot very good.......i think maybe i did something wrong because everyone else that reviewed liked them. They were too soft maybe??
Read More If you wait and add pecans after sugars have cooked, it will cool the mix too much and it will set up prematurely. I have found that you can add the nuts in the original sugar mix and cook along with the sugars and it comes out just great.
I have used a variation of this recipe, leaving out the corn syrup, using 2 tablespoons butter instead of 1 and untoasted pecan halves. I put in everything all at once & microwave for 13 minutes. Stir until mixture starts to cool & begin dropping. If mixture gets too thick, simply put back in microwave for a minute or so & continue. Put on a pretty Christmas plate for a great teacher gift!
Wow! I've made pralines on the stovetop many times, but have never seen a microwave recipe. I was suspicious...too good to be true? These were the best I've ever made! And they are the most beautiful dark color. Yum! I made as directed, but added a pinch or two of salt, and then about a tsp of vanilla right before adding the (non-toasted) pecans. Also, I put at least a 1/2 cup extra pecans, and would've added a few more, but ran out. That's just personal preference though. Oh yes, and I cooked them for about 19 min rather than just 13, but I ~know~ my microwave is a bit weak. Awesome recipe...thanks!
This recipe compares with the New Orlean's pralines I've tasted. It is important to use the whipping cream though if you want to keep the creamy, buttery taste that distinguishes them from just plain white fudge. Because microwaves differ, using the soft ball stage to determine when it is done is important. After nine minutes,just swirl a few drops of the cooked mixture into ice water. If it dissipates, continue cooking until you can create a soft ball you can lift out of the water. Warning: Though good cooks taste their food, don't taste this or any candy until it is ready for the pan. It will scald you. (And, yes, I've experienced it!)
The first time was a flop. Stirred too long and it turned to crumbles when I put the pecans. Second time worked great when I took someone's advice and combined all ingredients in the beginning and didn't stir as long as the first time. Very good.
Let me begin by saying that my pralines came out perfect; creamy, smooth, and delicious. I have a 1200 watt microwave and it took 8 minutes total cooking time. I stirred in the pecans and 1/4 tsp. of salt about mid-way through the cooking time. I also added 1 tsp. of vanilla extract after cooking. I also did the soft ball stage test in ice water. Do yourself a favor and do not even attempt to make these until you know your microwave's wattage. Look inside your microwave for a label that will have the model number. Then do a search online to see what wattage you have. I believe this recipe is geared to around a 1,000 watt microwaves. If your microwave has less than 1,000 watts you may have to cook longer. If your microwave is more than 1,000 watts you will most likely have to cook less. I'm guessing that the people who had trouble with these do not know the power of their microwaves plus they did not do the soft ball stage test. Too bad because these are incredibly delicious if cooked right.
yep, this isn't your mother's pralines! Fast, delicious...and you'll definitely know if you have any cavities after one bite!
I made this recipe for Christmas and my family loved it! It was delicious and very easy to make. Like other reviewers, I added all ingredients at once and did not toast the pecans first. It was great!
These are sooooo good. I made the mistake of letting them sit too long in the microwave, but not problem - I just nuked them a couple more seconds, and they were magic! Very impressive with the chocolate oatmeal cookies on this site - just don't make my mistake and do them at the same time!! Great travel food.
Wow! I am really impressed! These are so easy to make and came out perfect! Soooo good!
These were so yummy and so simple. I'm glad I gave this recipe a try because I am simply not good at candy making. I broke my candy thermometer the same day I bought it and I've never bothered to buy another one. My pralines never quite hardened up enough to be handled but they were very delicious with a spoon. I'm sure it was my microwave. I'm thinking I didn't get the mixture hot enough. I mixed everything up all at once in a large microwavable dish so I didn't have much to clean up. I would use this again when I'm in the mood for pralines. Thanks for sharing.
1 LB of brown sugar= 3 1/2 cups This recipie was so easy!! I put everything in the microwave at once like some of the other reviews said and it worked great!
