3/4 c Unsalted butter
1 c Sugar
1 c Light brown sugar; packed
1 c Milk
1/2 c Heavy cream
1 c Pecans; coarsely chopped
2 c Whole pecan halves
2 tb Vanilla extract
1 1/2 c Semisweet chocolate chips;
- chilled
Assemble all the ingredients and utensils before starting to cook.
Measure out the chocolate chips and keep them refrigerated until just
before needed. You will need a large, heavy-bottomed aluminum pot or
skillet with deep sides, a long-handled metal whisk or spoon, 2 large
spoons or an ice cream scoop with a manual release, and a very
lightly greased cookie sheet.
Melt the butter in the pot over high heat; add the sugars, milk,
cream, and chopped pecans. Cook 5 minutes, whisking constantly.
Reduce heat to medium, and continue cooking and whisking
10 minutes. Add the pecan halves and continue whisking and cooking
until done, about 8 to 10 minutes. If the mixture smokes
excessively toward end of cooking time, lower the heat. Stir in
vanilla. Then immediately drop about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips
into about 1/6th of the batter. Stir quickly and just enough to
cover some of the chips with batter but not enough to allow the
chips to melt. Quickly drop the chocolate mixture onto the cookie
sheet by heaping spoonfuls, using the second spoon to push the
batter off the first or use ice cream scoop; each praline should be
about 2" in diameter and 1/2" thick. Repeat with remaining mixture,
stirring briefly before adding more chocolate chips. The cooled
pralines should be light brown, opaque, somewhat chunky and
crumbly.
Lagniappe:
To clean the pot and utensils, boil water in the pot with the
utensils in it. This will melt the batter off.
