Honey Roasted Pecans

Honey roasted pecans are so easy to make that everyone should give it a try. The sweet simplicity of this recipe seems almost magical. A great snack option for the person on the go. They store and travel well and are a healthy addition to your diet – when consumed in moderation. Being a beekeeper, I especially enjoy the natural goodness of raw honey whenever possible. The light honey glaze on these toasted nuts adds just enough sweetness.

Of course, this is just one of many easy honey recipes you can try. Foods made with honey are not only sweet treats but a wholesome addition to your diet.

How to Make Honey Roasted Pecans

One of the key points of making this honey roasted pecan recipe is to avoid soaking the pecans in liquid. You want to enhance the pecan flavor – not drown it in a sugar coating. Toasting them briefly in the oven helps bring out the natural flavor too.

Why pecans? Unless you have a nut allergy, pecans are a good snack choice. They are full of important vitamins and minerals. Potassium, calcium. folic acid and magnesium to name a few. They also have a good amount of fiber per serving.

Ingredients Needed

• pecans
• honey
• brown sugar

Pecans

This recipe for honey toasted pecans uses halves. You certainly can use pieces of raw pecans instead. But the cook time may be different – I would check them sooner. Make sure they are properly hulled and all of the hard bits of shell removed.

Honey

I enjoy using raw honey but you can choose any of the varieties or types of honey you prefer. Regular honey is usually sold as wildflower. It is made from the nectar of millions of blooming plants.

You may choose a variety flavor of honey instead. Some examples are: orange blossom, tupelo, sourwood etc. Avoid dark honey that can have a bold flavor as it may over-power the pecan flavor. Clover honey is common and it works well in this recipe too.

Always, keep a small jar of honey in the pantry. You will find many ways to use honey and it never goes bad.

Brown Sugar

You only need a small amount of brown sugar. It is possible to omit this step if you wish – but it makes for a nicer finished product.

Putting it All Together

1. To start – line a baking sheet or two with some parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. This really makes the whole process easier. While the oven is preheating to 300° F, combine the honey and pecans. Stir gently but well to disperse the honey.

2. This is the most time consuming part of making honey roasted pecans in my opinion. Arrange the halves (or pieces) in a single layer on the parchment paper. I try to have them not touching but if they do touch a little – that’s okay.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them after the 10 minute mark – everyone’s oven may heat differently. You should smell a nice nut fragrance but no scorching.

3. Remove pan of pecans from oven and let cool on the counter for a minute or two. Then, add a light sprinkle of brown sugar over the surface.

You might be tempted to omit this step to reduce the calorie count – but I urge you to do it. The purpose of the brown sugar is not to make the nuts sweeter. Instead, it helps cut down on some of the stickiness that honey coated nuts can have.

4. After about 5 minutes, remove the paper from the nuts. Just dump or pour them in the pan and stir gently with a fork to break them apart from each other. Now, let cool for a full 10 minutes.

Storage

Your honey roasted pecans (also called “caramelized pecans) will store well on the counter for up to a week. It is important that they be in an airtight container. They can also be frozen for up to and stored for several months.

Expert Tips

In this recipe, I use pecan halves. If you use pieces, you may need to vary the amount of honey used (average of 1 tablespoon of honey per cup of pecans). The cook time might also be a bit shorter with pieces instead of halves.

Unless you are in a very cold environment, there is no need to heat your raw honey before adding it to the pecans. Because honey is thicker at cold room temperature, you can warm it a bit if you wish to make it spread easily.

To reduce stickiness in the final product, be sure to use a small amount of brown sugar. They also work up better for me on a day with the humidity is not high.

They are delicious but don’t eat too many at one time or you will have a tummy ache.

How to Use Them

One of the best ways to enjoy pecans toasted in honey is by the handful. However, while they make a yummy honey snack on their own – they can be used in other ways.

• sprinkle them on oatmeal
• use as a topping for a salad
• add them to ice cream

Variations

The beauty of this recipe is the simplicity. You don’t need a cabinet full of special ingredients to put them together. However, you can make changes to the ingredients to vary the flavor. The same recipe works for walnuts.

Adding powdered cinnamon to the honey before coating the nuts is one method. Or, you might sprinkle some cinnamon, sea salt or even hot pepper flakes on the them during the cooling phase.

Honey is often overlooked in recipes. As long as you remember, yes it is a sugar and does have calories, you can make it a wonderful addition to your daily diet.

More Ideas

A dependable ingredient to keep in the pantry, honey never spoils or goes bad. Even commercial bakers know that baking with honey ads moisture and prevents dryness in their creations.

Main dishes like Honey Mustard Pork Chops taste great with the addition of a little bit of honey. It helps balance the tang and sweet flavors.

For special snack occasions, consider making a batch of delicious Honey Joeys. Using cornflakes as the base, they are light but sweet and inexpensive to make.

For a Fall party, freshly harvested apples can be used to make Honey Caramel Apples. Make them whole in the traditional manner or pour the honey caramel sauce over sliced apples.

Did you know you can use honey as a glaze for dehydration? I love these Dehydrated Pineapple Slices – sliced thin and dried to a chewy leather consistency or crispy.

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