Praline Recipes: Cakes, Pies And More (PHOTOS)

The season for chestnuts roasting on an open fire may have come and gone, but at HuffPost Taste, our cravings for sugared pecans and other nuts are here to stay. An ideal combination of sweet, salty and earthy, candied pecans, or pralines, are a worthy indulgence year-round.

"Praline" refers to a number of food items. It can mean the Belgian variety -- hard chocolate shells filled with cream -- or it can describe the French and New Orleans treats made by adding pecans or almonds to a sugar syrup. In this case, we're talking about the latter, although both are pretty irresistible.

Pralines make a great stand-alone treat, and are in fact offered as after-dinner munchies at a number of Tex-Mex joints in Austin and elsewhere. But should the beauty of their simplicity stop us from adding pralines to just about every baking recipe under the sun? Obviously not. We think praline bread, praline tarts, praline cookies and praline cakes look as delicious as the original candies. Check it out!:

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