Preheat the oven to 350°

On a baking sheet, roast the pecans until nicely toasted and fragrant for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Be careful not to burn them.

Set out parchment paper for making the pralines and have a tablespoon-sized scoop handy or a metal spoon.

Add the sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and whipping cream to a medium saucepan.

Stirring continuously, bring to a foamy boil.

Stir constantly and cook until it reaches 235°. I used an instant read thermometer, or you can use a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat, stir in the butter, salt, and vanilla, and then quickly add the pecans.

Continue to stir for 3 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken. The longer you stir, the thicker the mixture gets. You don’t want it to get too thick, or it’ll be hard to scoop the pralines. But you want the mixture to be able to mound correctly.

Quickly drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture onto parchment paper and allow them to cool and firm. If the mixture is too thin and spreads more than you want, stir a little bit more. If the mixture starts to cool too much as you’re scooping, place it briefly back on the heat, but don’t let it cook.

When pralines are cool and firm, store them in an airtight container.