Today I spent the better part of my afternoon not watching the Steeler game. Instead, I got it into my mind that I wanted to create a variation to the chocolate chip cookie recipe that I posted awhile back. I happened to be flipping through Ready for Dessert (the best dessert book ever, by the way, and I'm not biased) and David suggests replacing the regular pecans or walnuts in his cookie recipe with a version of what he calls "candy" pecans.
This very short and very EASY (do you read that people, this is EASY) recipe was found in the candy section of the book. I wondered why at first. Now I know. There's no eating just one of those babies. You're supposed to use four cups of pecans to make this treat, but I only had two (thank God for that because I needed those two cups for the cookies). So I just halved the recipe.
Believe you me. It takes four minutes to toss the stuff together and thirty minutes to bake. Then you have to cool them. If you are in any way a nut lover, trust me, you need to make these.
They are perfectly, sweet, spicy, crunchy and just a teeny bit hot. The flavors come together amazingly well in this thick, caramel like sauce that you toss your pecans with. I suppose you can use other types of nuts. I prefer walnuts.
As I'm writing this, I actually only have one cup left. Shame on me. I guess those cookies will have to wait!
Spiced Candied Pecans
adapted just slightly from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz
1 large egg white
1/2 cup of PACKED light brown sugar (do pack it)
2 Tbs ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cayenne or pure chile powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups pecan halves
Preheat the oven to 300 F.
Spray the baking sheet you will be using with nonstick cooking spray or oil it just slightly
In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, only 10 seconds or so
Toss in the rest of the ingredients, adding the nuts last
Coat the nuts well
Distribute nuts on your baking sheet and bake until the nuts are toasted, about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 to prevent sticking
Let cool, separating the pecans as they cool.
My notes:
I used walnuts, not pecans
In the deep recesses of what is the cave of spices in my kitchen, I found both chile and cayenne powders (thank God I have a use for the cayenne now!), so I tried both. I prefer the cayenne world's over! It gives the nuts a bigger punch, in my opinion.
Use real vanilla. I tried both real and imitation and there was a huge difference.
Lastly, these are so easy, it's NUTS. (Haha. I had to say it)
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