Description
These easy cinnamon candied pecans require just 5 minutes of prep and a handful of ingredients. Perfect for holiday parties and gatherings, these crunchy spiced nuts are vegetarian, gluten-free, and always the first appetizer to disappear from the buffet!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar or pure cane sugar (80g)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (1.5g)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pumpkin spice (1.5g) (sub cinnamon if desired)
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (15g)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more or less to taste (1.5 to 3g)
- 1 pound pecan halves (454g) (sub walnuts, almonds, etc.)
Instructions
- Toss the pecans in the egg white-vanilla extract mixture. Preheat the oven to 250°F/120°C. Add the egg white and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the pecans and toss them until fully coated on all sides.
- Coat the pecans with sugar and spices. In a small prep bowl, add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice (if using) and stir until well blended. Add the mixture to the pecans and toss well to fully coat the nuts.
- Bake the pecans. Add the pecans to a baking sheet (with or without a silicone baking mat) and bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Give the nuts a stir, rearrange them back into a single layer, and bake for 15 more minutes before tossing them again. Continue baking for 30 more minutes tossing the nuts 2 more times at 15-minute intervals. After about 1 hour of total cooking time, the pecans should be evenly browned, crunchy, and no longer sticky. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature before storing them in a glass jar or eating them, Enjoy!
Notes
You may use half brown sugar and half granulated sugar to give the candied pecans even more caramel flavor, but you may need to increase the roasting time by a few minutes because brown sugar has more moisture in it than granulated sugar.
Substitute any nuts or seeds, adjusting baking time as needed. Peanuts take 30-45 minutes longer than pecans; pepitas take less. Bake similar items together or remove faster-cooking ones early.How to Store Candied Pecans
Store candied pecans in a sealed glass jar at room temperature for up to 1 week (or any airtight container will do). These don't last long at our house, but if you want to make them ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze them, you can (see below):
- Store them at room temperature for up to a week
- Store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks
- Store them in the freezer in a freezer bag, or other airtight container (tempered glass jars work well too) for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove them from the container and allow them to come to room temperature on a baking tray.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Nibbles + Bits
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
