My friend Jeff Clothier makes the best praline bread pudding I’ve ever tasted and that’s saying a lot. This is his recipe for pralines. It omits the traditional cream, so the candies are crumbly rather than creamy.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds dark brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons butter, unsalted
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups pecan halves

Instructions

  1. Line a rimmed cookie pan with a sheet of lightly buttered parchment paper
  2. Mix the brown sugar, water and butter in a good sized sauce pan. The pan needs to be large enough to allow the sauce to foam.
  3. Bring to a boil over a medium heat. Stir for 3 or 4 minutes.
  4. Add the pecans and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring constantly.
  5. Drop tablespoon sized balls of mixture onto parchment paper. Or if you are using the pralines for Dr. Clothier's bread pudding spread the praline mix out evenly over the prepared cookie pan.
  6. Cool to room temperature.