I don’t know how much these cost in the mall. All I know is that last week when my friend munched on these Cinnamon Sugar Pecans that were sitting on my table she said, “You made these?? These are phenomenal! We buy these at the mall every Christmas – but you made these??!”
Ah, well. I sure do love it when my friends come over and say nice things about my food. I mean – I love it when friends honor me with their presence and I can, in turn, bless them with something tasty to eat. Well, shoot. The food and friends thing – it’s just a win-win you know?
So back to how much Cinnamon Sugar Pecans cost at the mall. I have no idea. They must cost a lot because making these at home is not the least expensive snack or gift you’ll make this Christmas. Pecans aren’t cheap. I prefer organic nuts, but the cost throws me a little bit. I’ll only make these for the occasional treat seeing as our family (along with some friends) downed almost an entire pound of these in a day and a half. Of course, this is not surprising. We are the Coppinger family after all. “Oh look at all her tall, thin boys. They must not eat as much as other teens.” {Laura passes out with laughter.}
The least I can do for us all is to provide a recipe so we can make these at home to avoid having to spend more on these specialty pecans at the mall. I’m guessing these are lower in sugar, too. You’ll love how easy these are to make. And they do make a great gift – if you can package them up before they all get eaten by your family. Christmas blessings to you on that one.
Here are some online sources I like for pecans:
- Braga Farms – I love this source. We visited their farm. They are fantastic people. I buy from them when I can.
- Amazon – These are about half the price as those above, but they aren’t organic. They are a good quality, though.
Cinnamon Sugar Pecans
- ½ cup sucanat or sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons water
- 1 pound pecan halves
- Mix sucanat, cinnamon, and salt in a gallon-sized ziploc-type bag.
- Set aside.
- Whisk egg white, vanilla, and water in a large bowl until frothy.
- Toss in pecans, coating them all with liquid.
- Pour the coated pecans into the bag with sucanat/cinnamon/salt mixture.
- Seal the bag and shake gently to coat the pecans as evenly as possible.
- Spread the coated pecans on a parchment paper or silicone mat lined cookie sheet.
- Bake in a 250° oven for 1 hour - stirring every 20 minutes.
Here’s a little look at each easy step of making these pecan snacks: whisk the egg white mixture, stir in the pecans, shake them in a bag with the sugar mixture, spread them on a pan to bake. None of this is difficult.
As a happy aside – my family enjoyed sprinkling some of these on our French toast this morning at breakfast. I’m so excited that these are now a part of our list of holiday goodies to enjoy!
I feel like I should now make a gift card to go with these pecans, just in case I can set any aside to give as gifts. Here are some pretty terrible options I came up with as to what the card should (not) say:
- Hope your Christmas is as nutty as you are!
- I think you’re nuts!
- You’re gettin’ nuttin’ for Christmas.
- Don’t open before Christmas -no pecan! (that one is truly horrible)
Please, Friends. Help me come up with a good gift card tag line. Or maybe we should just eat all of these without sharing.
At 
TakeThemAMeal.com
Laura Coppinger and her husband have four sons ages 10-18. 
Katie Kimball is on a mission to make real food and natural living possible for everyone. 
The Nourishing Home
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