Homemade spiced pecans are an excellent homemade food gift during the holiday season and an excellent trail food snack during the summer hiking season!
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Spiced pecans are always around at Christmastime. However, one Christmas as I was munching on them, I realized they would make an excellent trail snack. Sweet, salty, full of protein-they were the perfect thing to keep in my backpack to munch on while hiking. If you find your self with extras, they’re super good stirred into your morning oatmeal!
Obviously they also make excellent homemade food gifts. Who can resist the crunchy sweetness of a spiced pecan? Plus it’s super easy to double or even triple the batch to make some for everyone you know!
Tips For Success:
- Use a rimmed baking sheet-lots of us have cookie sheets with no sides, but these pecans will slide right off of those. Don’t have a rimmed cookie sheet, use a 9×13 cake pan or just invest in one!
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper-the original recipe says you can simply grease the pan, but it also says you run the risk of breaking the nuts if they cool on the pan. Mitigate that risk by using some parchment paper.
- Allow the sugar and spices to dissolve in the egg white and water-it only takes about 15 minutes for the sugar to dissolve and that way you don’t have the grit from the sugar on your pecans
- Be sure each pecan is thoroughly coated in egg/sugar/spice mixture-otherwise you just have toasted pecans! I know someone who dips each pecan individually but I don’t have time for that, simply stir really well and everything should get coated nicely!
- Scrape the nuts off the pan when they are still warm but allow them to cool on the pan-just so they don’t stick. The parchment helps immensely with this issue but just in case…
- Spread the nuts apart on the pan-so the can all cook evenly and don’t all stick together
How Do I Store Spiced Pecans?
You can store spiced pecans in a sealed container (jar, baggie, Tupperware) on the counter for up to a month. You can store them in the freezer in a freezer safe container for 6 months. (This is why they make great food gifts, you can make them WAAAY ahead of time).
Spiced Pecans
Equipment
- Rimmed sheet pan
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 egg white slightly beaten
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together the water and egg white. Add in sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt. Stir to combine. Allow to sit until sugar dissolves, about 15 minutes.
- While waiting for sugar to dissolve, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silpat. (Seriously, do this step. The original recipe says you can grease the pan, but then the notes also say the nuts will stick and break if you allow them to cool on the pan. Let’s make it easier on ourselves and just use some parchment. No sticking.)
- Dip nuts in egg mixture and spread on cookie sheet flat side down. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Using a wide spatula, scrape the nuts off the cookie sheet so they aren’t sticking to the parchment but allow them to remain on the pan to cool. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container. If not using right away, you can freeze.
Notes
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Happy Baking!
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Happy Baking!
P.S. Looking for other homemade food gifts? Check out these chocolate pretzel bites (the perfect combination of sweet and salty). Or maybe a jar of homemade salted caramel sauce!
