When I got together with my spouse more than 30 years ago, I was adopted into his very large extended family. After his mother passed away, we would go to his older sister’s in Kansas City, Missouri, for Christmas. She had a very large family with lots of kids and grandkids so I ended up with lots of nieces, nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
Buying gifts for everyone was out of the question on my meager journalism salary, so I decided that I would bake some holiday treats and give them to everyone as Christmas gifts. Thankfully, I found a very easy and tasty recipe from the Container Store for Sweet Spiced Pecans and bought cute mini Chinese takeout boxes from the store to package the tasty treats for gifts. It was the first homemade holiday treat I made from the oven and I’ve been hooked ever since.
One year for a Lunar New Year party, I substituted the regular spices with Chinese five-spiced powder with great success. We either called them Peking Pecans or Nanjing Nuts.
Try the recipe and I guarantee you that your family will be begging you for them every year. Make lots because they disappear fast. They’re also great as a cocktail nibble or sprinkled on ice cream or salads, too!
Merry Christmas!
Sweet Spiced Pecans (Adapted from a Container Store recipe)
Ingredients
Makes 2½ cups
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups pecans
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Beat together the egg white and water until frothy. Beat in the sugar, spices and salt and let stand until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the nuts and mix well. (I always push the amount of pecans up by gradually adding more as long as they’re still being coated.) Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet or pan and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool, then break up and store in an air-tight container.