Chubby'S White Pralines - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
kosher salt, a pinch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (preferably Mexican vanilla)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350\u00b0.
Arrange pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast until golden brown and aromatic, 7-9 minutes; set aside.
In a saucepan set over med-high heat, bring the sugar and milk to a boil; decrease the heat to medium and cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (234\u00b0 to 240\u00b0 on a candy thermometer).
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter, salt, pecans, and vanilla.
Beat the mixture for about 5 minutes with a wooden spoon, or until the mixture begins to stiffen.
Quickly drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper (if you aren't fast enough, the mixture will become too hard to scoop).
Wrap individually in waxed paper, or store in an airtight container.
*Variation-to make even whiter, omit the vanilla extract and drop in a halved vanilla bean with the sugar and milk; remove the bean as soon as the mixture comes to a boil.
Use the pointed tip of a knife to dig out the vanilla seeds and add them back to the praline mixture.