Candied nuts are nuts, typically pecans, almonds, walnuts, or cashews, coated in a caramelized sugar syrup that hardens into a crisp, glassy shell as it cools. The technique is linked to the praline, a confection whose invention is traditionally credited to 17th-century France and which took root in the American South using local pecans. Candied nuts are eaten as a snack or garnish, and are commonly used as a topping for salads, oatmeal, yogurt, and ice cream, or baked into pies, cakes, and cookies; in savory cooking they add sweet crunch to roasted vegetables, grain bowls, and cheese plates. Common flavorings include cinnamon, cayenne, maple, coffee, and chocolate. Note that "praline" itself means different things regionally: a coated whole nut in most places, but a distinct fudge-like pecan candy in New Orleans.