I love having these maple glazed pecans on hand for salads! They are so simple and quick to make that it seems silly to buy those little packets of glazed salad pecans at the store. Ten minutes and three ingredients and I have a nice container of candied pecans in my pantry just waiting for me to make a salad for dinner.
Hello, all!
Several years ago I was experimenting with different glazed and spiced nuts recipes, trying to find the best and easiest ones. That’s when I first started making my Sweet and Spicy Pecans (so good for holiday snacking!) and when I decided to try for a quick and LIGHT glaze on nuts for my salads.
Too many candied pecan recipes had me feeling like I needed a chisel to get through the coating. And they seemed more about the coating than the nuts.
Which just seemed nuts to me! š
Oooh. Sorry for the bad joke. I think my husband’s sense of humor is rubbing off on me. That is totally one of his jokes. You’ll see more of his humor here when I do the pear cocktail I have coming up. The man can never resist a pear pun.
Anyway, back to the maple glazed pecans. What I love about this recipe, other than how easy it is to make, is that it’s so light! It’s the hint of a glaze, but one which completely transforms the nuts from ordinary to addictively tasty. They’re not sticky. They’re not overly sweet. And no chisel needed!
No chisel and three ingredients. It doesn’t get better than that.
Since I was working on making salad pecans, I started by chopping them up, though you could totally keep them whole for salads or have them as snacks! But, once I chopped them, then what?
First step I decided on was to toast them, because you can never go wrong with toasting nuts in a recipe. That already transforms them for the better, even without the glaze.
Then, I tossed them with butter. Salted butter, to keep it easy, but add a couple of pinches of kosher salt to the butter if you don’t have salted on hand.
And, last, I wanted a sweetener with flavor. For me that means maple syrup or honey. Honey seemed too thick, so maple syrup it was! A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a bit of stirring, and I had pecans I loved.
Stay tuned for my Pecan, Blue Cheese and Apple Salad coming next. It’s really the perfect salad for these candied pecans.
If you try my recipe for Maple Glazed Pecans, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And Iām happy to answer any questions you might have.
– Happy Eating, Annemarie
Simple Maple Glazed Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 1/2 tbsp salted butter, or coconut oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Spread out the pecans on a baking sheet and bake the pecans for 5 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
- Melt the butter (or coconut oil) in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add the pecans and cook, stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes, or until the pecans are shiny. Then add the maple syrup and cook, stirring frequently, until the syrup is absorbed into the nuts, another 2-3 minutes.
- Lightly coat the baking sheet with a little oil. Turn out the pecans onto the baking sheet, breaking up any clumps. Allow the nuts to cool to room temperature. Use immediately or transfer to a sealed container and store for 2-3 weeks.
Notes
- Pecans for snacking: If you want these pecans as a snack rather than a salad topping, skip the chopping step and leave them whole.
- Butter: You can use unsalted butter instead of the salted butter. Just a add a pinch or two of kosher salt in when you are melting the butter.
- Variation: For a thicker coating, add one more tablespoon of maple syrup (for 3 tbsp total). The nuts will be a little sticky and have a more intense maple flavor.
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