Super recipe! This is the first time I have made these in the microwave. It will be the only way I make them now. The only change I made is to add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp of vanilla.
Wonderful! Too good to be true, but it is. As with the previous comment, I had to return it to the microwave a couple of times before I could finish spooning it all out, but that was just fine. The candy itself comes out just as smooth and creamy as the pralines made on the stove. I will definitely make more.
These are very easy and fool proof. If they start to get hard before you get them dropped (onto lightly buttered foil or wax paper) just put them back in the microwave and heat as needed.
These were so easy. They came out just like the ones I have made on the stove. Delicious!!
These are very good, but you need to know how fast your microwave cooks. I made them the first time exactly like the recipe and it came out hard. The next time I only cooked for 10 min. and they were perfect. It really has to do with our microwave so be careful. Otherwise they were delicious.
This was really delicious and decadent. The only reason I give it 4 stars rather than 5 is that I did use the helpful comments of other reviewers. Specifically, I mixed all ingredients together at the beginning and then microwaved for 9 min. Checked for soft ball stage every minute or two after that by putting a drop into cold water. Also, I didn't have corn syrup so used 2 Tbsp pancake syrup which the ingredient list indicated was basically corn syrup with flavorings. Added a pinch of creme of tartar as recommended below. Anyway, with these changes, it was very easy and came out great.
not very good.......i think maybe i did something wrong because everyone else that reviewed liked them. They were too soft maybe??
I cooked this for 13 minutes and it was a burnt stinky sticky mess. Had to throw it out after trying to scrap it off my bowl. Lost lots of expensive ingredients.
These were super easy to make. The mixture did get hard and crumbly after I added the pecans. I thought I might have to throw out the whole batch, but I saved it by adding a little bit of the extra heavy whipping cream. Worked like a charm!
This has got to be the easiest candy recpie I've ever made. Nobody would be able to tell this actually came out of the microwave. Easy, simple, quick and delish. These things r0ck0rs!
These are really good. I cooked the pecans with the brown sugar and cream, the nuts toasted very well. I put 2T butter, 1t vanilla, 1\2 maple flavor, then beat the mixture until creamy and drop patties.
This was a fast easy candy to make and sooooo good. Lots of praise, and it fast to make. I think I would make it with 2 cups nuts instead of 1 1/2 but that was just my personal taste. thanks for sharing this.
The taste was awesome but I think my microwave is too powerful. I did mine 15 minutes thinking 13 didn't quite sound like enough. Mine were not smooth and creamy. I will make them again and adjust the time.
I didn't toast the pecans and I threw everything in at once. They were very good and satisfied my craving for real New Orleans pralines but they aren't a replacement for the real thing. The only reason I didn't give this recipe five stars is because I've only made it once. If I try it again, I'll update my review.
I tried both recipes & this one is so easy an old man like me can make it. Be sure to toast pecans first, actually I toast all nuts before using. Use a sturdy glass bowl and be carefual taking it out as it is very hot.
I rated 3 stars not because they didn't taste wonderful, but because they were rock hard. I was expecting something a little more chewy. Maybe a little less stirring as I stirred until it got creamy and cooled slightly. Also, 2 cups of pecans was way more than enough. I would not add more. Next time I will try not stirring as much and maybe putting it in for 12 instead of 13 minutes. The taste is wonderful though. Reminds me of pecan pie. Perfect for the holidays.
A first class recipe! These are so delicious. I love putting three or four on top of an ice cream sundae. Thanks for sharing, Debbie!
My Mother-in-law is from Louisiana and makes pralines for Christmas every year. I thought these might be a quick way to to enjoy that yummy sweetnes all year long. Wrong! If you have ever had REAL pralines don't bother with this recipe.
Absolutely delicious!!! And easy to make. I should have made a double recipe -- my office workers said, "wonderful," after each bite.
I attempted to adjust for the size but the timing on the recipe did not adjust. After 13 minutes, I nearly had smoke inhalation problems. I'll try it again, based on the other reviews.
