Nuts About Candied Black Pepper Pecans

Candied Black Pepper Pecans are so easy to make.  Just 4 ingredients and you have a quick, easy, sweet snack similar to peanut brittle that is great in so many different ways:

1. alone as a snack
2. crumbled over vanilla ice cream for dessert
3. sprinkled on a salad as a sweet, crunchy surprise

I keep bags of nuts in my freezer.  They last for an extremely long time in the freezer and you don’t have to worry about them turning rancid before you use them.  I’ve never really researched the “use by date” for freezing nuts, because we eat nuts all the time, but I’m sure we use them up in plenty of time.  Nonetheless, I keep them in the freezer all the time and take them out as needed for baking, cooking and tossing in salads.

I buy the large 2 or 3 pound bags (depends on the type of nut as to the size of the package) from our local big box store so that I always have various nuts on hand for recipes.  If you have the freezer space, this is a good alternative to buying the small, pricey packages available in your grocery store.  And, if you make your own candied nuts for recipes instead of buying the pre-made versions in the grocery store, you are sure to save a little money!  Plus, you know what’s in your candied nuts and don’t have to worry about preservatives or other mysterious ingredients.

Here’s what you do:

Toast pecans in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring frequently.  Do not leave unattended as they will easily burn and you’ll have to start over!

Pour toasted pecans into a bowl to cool and set aside.

In a non-stick frying pan, melt butter over medium heat.

Add brown sugar.

Stir brown sugar and butter to combine, mixing well.

Continue to stir brown sugar and butter and bring to a soft boil over medium heat.

Mixture will turn caramel-colored and thicken.  Stir constantly.

Add ground black pepper to brown sugar caramel mixture, stirring constantly.

Add pecans all at once to brown sugar caramel mixture and stir quickly to combine.

Remove from heat and spread pecans on wax paper to cool.  At this point, if you want your pecans to be more individualized clusters, separate into smaller clumps using a fork or spoon (remember:  they are hot!).  Otherwise, mixture will cool like peanut brittle and you will need to break into pieces.

Here’s the recipe:

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Tootles,

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(other sweet recipes)

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• Christmas Caramel Apples
• Crazy Chocolate Cake
• Fresh Strawberry Pie
• Gail’s Potato Chip Cookies
• Peach Pineapple Dump Cake
• Rosa’s Caramel Flan
• Vanessa’s Pavlova