The first time I made these pecans was for a holiday party. Making them was the type of thing that I knew I probably shouldn’t pursue – after all, I had an ambitious menu to execute, and no one was going to notice whether or not I provided artisanal spiced nuts in bowls carefully placed throughout the room. And yet, I was unable to talk myself out of doing it, justifying to myself that the recipe said I could make them two weeks in advance, and well before the party panic would have fully set in. This was not the first time, or I’m sure the last, that I’ve taken on too much completely unnecessarily, but this is one case where I’m so glad I did. Because these pecans, you guys, are…wait for it…NUTS.
These nuts are a little bit of everything. They’re rich and buttery. Sweet and caramelized. Savory. Spicy. In every bite your mouth goes through a several-step process of recognizing the different spices and reacting. They’re also completely addictive – they might have a two-week shelf life, but good luck keeping them for that long.
This is also a snack that I’m not sure could be easier to make. All you need are the right spices (and frankly I think you can be flexible here, too – if you aren’t into spicy, cut back on the cayenne, etc.), some butter and honey, and an oven. Done. They take no time at all, and the sum is a lot bigger than the parts. 1+1 is, in this case, about 25.
I made these a second time around last weekend, because I really wasn’t expecting to have my mind blown by spiced nuts the first time around (also my stress level was high) and I didn’t take any photos. Even knowing the result this time did not prepare me for JUST HOW GOOD the nuts were, and I found myself snacking on them often. Very often. And then a beautiful idea dawned on me, an idea that I felt the need to put into practice immediately, an idea I just knew would be perfect, and true, and also dangerous. Because the idea was vanilla ice cream.
And…I was right. It was actually a more perfect pairing than I thought. Growing up, my mom always loved butter pecan ice cream, but as a child you’re very focused on flavors that contain actual-cookie-sized pieces of cookie dough, or are colored bright mint green. Nuts are not adequate ice cream treasures, and so butter pecan is too sophisticated for children. But as I’ve grown up, I’ve started to do things of my childhood nightmares, like buy kohlrabi voluntarily – and I’ve also come to love butter pecan ice cream. Well, ladies and gentlemen, vanilla ice cream scattered with spiced pecans is like butter pecan on amphetamines. The ice cream is the perfect antidote to the spice, zing and heat. The nuts bring out the richness and vanilla flavor of the ice cream. It is, in short, perfection and one of my greatest culinary creations to date. Takes a bow.
While the spice profile in these nuts definitely makes them suitable for your Christmas table (here’s to next year!), their winning partnership with vanilla ice cream makes them extremely seasonably appropriate, at least for the 70 degree weather we in NYC are experiencing right now. And with that…I’ll leave you to get cracking on these nuts.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon honey, sorghum or cane syrup
- 3 cups shelled raw pecan halves (about 1 lb.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250° F.
- Combine the spices, salt, and sugar in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Set aside 1 teaspoon of the blended mixture.
- Melt the butter slowly over low heat in a small saucepan. After the foam subsides, turn off the heat and skim the white milk solids from the butter. Whisk the spice mixture into the butter in a slow stream. Whisk the honey into the spiced butter in a slow stream.
- Put the pecans in a medium mixing bowl and pour the warm spiced syrup mixture over them. Toss the mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Spread the pecans evenly on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake on the top rack for 45 minutes. The syrup should look dry (it will still be slightly sticky) and the pecans will have darkened to the color of mahogany. Remove the sheet from the oven and sprinkle the reserved 1 teaspoon spice mixture over the pecans.
- Serve the nuts as soon as they have cooled, or store them. Stored in an airtight container, roasted pecans will keep two weeks.
Notes
https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2017/02/28/spiced-pecans/
