Toasted Candied Pecans

Candied pecans with a crunch; a hard candy coating rather than a chewy caramel or sugared praline coating. Perfect sprinkled over ice cream or as a sweet crunchy topping for salads.

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Pecans, Snack, Sweet

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 cup whole pecans
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp Kosher salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp water

Instructions

Toast pecans in a skillet, tossing with a spatula or wooden spoon, until fragrant and just toasted but not too brown or blackened. Set aside.
In a medium or large saucepan, combine sugar, salt, cinnamon and water. Cook over medium heat for a minute or two, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is really bubbling.
Check the temperature of sugar mixture with a candy thermometer. It should read 300° in order to achieve a crackle coating on the pecans. If the temperature is too low you will have chewy, sticky pecans. (See notes below.)
Add the toasted pecans and cook for an additional 3 minutes, stirring to coat the pecans in the glaze.
Remove from the heat, and spread the pecans out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let the pecans cool completely.
Break apart, and enjoy.
Try adding a dash of cayenne to the sugar mixture or combine different spices, like cardamom, nutmeg or cloves. It's a very adaptable recipe and can easily be doubled to make larger batches.
Toasted candied pecans can be stored in an airtight jar for about one week. A quick and easy foodie gift to take to a host or give for the holidays.

Notes

Hard Crack:

The hard-crack stage is the highest temperature you are likely to see specified in a candy recipe. At these temperatures, there is almost no water left in the syrup. Syrup dropped into ice water will separate into hard, brittle threads that break when bent.

Hard-Crack Stage
300° F–310° F
/148° C–154° C
sugar concentration: 99%

https://www.craftybaking.com/howto/candy-sugar-syrup-temperature-chart