My husband Daniel’s Aunt Diane is famous for her annual making of the Pecan Balls. The centers are a creamy, sugary concoction that my sister-in-law Lydia today proclaimed is as good as crack cocaine. Next the balls are dipped in hot, melted caramel and rolled in chopped pecans. Diane makes them every year, without fail, for her annual holiday party. She also serves hot cider, a special spicy soup, and homemade cornbread. But let’s get real… it’s really all about the Pecan Balls!

This year, Diane has decided that it’s time to pass the Pecan Ball tradition down to the next generation of women in the family. Basically she said, “If you want Pecan Balls, you girls are going to have to start making them yourself.” The Pecan Ball process takes some manual dexterity and strength that Diane no longer has because of her worsening arthritis. So yesterday Lydia and I spent the afternoon with Diane learning the tricks of the trade and making our first batch of Pecan Balls.

Lydia had a little powdered sugar mishap as you can see…

and she wasn’t very happy about it!

Anyway, Diane figures she’s been making these luscious little delights for 15-20 years. I’m excited to share this treasured family recipe with you all. Here’s the recipe and a couple more photos:

Diane’s Pecan Balls

2 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 t vanilla
28 Kraft Caramels
2 T water
1 cup chopped pecans

• Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Chill for about an hour.
• Roll the mix into 1/2-inch balls and lay them out on a cookie sheet to chill overnight.
• Melt the caramel and water in a double boiler over low heat, stirring occasionally.
• Dip sugar balls into the hot caramel and roll in the nuts.
• Wrap in wax paper and freeze for at least 15 minutes. You can also freeze them for longer. They freeze very well. Chill unti serving.
• As for number of servings, we made this recipe X5 and we got about 60 pecan balls out of that amount. It also would depend on how big you roll them to be. I would recommend at least doubling this recipe because they’re sure to be a hit and as long as you’re already going through all the work…

Here are a couple more action shots to get you inspired…