We love pecans. Pecans are part of every holiday meal around here, we use them in desserts and even side dishes like Sweet Potato Casserole. Just plain pecans fresh out of the shell are soooo good. Hopefully they were gathered from one's own yard but a gift from a neighbor or relative is awesome too.
This recipe takes those marvelous pecans, coats them in a yummy sugar and cinnamon mixture, and slow cooks it into a crunchy delicious snack.
This is a slow cooker recipe but its not one you can get going and then leave unattended. It must be stirred every 20 minutes or so.
So this is what you do.
Assemble ingredients
Mix sugars, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl
Mix vanilla and egg white and beat with wisk till frothy.
Add pecans to this mixture and toss till all are coated
Cook all for 3-4 hours on low stirring every 20 minutes or so.
Add 1/4 cup water about one hour before done. Mix very well leaving no dry spots. Make sure mixture cooks with the water for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This is what makes it crunchy!
Spoon mixture onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
Separate nuts in mixture so there are no large lumps.
Let cool and enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 C. Sugar
- 1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar
- 3 Tbsp. Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. Salt
- 1 Egg White
- 2 tsp. Vanilla
- 3 Cups Pecans
- 1/4 C. Water
Instructions:
In a large bowl, mix together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white and vanilla until it’s a little frothy and then add pecans. Make sure the pecans are thoroughly coated in the egg white mixture. Add the coated pecans to the sugar mixture and toss until coated.
Coat the inside of your crock with Non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter (I prefer the butter) Pour the pecans with the sugar mixture into the crock pot, cover and set to low. I used my smaller crock pot.
Stir every 20 minutes or so and continue cooking on low for 3-4 hours. Keep the lid on. An hour before done add the 1/4 cup water and stir very well trying not to leave any dry spots. This will help create the crunchy coating. Be sure to cook an additional 45 minutes to an hour after adding water.
You will find that you need to stir really well as the cooking progresses.
Line two sheets with parchment and spread the pecans flat to cool. Separate them a little and make sure you don't have any large clumps, they will be sticky at this point. Let them cool.
Result....beautiful, crunchy, sugary, dark brown coated pecans. Works great with other nuts too!
ENJOY!
Store in an airtight container.