I too followed other reviewers advice about mixing everything together and putting in the microwave. Worked perfectly. My only advice: use parchment instead of wax paper as we had some wax transfer to the pralines, and scoop and put on the paper quick - this cooled down on me and got very hard and crystallized the sugars.
I tried this recipe twice, both times it did not turn out as I thought they would. The first time I used large chopped pieces of pecans, and the mixture turned hard before I got them all stirred in. The second time I finely chopped the pecans and stirred them in immediately, not giving the mixture any time to cool. These turned out better, but ended up being medium sized balls of brown sugar. They tasted fine, but not what I expected. I am going to try these again and follow some of the suggestions of the other comments
I followed the recipe exactly, and the consistency/taste was horrible. The pralines turned out rock-hard and were nearly impossible to eat.
Had my Mom stir in the pecans and put on wax paper, I think she used too many because the mixture became crumbly.
Rocks only not in a good way driveway rocks . The flavor is really good but I think the wattage of your microwave would make a big diffrence on how long you cook them. Not enough detail in directions.
I should have followed JCAR's advice as mine was ruined. I was stirring and stirring and mine went from thin and not ready to drop to solid block of maple-y chunk in 10 seconds, no lie. I tried to salvage it by forming the chunk into a log in wax paper, hoping that as it cooled, I could slice it into praline slices. No luck. The slices crumbled as soon as I cut them. The crumbs tasted OK, but not worth the calories. I ended up tossing the stuff. I've made pralines the old fashioned way and thought they tasted better than the crumbles here. It was raining the day I made this and my MIL has often sworn that certain things don't "set" when the humidity is high. Maybe that added to this mess. I may or may not try this again, but I'll try JCAR's tip if I do.
This did not turn out well for us. We tried it twice and both times it got hard as a rock and was not edible.
Absolutely delicious. Really easy. A hit at the office when I brought them. However, the mixture did turn crumbly and hard to work with after stirring for just over 1 minute. Had to return to the microwave and add a bit more liquid.
These pralines tasted really good! Think I let it cool to long because the consistence became stiff very quickly. Will have them again.
This was a great success! I followed the review to microwave everything together but saved the butter to stir in after it came out. I also added a pinch of salt and some vanilla extract. I will definitely make these again because they are so good and so easy!
Be very careful with this! I dropped the bowl one while taking it out of the microwave and got burned.
I halved this recipe and wish I had microwaved it less than the 6 minutes I did. If they were a little softer I would have been happier, but that wasn’t the recipe’s fault. They were very easy and quite good.
Check your microwave wattage. Mine is 850 watts. I cooked it 13 minutes and it didn't set up. So I scooped it up, put it back in the pan and microwaved it another 4-5 minutes, and beat it again. Turned out good after additional cooking.
I just made these!! They are wonderful. I did add the pecans before cooking as I read someone else had done. Make them, yopu won't be sorry!!
Made 4 batches of these this December. They all came out perfect. I added pecan halves before microwaving. I have 1000 watt microwave with rotating carousel. I microwaved on high 10 minutes. I stirred the mixture in microwave at 5 Min.( wanted to move around pecans to avoid scorching). Mixture was at soft ball stage when dropped in cold water at 10 min. The secret is stir, stir, stir then stir, stir some more until most of the gloss is gone. If you do not stir enough they remain too soft and sticky when cooled. Fast and EZ clean-up. Friends and Neighbors loved them.
These were okay but definately not as good as the tried and true stove method.
This is an awesomely easy & delectable way to make pralines! I love to make homemade gifts for Christmas and these are definitely on the list now! Thanks for posting it.
Followed the directions to a T. Turned out rock hard and icky. Threw the whole batch away. Poor pecans. :(
Wowsers!! Great microwave recipe. Follow the recommendations and pay attention to the candy "soft ball" stage and its Wonderful!!! This recipe is now a "requested" favorite!
I was delightfully surprised at how easy these were to make, and they're delicious! I took the advice of other reviewers and included the nuts at the beginning and zapped them along with the sugar mix. A welcome addition to my Holiday Makes list.
