Chewy Pralines Disaster

by Laura Ashlock
(Abilene, TX)

I attempted to make chewy pralines earlier today. Even though I followed directions, they are hard as rocks and completely stuck to the wax paper.

Is there anything I can do? Or is there a way to salvage the darn things into something else?

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Hi Laura,

It sounds like maybe you cooked them to too high a temperature. Did you use a candy thermometer?


Did you test the thermometer first by boiling some water and seeing if the thermometer was reading 212°? If the thermometer was off, the candy may have gotten too hot, making it hard candy instead of chewy. You only want them to get to the soft ball stage.


There are so many different types of pralines and praline recipes it's hard to tell what might have gone wrong without knowing which recipe you were using.


There are, of course, even recipes that are SUPPOSED to turn out hard. :) Are you sure you weren't using such a recipe?


If you are able to get the waxed paper off (may need to dampen the paper a bit), you can eat/serve them as a hard brittle candy.


If you don't want to do that, put them in a heavy bag and take a hammer to them. :-) You can use the crushed candy to sprinkle on ice cream. Yum!


Let me know what you decide to do with it. There's another good recipe for making pralines if you want to try that one.


Blessings,
~Angie