Spiced Up Candied Pecans

I can't believe its been 3 weeks since I've posted something...Not the best way to begin a blog! I have been so busy with all of my holiday plans that the blog posts came to a stand still. Thankfully, I have the next 2 weeks off of work (Yay for a normal teaching schedule!) and I will have lots of time to work on my blog! =) 

Here is a quick and delicious recipe that I made yesterday and wanted to share. 

I made the mistake of buying the bulk sized bag of pecans, even though I only needed a cup and a half for my Christmas pecan pie, so I was in desperate need to use up 32 ounces worth of pecans. Thankfully, I came across a simple recipe for Candied Pecans from another blogger, Kevin & Amanda. (http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/appetizer/candied-pecans.html)

This great recipe served as such a quick and easy way to use up my extra supply of pecans! Not only that, but its was a perfect way for me to give something sweet and delicious to a neighbor of ours that is lactose intolerant. The only adjustment I made was to add a touch of Pumpkin Pie Spice that I had to jazz it up a bit.  

The only ingredients needed for this recipe are white sugar, pecans, egg whites, water, ground cinnamon, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Keep in mind, I had a giant bag of pecans so the recipe here is doubled what was suggested. I gave a lot of it away with Christmas cookies so if you are planning to make a small batch for your family, I recommend dividing the quantities in half. (See the original post from Kevin & Amanda for the recipe).

First thing, whisk white 4 egg whites and 4 tablespoons of water in a large bowl just to mix. 

Add your pecans to the egg whites & water mixture. 

 In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups white sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. 

Now add the sugar mixture to the pecans. Be sure to gently pour the mixture over the pecans and stir to assure even coverage. Almost done!

Spread the pecans onto a greased baking sheet. I didn't have any cooking spray in the house so I ended up just spreading out my pecans onto parchment lined baking sheets, which worked fine and helped me avoid any mess. The pecans need to be baked at 225 for an hour and you should toss them every 15 minutes. 

Even after they were done, the pecans were still a bit sticky so I let them sit overnight before I transferred them. The next day they were crunchy and nicely coated, ready for sharing!

I'm so glad I found such a great solution for my excess pecans and 

will definitely be making these again!

Enjoy!!