Christmas Gift Idea: Candied Pecans

 I don't know about you, but I'm not much of a Martha Stewart. Every year I have visions of making beautiful Christmas cookies and treats for friends and family, but when it comes down to it, the thought of the time it takes to make it, bake it, decorate it, and clean up afterward makes me tired. I also have a tiny kitchen so there's not much counter space. Last year I discovered a recipe for candied pecans, and I have started giving them as gifts. They are SO easy to make, and they are yummy!

 Here's what you need: 2 egg whites, 2 tablespoons of water, 2 cap fulls of vanilla, 5 cups of pecans, a mix of sugar, cinnamon and salt. (mostly sugar, a little cinnamon and a pinch of salt.)

Directions: Beat 2 egg whites, 2 tablespoons of water and 2 cap fulls of vanilla in a large bowl. Just beat until it's a little bit foamy. Add 5 cups of pecans to the mix and stir until all the pecans are coated. The original recipe I found didn't include vanilla and it only called for 2 cups of pecans, but I discovered that the mixture could cover a lot more pecans. After the pecans are coated, sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon/salt mixture until, again, all the pecans are coated. The original recipe called for a 1 cup mixture, but I'll be honest, I don't measure, I just sprinkle until the pecans look good and covered. 

After you mixed it all, heat the oven to 225 and put it all on a baking tray (use cooking spray!). DO NOT put them on tin foil. This is probably common knowledge, but I made a batch and the tin foil stuck to them so we couldn't eat them :( Try to spread the pecans out at much as you can so that they are not on top of one another so that they can bake better. Bake the pecans for 1 hour and stir them every 15 minutes. If you don't bake them long enough they will end up being more chewy than crunchy.

The final step is to put a layer of wax paper in a cute goodie box and fill it up! I got these at Target and Michael's Crafts. Cute, easy, and delicious Christmas Presents!

We're headed off to Christmas gathering number 5 and hopefully we will get our Christmas shopping done! 

Oh how I love Christmas!

Happy Monday :)