Sweet Spiced Pecans
These pecans with their sweet, baked-on, crispy coating will keep you coming back for more. Better make a double batch!
Servings: 3 cups
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vanilla sugar or granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 egg white
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon water
- 3 cups pecan halves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300-degrees F. Line a shallow baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together vanilla sugar, dark brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together egg white, vanilla and water until lightly frothy.
- Put pecans in a large mixing bowl. Pour egg white mixture over pecans and stir until pecans are well coated. Pour sugar mixture over pecans; stir well to completely coat pecans with sugar mixture.
- Spread pecans evenly on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stir well and redistribute pecans evenly. Bake for an additional 15 minutes; remove pan from oven. Stir pecans again and allow to cool on pan. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Do not refrigerate.
Notes
To make vanilla sugar: Split 1 vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape out caviar and add to 2 cups sugar. Using your clean hands, rub the sugar and vanilla bean caviar between your fingers until well mixed. Pour sugar in an airtight container or jar and push vanilla pod halves down into the sugar. Shake container once every day or two for a week to break up sugar and redistribute vanilla. The vanilla sugar will be ready to use in 1 week.
FYI: Used or old, dry vanilla beans can be placed in white sugar to maintain a supply of vanilla sugar. The intensity of vanilla flavor is dependent on the number of beans used per volume of sugar and also the length of time the beans have been infusing in the sugar. The vanilla flavor will increase over time.