The word "praline" has more than one meaning and pronunciation. When I see the printed word, I generally think of "pray-leen," or almonds and/or hazenuts in caramelized sugar, which can be ground in a food processor to make praline paste. But of course there is also the New Orleans "praw-leen," the softer pecan candy made with heavy cream. I might be an outlier, but I am not a fan of the Southern candy praline; I find it to be cloyingly sweet and not that interesting. But I am a fan of brownies with mix ins, so I decided to try Kelly Fields' "Praline Brownies," which have homemade pecan pralines mixed in to the batter.
I made the pralines a day in advance, by cooking brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and cream to 230 degrees; adding toasted pecans and salt and cooking to 240 degrees; removing the pan from the heat and adding vanilla; letting the mixture cool to 210 degrees; stirring the mixture until it stiffened and turned cloudy; spreading the mixture out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet; and letting it cool until set. I gave the praline a rough chop and ended up with what seemed like a absurdly large quantity -- I tried to store the praline in a 1.2-quart plastic container, but it wasn't big enough.
Making the brownies was straightforward. You mix eggs with brown sugar and salt; gradually add the dry ingredients (flour, granulated sugar, and natural cocoa powder); drizzle in a cooled mixture of melted butter and dark chocolate; and fold in the chopped praline. I baked the brownies in a parchment-lined pan for 50 minutes -- a little longer than the time specified in the recipe, but a toothpick came out covered in very wet batter when I tested them at 40 minutes. I cooled and chilled the brownies before cutting them.
Because I baked the brownies longer than the recipe specified, I was worried that I might have overbaked them. But they turned out to have my ideal brownie texture of perfectly fudgy without being too dense or overwhelming. And they were freakin' delicious. While I don't like eating pecan pralines plain, they were so good in these brownies. The pralines stayed intact and offered so much sweet, decadent, pecan goodness in every bite. The brownies were rich and chocolate-y and just incredible.
Coincidentally, I also happen to love Zingerman's Bakehouse Pecan Blondies, which incorporate the other kind of homemade pecan pralines (the caramelized sugar ones, without cream). So whether you prefer pray-leen or prah-leen, you can have your pick of delicious bars.
Recipe: "Praline Brownies" from The Good Book of Southern Baking by Kelly Fields, recipe available here from Food & Wine.
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