If you want to hallucinate over the smell of warm nuts and sugar in your house, this is your best bet. I love making these at home for many reasons. One, buying sugared or candied pecans is expensive for what you get. Two, they aren't warm when you buy them (typically). And three, the recipe is simple. This recipe is also eggless, so for those who can't have eggs, that's another win.
It's just smart to keep these on hand when going into autumn and winter holidays. You can whip up a quick dessert by crumbling them over ice cream or gelato. You can eat them with your yogurt at breakfast or add them to pancakes, French toast, waffles, etc. You can eat them plain some chunks of chocolate. You can add them to muffins or cakes or cookies. You get the idea. Plus, I will never get over the heavenly smell of them baking. (Selling a house? Bake up a batch before the open house- trust me.)
"Need more than 1 cup's worth? Double, triple, or quadruple the recipe below. Cinchy."
Notes: Brown sugar is light brown.
SUGARED PECANS
Ingredients: 1 generous cup whole pecans (about 5 oz.), 1 tbsp. butter, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, pinch of salt, pinch of cayenne pepper (opt.)
1. Preheat oven to 350* and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Melt the butter and vanilla in a non-stick skillet pan over medium heat. When butter is foaming, tip in the pecans. Cook for 5 minutes. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, fork together the cinnamon, cayenne and brown sugar. Add the pecans and fold to coat.
4. Tumble the pecans and any remaining sugar onto the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Store in an air-tight container up to 2 weeks.