Candied pecans. You need them in your life. These pecan halves are roasted in the oven on low heat with sugar and spice. If you like pecans, you are going to LOVE them coated in a crunchy candy shell with the delicious yet subtle flavor of cinnamon.
What started off as a challenge to come up with a menu for an upcoming virtual Harry Potter Dinner Party, turned into a whole bunch of yumminess on my table. You’ll have to stay tuned for the featured recipe but let’s just say these cockroaches (candied pecans) and parmesan mashed potatoes made a guest appearance on my dinner table.
My son loved these candied pecans so much, I made a double batch for him to store in a large container in his school bag so he can eat on the run. Teenagers. They are always hungry. Then I started passing around little baggies of them at work to my co-workers. They are the perfect little snack to keep in my purse for when I need a little something to get me through the afternoon or right before I walk into the grocery store. Have you ever stepped foot in a grocery store when you’re hungry? It’s my worst enemy to the grocery budget.
I have big plans for these simple yet tasty morsels. They’ll make the perfect little gift for teachers, bus drivers and next door neighbors.
While I was crunching away on these sweet candied pecans, I was inspired to cook with them. Oh yes. Did you see my recipe for Baked Sweet Potato Rounds? So good. If you haven’t, you definitely need to check it out. This easy candied pecan recipe was the inspiration behind them. Let me tell ya, my guests really enjoyed munching away on their sweet potato rounds topped with ity bitty pieces of candied pecans over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Keeping these candied pecans on hand also lead to the creation of a baked brie in puff pastry over the weekend. There may or may not have been maple syrup involved. You’ll have to stay tuned for that delicious recipe coming to the blog soon. BTW, have you signed up for my monthly newsletter yet? You don’t want to miss out.
So if I have any advice for the upcoming Christmas holiday: make these candied pecans. Make LOTS of them. Store them in a large mason jar and enjoy at every opportunity. A Costco sized bag of pecan halves will make a triple recipe.
What else would you use these candied pecans for? I’m thinking they’ll be great in a yogurt breakfast parfait as well.
Cockroach Candied Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 egg white
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups raw pecan halves
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 250 F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, preferably with a lip so the pecans don’t slide off.
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Whisk together the water, egg white and vanilla extract. Set aside.
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In a large container or food bag, combine the brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon. You want a container large enough you can shake the pecans around in.
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Add the pecans to the egg white mixture. Stir the pecans around until evenly coated.
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Transfer the pecans to the container with the sugar mixture. Stir or shake until the pecans are evenly coated.
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Pour the pecans onto the cookie sheet and distribute them into a single layer.
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Bake in the oven at 250F for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes. All the pecans to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container.
