This recipe for traditional French praline paste is straightforward to make. You do not need any special cooking skills to make it, and it is better than ready-made paste.
What is Praline Paste?
Praline paste originates from a French recipe that combines ground roasted hazelnuts with caramelized sugar. It can be used as a topping for bread, an ingredient in recipes that call for praline paste, or eaten straight from the spoon if desired. It is that good!
Can You Use Other Nuts in Place of Hazelnuts?
This recipe calls for hazelnuts, but you can use other nuts if you choose. You could use half hazelnuts and half almonds to make this praline paste, or experiment with other nuts to create a different paste.
How to Start Praline Paste
I weigh out the hazelnuts on a scale before roasting them. In the recipe, I provide approximate measurements using cups in case you don’t have a scale.
Roasting the Hazelnuts
The purpose of roasting is to impart a toasted flavor to the hazelnuts and also to remove their skins. It is pretty simple to do:
- Place the measured hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake at 325°F for 15 minutes.
- Stir them every 5 minutes to ensure they brown evenly on all sides.
Removing the Skins
Follow these steps to remove the skins:
- As soon as the hazelnuts are roasted, place them on a thick dish towel so they aren’t too hot to handle.
- Fold the towel over them and squeeze and roll the hazelnuts together until they scrub against each other enough to remove the skins. And don’t worry, not all the skins have to come off.
- Repeat the process until a lot of the skins are removed.
Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Do not dump the hazelnuts from the towel directly into the pan, as you will also get all the skin residue. You want the hazelnuts clean for the next step: making hazelnut brittle. The parchment paper will serve to keep the brittle from sticking to the pan.
Caramelizing Sugar for Praline Paste
Caramelizing the sugar is the only tricky part of this recipe. There are two essential rules for success:
- Do not stir the sugar, or it will crystallize on the sides of the pan and possibly crystallize the entire pan of sugar, which you do not want to happen for this recipe.
- Do not overcook the sugar, or it will burn and taste bitter. I remove it from the heat when it has a light caramel color.
This is a wet method of caramelizing sugar, as a small amount of water is added to the sugar. When I start, I stir the water and sugar together to wet the sugar. Then I do not stir again at all. In place of stirring, I swirl the mixture to distribute the browned sugar. Once it starts to brown, keep a close eye because it can go from perfect to overcooked in mere seconds.
Pour the caramelized sugar over the prepared hazelnuts immediately after removing them from the heat. Then, just let it cool, and it will form a hazelnut brittle that you can break apart for processing.
Making the Praline Paste
Once the caramelized sugar has cooled and hardened, it will form a brittle, similar to a hazelnut brittle.
- Break it apart and place it in a food processor.
- Pulse to break up the brittle. It will turn into something that resembles brown sugar (see the above photo).
- Continue processing until it resembles a smooth, creamy peanut butter. You may need to start and stop the food processor periodically to prevent overheating the motor. The more the brittle breaks down, the higher its viscosity or resistance becomes, which in turn can put a strain on the motor of some food processors.
- Keep processing, and a “loose” paste will form. The longer you process, the more oil is extracted from the hazelnuts, resulting in a thick yet pourable paste. It is ready at this point.
- Store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.
Other Hazelnut Recipes You Might Enjoy
Click on each name or photo to link to the recipe.
Praline Paste
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 250 grams raw hazelnuts (a little less than 2 cups)
- 150 grams white sugar (a little less than 3/4 cup)
- 15 grams water (about a tablespoon)
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Place hazelnuts in a baking pan and bake for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and pour the hazelnuts into a clean, thick dish towel. Fold over the towel and rub together the hazelnuts several times to remove the skins. Place the hazelnuts in a bowl and throw away the skins. It is okay if not all the skins are removed.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat) on a jellyroll pan. Place the hazelnuts in the middle of the parchment paper
- In a thick-bottomed pan, place 1/3 of the sugar and the water. Stir to wet all of the sugar. Heat it on medium heat to start the melting process. Add a little more sugar. Swirl the pan to wet the sugar. Do not stir. After the sugar has heated and started to melt, add the remaining sugar and swirl to combine. Keep heating and occasionally swirling as the sugar melts and starts to brown.
- When the sugar turns a light brown color, quickly remove it from the heat and pour it over the hazelnuts on the jellyroll. Be careful not to let the sugar brown too much, or it will get past its optimal point and burn. It is better to go a little lighter because the sugar can change from just right to too dark in seconds.
- Let the hazelnut brittle cool. Then break it into smaller pieces.
- Place the brittle pieces in a food processor. Add the salt. Pulse to break up the brittle.
- Process the hazelnut brittle on high to turn it into praline paste. It may be necessary to pause processing for a few seconds to prevent overheating the motor. The longer you process, the looser the paste will become until it is similar to a thick, yet pourable peanut butter. Put in a closed container and refrigerate until ready to use.