Southern Candied Pecans

These Southern Candied Pecans bring such holiday nostalgia and are a staple every single year. 

You see, ever since I can remember my Lil’ MawMaw (the same grandmother who made all these Santas) had an array of pecans at all her holiday gatherings.

Sidenote: When I was a child I had one grandmother who was heavy set, and one that was a tiny little thing. I differentiated them by calling one Lil’ MawMaw and one Big MawMaw. It stuck, and fortunately my great-grandmother didn’t mind being called “Big”.  The grandchildren after me also learned to call my mom’s mother our “Lil’ MawMaw”.

At my Lil’ MawMaw’s there were spicy pecans. Sugared pecans. Cinnamon pecans. And some secret pecans that I swear I think she said were made with a pudding mix.

Long story short, she had an entire serving platter of nothing but flavored pecans!

And then, in your gift bag you’d get your own take home goodie bags of, you guessed it, pecans.

If you’re thinking to yourself how expensive pecans are….she has 2 pecan trees in her backyard. When the pecans begin to drop, she literally goes out there daily to scoop them up. There’s a shelling facility in her town where she brings them to get cracked.

Recently, I decided to try to recreate the cinnamon sugared pecans.

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Southern Candied Pecans

Yield: 2 1/2 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

The perfect treat for holiday gift-giving. Bet you can't eat just one!

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Ingredients

• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups shelled pecan halves

Instructions

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine evaporated milk, sugar, water and vanilla.
Heat mixture until sugar is dissolved- stirring often.
Whisk in cinnamon.
Add the pecans, stirring until completely covered.
Continue stirring until pecans become well coated and mixture begins crystallizing to the pecans- about 3 minutes.
Spread the covered pecans on wax paper, separating as you lay them out. Allow the pecans to cool completely. Break apart pecans and store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.

 

3.5.3226

We’re calling them Southern Candied Pecans.

They are super delicious and crazy addictive.

I always like having readily available homemade gifts around the holidays. Most of my neighbors are retired and you never know when the doorbell will ring, and you will find a box of divinity, bourbon balls, or a fresh-baked bread loaf just waiting for you.

And you know when someone gives you something and you wish you had their recipe and knew how they made it?

Situation solved.

I made a fancy little recipe card to attach to my Southern Candied Pecans.

And when I say “fancy”, I’m actually being sarcastic because I’m the farthest thing from being graphically inclined… but I did this all by myself.

Southern Candied Pecans Recipe Card

All. By. Myself I tell you!

And I left the area blank so you can download and write your name into the From the Kitchen of section.

Enjoy the pah-kahns!