praline

American  

[prah-leen, prey-, prah-leen] / ˈprɑ lin, ˈpreɪ-, prɑˈlin /

noun

• pralines
  plural

1. a French confection consisting of a caramel-covered almond or, sometimes, a hazelnut.

2. a cookie-size confection made especially of butter, brown sugar, and pecans: developed in New Orleans in the early 19th century.

3. a similar confection of nuts mixed or covered with chocolate, coconut, maple sugar or syrup, etc.

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praline British  

/ ˈprɑːliːn /

noun

1. a confection of nuts with caramelized sugar, used in desserts and as a filling for chocolates

2. Also called: sugared almond.  a sweet consisting of an almond encased in sugar

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pralines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of praline

1715–25; < French; named after Marshall César du Plessis- Praslin (1598–1675), whose cook invented them

Explanation

Praline is a sweet candy made from pecans and a whole lot of sugar. A fudgy, cream-based kind of praline is especially popular in the southern part of the United States. Officially, praline can refer to any confection that combines nuts and sugar. The original pralines were made in 16th century France and named after the nobleman whose cook invented them, coating almonds with caramelized sugar. European pralines are also commonly ground up and used as a filling in cookies and cakes. French settlers in Louisiana swapped almonds for pecans and thickened their praline with cream, a confection that remains popular today.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

praline pralines

The courses begin with three savory bites before transitioning into full-fledged desserts, including a deconstructed version of her signature multilayered mousse cake, with flavors of brown rice and pecan praline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Cake fillings of almond crunch and toasted pecan praline and candied lemon, while jackfruit and palm sugar bring distinct South-East Asian flavours.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026

They include its wild rose vinegar -- priced at 235 kroner for 250 millilitres -- its pumpkin-seed praline spread and mushroom cooking sauce.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2025

They look like a praline because of their color, the visible chopped pecans, and the way they spread out when they bake, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends.

From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2022

Wak'd by thy genial and praline ray, Nature resumes her verdure, and looks gay; Fresh blooms the rose, the dropping plants revive, The groves reflourish, and forests live.

From The Young Gentleman and Lady's Monitor, and English Teacher's Assistant by John Hamilton Moore

Made with all locally-sourced ingredients, their pralines are rich with cream and loaded with pecans and literally melt in your mouth.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024

Chocolate bars tend to be preferred by foreigners, while West Africans favor other delicacies, including cocoa pralines, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and chocolate spread.

From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2022

Odds are your state is “famous” for something, whether it’s honey, peaches, maple syrup or pralines.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2021

River Street Sweets pralines from Savannah, Georgia, and the salty-sweet, cheddar-caramel corn mix from Garrett Popcorn in Chicago.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 14, 2020

Then Ella dragged Brigit to the Conjure Creole Creamery, where attendants pulled levers making decadent concretes and malted mischief milkshakes full of pralines and petit fours and pieces of pecan pie.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton