How to Make Pecan Logs

It has been one of my goals in life to master making Pecan Logs! Two cute elderly ladies in my neighborhood growing up named Janet Stewart and Eve Hirst used to give them to my family every year at Christmas-time and we would fight over eating them. They were so delicious! Eve Hirst was my Grandma Leola's best friend and a great friend to my family, so I asked her to teach me how to make them. She was nice enough to teach me, but they were so complicated I never tried to make them as a kid.

Janet and Eve have since passed away, but I wanted to carry on their tradition. So, once I became an adult and had my own family, my mom and I were determined to figure out how to make them properly. It took us a few attempts and many failed batches, but I think we've finally figured it out.

Now we give them out to our neighbor and friends and my favorite thing to hear is "It's not Christmas until I get one of your Pecan Logs!" I wanted to share this recipe and "how-to" instructions with anyone that would like to learn how to make them too. I hope you enjoy it!

Janet Stewart/Eve Hirst Pecan Logs -

Nougat:
3 cups sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp. white Karo Syrup
½ teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp. butter

*2 heaping spoonfuls of Marshmallow Crème (add after other ingredients have boiled when mixing on table)

Pecans:
1 giant (32 oz.) bag of pecans chopped up (non-salted, untoasted)

Nougat Directions:

Add sugar, milk, Karo syrup, salt, and butter to a heavy sauce pan. Bring to a boil with lid on then heat to 226* F. Once it reaches temp. pour out on a cool marble slab or granite countertop. Add the 2 large heaping spoonfuls of marshmallow crème and mix together with a bench scraper. Keep mixing until the mixture cools down, thickens up, and loses its shine (this takes a while). Then form into 16 equal nougat logs (you can coat your hands with powdered sugar to keep from sticking to you). Wrap each nougat log in wax paper and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Caramel:

2 cups sugar
2 cups white Karo syrup
½ can (14 oz.) condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
½ tsp salt
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla (add after it has boiled to temp)

Caramel Directions:

Mix sugar and Karo syrup in large, tall, heavy saucepan. Add condensed milk. Cook for 5 minutes. Bring to a boil before slowly adding the cream. Boil to 230-235* (soft ball stage) stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (preferably).
Note: This step takes a long time! It will come up to a certain temperature quickly but then just sit there for a long time before it hits 230* F. Turn off heat and add vanilla. Let it sit and cool/thicken for a bit. It will be a very light caramel color.

Assembly:

Cover 1 half size baking sheet with wax paper and evenly spread out your chopped pecans. Pour caramel over and let sit until not too sticky. Cut into 10 sections as long as your nougat and roll nougat up in caramel/pecans. Wrap pecan log in plastic wrap. 1 batch of caramel will makes 10 logs. Enjoy!

*Note: do NOT try to double this recipe and cook it all at once. It will not work out well for you. :) Just keep making single batches if you need lots of pecan logs.