toasty pecans with sweet and savory spice

Toasty Pecans with Sweet and Savory Spice
Makes about 2 cups

Inspired by The Kitchn

2 cups (8 ounces or 227 grams) raw pecan halves
3 tablespoons (42 grams) butter, melted
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard powder
tabasco to taste (I used about 6 dashes)

For the final toss:
1 teaspoon of sugar

Preheat oven to 300 and line a rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil.

In a medium bowl stir together the melted butter, sugar, worcestershire, salt, cinnamon, espresso powder, cayenne, and ground mustard until combined. Add the pecans and use a spatula to toss them until the nuts are all evenly coated in the spiced butter mixture.

Bake at 300 for 25 minutes, stirring several times as they cook, then increase the heat to 375 and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until toasty but keep a close eye on them and be careful not to let them burn. Transfer nuts to a medium bowl and toss with the additional teaspoon of sugar.

Serve warm or transfer to an airtight container for several weeks.

Note: The amount of spice listed in this recipe will yield a final pecan that one friend said tastes like “a pecan with spice, not an overload of spice that happens to be the coating on a pecan”. This, I love, as I prefer the pecan flavor to shine whilst enjoying a cocktail side-by-side with said snack. However if you tend to gravitate towards things on the crazier side and like to go nuts* then I would double the amount of dry spices – minus salt – that go into the mix (i.e. double the sugar, cinnamon, espresso powder, cayenne and mustard) as listed above.

*Pardon the pun but I couldn’t resist.