Day 11 - Mapled nuts
So, I think you can probably do these with any nuts, but in our house, we are a fan of mapled pecans. This adventure in sweetening nuts began a while ago when they started showing up at fancy grocery stores and on fancy salads at fancy prices. Youll find lots of "seasoned" nut recipes on the internet, so search away. Since, I try to simplify things these days, my version of sweetened nuts go like this.
Good quality maple syrup - at least 1/2 cup
2 cups of pecans, whole pieces
pinch of salt
- Toast pecans in oven at 350C for about 10 minutes, watch so they don't burn.
- Pour maple syrup over the nuts to coat. You don't what to be chintzy here. You will see a pool of syrup on your tray.
- Bake in over for 10 minutes or until the syrup starts to bubble.
- Using a spatula, turn the nuts and return to the over for another 5-10 minutes. If you have to do something else, turn off the oven and you can leave the nuts in there.
- Let nuts cool and then crack them apart. When cooled, they should be brittle. The nuts will have stuck together but once they are cooled, you can crack them apart if you just want one or two. If they are not sweet enough or crunchy enough, just pour another 1/4 syrup and return to over again.
I store the nuts in the freezer to keep fresh and also so that they don't get eaten too quickly. These nuts are great plain as a snack or on a salad or however you want. I've also given them as hostess gifts.
I have found that you will get a different flavour with different grades of maple syrup and when you use different amounts of syrup. Again, no need to overdo it, but don't underdo it.
Enjoy!
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