Candied Pecans

These sweet and crunchy pecans make great salad toppers and snacks.

I need to have something crunchy in my salads.  Maybe I'm weird, but it is a must for me, I crave crunchy.  My husband says crunchy is my favorite texture.  When ever I make salads I always prefer to add something crunchy to them, sometimes this is croutons, but lately it has been pecans.

I always keep a bag of raw pecan halves in my pantry and just adding a hand full to my salads satisfies my crunch fetish.  Recently I came across a blog (I wish I saved the link so I could give them credit for this fabulous idea) that posted a recipe of candied pecans.  It was so simple I had to try it.  All you do is toss the pecans in maple syrup and bake them.  The first time I made these I started snacking on them right out of the oven and almost did not have any left for my salad.  Now I make a bigger batch and store them in a zipper bag in my pantry for whenever I need something crunchy.

Ingredients:

1 cup pecans
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar

In a large bowl toss the pecans with the maple syrup until they are coated.  Then add the brown sugar and toss until evenly coated.  Spread onto a lined cookie sheet and bake at 250F for about 30 minutes (checking half way through) until dried and crispy.

You can bake these at a higher temperature for a shorter time, but I end up accidentally burning them so I'd rather be safe and do it low and slow.


Add the pecans to salads, oatmeal, yogurt or eat alone.  You can use more of less sugar depending on your taste.

Enjoy.

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