I often give these spicy glazed pecans away as gifts or send them in care packages. When you purchase these ready-made in the store, they always seem to be lathered in a sugar crust which is too much sugar for me! I prefer these eye-appealing shiny and smooth spicy glazed pecans that gives a "snap" when you bite into it. I recently made some with fresh-chopped rosemary. My care package recipient noticed the hint of the aromatic "spice" which made it different. Definitely a good and interesting addition to the regular spicy glazed pecans. Let me know what you think in the comment section!
Tips:
The key to successful glazed pecans is getting the correct sugar temperature. See Candy Making for all the stages of sugar. Unless you like the crumbly sugar coating which results from not cooking your sugar long enough, you need to cook your sugar to a soft-hard ball stage before adding your pecans. The additional heat in the oven allows the sugar to then reach the hard ball stage which results in the shiny glaze without your pecans and sugar burning.
If you are heating your sugar without a candy thermometer, a word of caution...sugar does burn and the smell is acrid! So, when do you know when the sugar is ready if you don't have a thermometer? When sugar is melted, it will be opaque. Keep stirring, especially the sides as crystals will start to form on saucepan edge.
After a while, you will notice that the sugar will start to appear somewhat translucent and bubble more.
The glaze will appear more translucent and start bubbling
The glaze has reached the correct temperature when you see many bubbles. Remove from heat immediately to avoid burning!
Add pecans to syrup. Stir until well coated. Pecans will stick together. That's OK.
I highly recommend lining your baking trays with parchment paper when making these pecans. (See Helpful Tools) I find using the paper easier to handle than the silicone pad. (I have not tried using foil though.) You can immediately slip the nuts off of the baking tray onto the cold surface to stop the cooking process as nuts tend to burn easily, even when just sitting on the hot tray.
Divide pecans onto 2 baking trays, covered with parchment paper. DO NOT try to place them all on one tray as the syrup will spread.
Separate pecans after a few minutes in the oven.
The excess glaze at the bottom of the tray will harden and fall away when the pecans are removed from the tray and shaken in a bowl.
Cooled pecans. Excess syrup will separate by shaking pecans in a bowl.
Enjoy these morsels of scrumptiousness and try not to overeat!
SPICY GLAZED PECANS with rosemary
Equipment
- 2 Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- 200 grams sugar
- 4 Tbsp water
- 2 tsp salt
- ¾ - 1 tsp cayenne chili powder
- 400 grams pecan halves
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° fahrenheit
- Place parchment paper onto 2 cookie sheets
- Combine sugar, water, salt and chili powder in a heavy bottom saucepan
- Stir over medium heat until sugar changes from opaque to somewhat translucent. Candy thermometer should read approximately 250° or soft-hard ball sugar phase
- Add pecans to coat with glaze
- Transfer to cookie sheets with parchment paper and separate as many as possible
- Bake for 7 minutes. This allows the glaze to melt more so it is easier to separate
- Separate the pecans so that do not touch each other
- Bake for an additional 6 minutes or when pecans start to toast
- Remove from oven, place entire parchment sheet with pecans onto a cold surface to cool
- Add the finely chopped rosemary
- Cool completely
- Separate the pecans and store in an airtight container.