Candied Vanilla Pecans
You know how they say you should bake fresh cookies before an open house so that your house will smell more enticing to potential buyers? I’m going to go ahead and claim that instead of cookies, you should make these Candied Vanilla Pecans. My house smelled AMAZING last night when I made these. They bake for an entire hour, so the wonderful sweet vanilla scent lingers for a good while. I honestly didn’t want to go to bed and miss any of the awesome smelling air in our place.
The pecans were still warm when I went to bed so I didn’t get to try them until today. Let me tell you, they taste better than they smell. This recipe is amazing. If you’re looking for a last minute holiday gift to make or even a snack to take to a holiday potluck, definitely give this simple recipe a shot.
One Year Ago: Toffee Pecan Cookies
Two Years Ago: Pecan Pie
Four Years Ago: Squash Bisque
Candied Vanilla Pecans
Ingredients:
4 cups (~1 lb) pecans
1 egg white
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 heaping tsp sea salt
3/4 cup vanilla sugar (If you don’t have vanilla sugar, substitute regular sugar and increase the vanilla extract to 1 tsp)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 250 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and sea salt.
In a large bowl combine the egg white, vanilla and water. Beat the egg until it’s light and frothy. Stir in the pecans and mix well. Pour in the sugar mixture and stir until all the pecans are coated.
Dump the mixture onto your large baking sheet and spread the nuts out evenly.
Bake about 1 hour making sure to stir every 15 minutes and break up any large clumps.
Cool completely on the baking sheet on a wire cooling rack.
Recipe from Miss Lemonie
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
You’re right, that IS a very festive photo! The colors of the sprinkles are so vibrant and really pop against the dark background. Looks delicious!
I made the mini ham & cheese sandwiches…and WOW! They are fantastic! Thanks for the recipe.
That frosting is really great and versatile! I am so glad you enjoyed it! Beautiful cupcakes!
They do indeed look festive.
Happy New Year!
Mmm, they look great and I love the sprinkles on top! Happy New Year!
Dorothy – so glad you enjoyed the ham and cheese sandwiches!
wow, those cupcakes look amazing. I’ve got to try that frosting, since I typically am not a huge fan of a chocolate on chocolate–this seems to be a great alternative!
I’m always up for a new frosting recipe!
So cute and super festive!
Those liners are so cool, never seen neon ones.
Ooh, I’ve never seen a buttercream frosting recipe with meringue powder before! I’ll have to try that. 🙂
These are beautiful cupcakes! I just made chocolate cupcakes today. I wish I could frost mine as well as you do.
Hi, your cupcakes look lovely. Can i check if the coffee is added ice cold or room temperature?
Jacelyn – Room temperature coffee would work just fine.
I’ve done a similar frosting with meringue powder but substitute half butter for half the shortening. Seriously, much nicer mouth-feel, and delish! Butter rules, but melts often, so half and half is a great compromise!
I love the sprinkles, AND the LINERS! I’ve been dying for a reason to buy greaseproof liners… mmmm.