Candied Pecans with Dried Cranberries

Candied nuts are a wonderful sweet treat any time of the year! I enjoy eating them straight off the baking sheet but they are equally delicious on baked goods or even fresh mixed green salads. A simple salad of mixed greens, blue cheese and French vinaigrette begs for the sweet crunchy candied pecan. When baking, candied pecans can be added to fudge, used as a topping for scones, or even folded into homemade ice cream. The uses for the candied pecan is unlimited!

Most candied pecans use a sugar melted to a specific temperature using a candy thermometer, but I find that any humidity turns the sugar grainy and turns the candied pecans into a grainy unpleasant mass. I recently stumbled upon a recipe that I adapted to my preferences. I added dried cranberries, a touch of cayenne pepper and vanilla bean sugar from Beanilla.

I love these sweet treats; I hope you enjoy them also!

Featured Ingredients

Tahitian Vanilla Extract (Single-Fold 1X)

Vanilla Bean Sugar

Cinnamon, Ceylon

Nutmeg, Ground