This year, we once again decided to make homemade Christmas gifts for our family and friends, and with a bumper pecan crop, pecans became one of the dominant focuses of our gifts.
You see, right in our front yard, we have a MONSTER pecan tree. The tree is taller than our two-story house. And every other year, it seems to produce an absolute ABUNDANCE of wild pecans. This year, for example, we managed to pick up more than 36 POUNDS of pecans from our front yard, and if I went out there right now, I could probably collect another 10. This tree is just epic.
So, when I decided to put together homemade gifts, it seemed obvious to make pecans the focus. The first recipe I tried involved honey roasted pecans.
Ingredients:
- About 2 lbs of Pecans – shelled and halved
- 1 cup honey, warmed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp cayenne powder
Directions:
- Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes on a silicon or parchment lined baking sheet.
- Microwave the honey for 30 seconds, until it is very thin.
- Pour pecans into a large mixing bowl and combine with honey. Stir until well-coated. Return pecans to baking sheet and spread into a single layer. Return to oven for about 8 minutes.
- Combine all remaining ingredients into a small bowl and mix together. As soon as pecans come out of the oven, spoon the spice mixture over them liberally.
- Let cool, then remove from baking sheet and package up.
Seriously, it’s that easy – less than 15 minutes total time, and people love them. I’ve gotten so many compliments on these.
The second recipe I made was just a tad more difficult; for this I made New Orleans style pecan pralines. The secret to making pralines is that you must get your sugar mixture hot enough, so you’ll want to have a candy thermometer on-hand.
I used this recipe, from FrenchQuarter.com, for my batch. Another tip is not to double the recipe – simply make them in batches if you need a lot. Because you have to work fast to “drop” your pralines before they cool, you can’t be working with too much volume.
These were another hit, and the total cooking time on these, even doing 3 separate batches, was less than an hour. Happy pecan picking, and let me know your favorite pecan recipes in the comments!
