An easy recipe for toasted pecans with a crunchy cinnamon “sugar” coating. They require almost no effort to make & are perfect for healthy snacking!
In middle school, my best friend’s mom and grandmother hosted a New Year’s Eve slumber party for a few of us close girlfriends at their house across town. Since I practically lived over there (I even called her grandma “Nana” and little sister “Sissy!”), I arrived early in the afternoon and helped out with the last-minute party preparations.
Her mother loved to entertain, so she always bought plenty of festive decorations and accessories from Party City, like “Happy New Year!” banners, themed paper plates and napkins, sparkly tiaras, gold and silver beaded necklaces… And enough colorful silly string and loud party poppers for nearly twenty people to celebrate at midnight, even though there were only six of us girls!
While we counted down the hours, we usually watched a chick flick or two and played card games while nibbling on the appetizers and snacks my friend’s mom set out on the kitchen counter. She supplied us with plenty of food: cheese cubes, crackers, Chex Mix, Goldfish, chips and salsa, a huge hand-sliced crudités platter with dip, and a batch of her famous slow cooker cocktail “smokies.” She always left many bottles of sparkling apple cider in the fridge, too!
Since we all enjoyed our sweets, she also gave us lots of desserts and candy. Chewy chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, fudgy brownies… The mini-sized Reese’s, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Twix, Hershey’s kisses… And so many Tootsie Rolls. Those were Nana’s favorite, so my friend’s mom always bought the biggest bag she could find since Nana snuck so many from the bowl!
Although I still have a huge sweet tooth and would happily polish off all of those desserts and candies, I don’t want to tempt fate and earn myself a stomachache this New Year’s Eve… So I’ll be making a batch of these easy 5 Minute Candied Pecans to snack on instead! They’re sweet and crunchy, and according to one of my childhood friends, their cozy cinnamon flavor makes them taste just like pecan pie!
Continue reading & see the recipe! ›› 5-Minute Candied Pecans
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
COOKBOOK UPDATE: My new cookbook “Healthier Chocolate Treats” is now available here on Amazon! If you see a “Temporarily Out of Stock” message, don’t worry! My publisher has reassured me that they have more than enough cookbooks in their warehouse, so that message on Amazon should disappear soon. If you place your order using “Amazon.com” as the seller, it will go through and be shipped to you!