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.
We’re nuts about you!
Merry Christmas
Yes! What she said!
I have been making these for years. I purchase the pecans from a group who sells various nuts for an annual fundraiser. This recipe was on the pecan bag until a few years ago. I was so glad I kept an original copy.
Now that I am aware of healthier sweetening options because of you, I am glad to keep the tradition going. I love giving homemade goodies to my friends and neighbors.
Merry Christmas!
Love spiced/candied nuts! The same process can be used to make a savory flavor profile by using spices like chili powder and salt. I’m a sweet nuts girl but my husband likes the salty kind so I usually make both. :)
I love these nuts too! I used a similar recipe the year our neighbor’s pecan tree dropped 90 pounds of pecans on our back yard. (I wish that would happen again, but the weather hasn’t cooperated.)
Do you think this recipe would work on raw, shelled pistachios? I have several bags, and I’m not sure what to do with them.
“Here’s something to squirrel away for the holidays!”
“Cinnamon, spice, and everything nice!”
“I ran out of chestnuts to roast so I had to use these instead. Merry Christmas!”
Valentine’s Day – “I’m nuts about you!”
((Because I got bored of writing and also because those sound really yummy and I might have to make some and if they’re really especially good I may mail some to my friend and tags would be awesome.))
My dad brings up gallons of (unshelled) pecans from his own trees in TX. So that’s a great deal for us! I have made these before with Almonds I ordered bulk from Azure standard, super yummy.
I have made a similar recipe (yours is definitely healthier!) with almonds. Just about any nut would work I think. Makes me wish I still lived in GA with the 3 pecan trees in the yard. I miss those free, healthy nuts.
I made this for my mom for Christmas using almonds and walnuts and it turned out great! They are nice and crunchy and didn’t get burnt like the first batch I made using another recipe. I had lots of fun making healthy real food snacks to give as gifts this year!
Yum, Making these tomorrow…..except using Walnuts instead ……love these……
Tag :
Pe-can you’ll get nuttin !!!
It’s nuttin fancy!
You’ll get nuttin… and you’ll like it!
Those were pretty funny, but I’d say just eat them all, and make cookies to share….
I make those too, but use different kind of nuts….they all are good, but my fav. is walnuts, my kids like Almonds ….so just use what ever nuts you want to use, they all are great…..
I have made them using either sour cream or yogurt…..need to find my recipe….they were delicious also…..
Cinnamon Sugar Walnuts sound so delicious! What a great idea!
-Bethany (Laura’s assistant)