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German Roasted Candied Pecans

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German Roasted Candied Pecans

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Chag Sameach! FROHE WEIHNACHTEN! [I feel like German should always be screamed, ja?] — Also, keep reading for my pre-Thanksgiving Christmas content disclosure.

Hopefully y’all know what these beauties are just by seeing that cone. I was walking around the touristy Opry mall this past weekend here in Nashville, and hit the wall-o-roasted-German-nuts smell head on. After a few rounds on the various booth sides (to be sure I had different employees that hadn’t seen me come by yet, obviously) for samples, I pulled myself away from the $10 cones of joy. Mostly because I’m cheap as hell and don’t want to pay for something that I know I can make at home for an eighth of the price.

A bit of jolly kitchen experimentation later, and I think I’ve pretty much nailed the nose on the reindeer.

German Roasted Candied Pecans

German Roasted Candied Pecans

German Roasted Candied Pecans

Before y’all start yelling at me about Thanksgiving being first and all that stuff… I knoooow. I’m usually on board with ya (excluding Christmas music, because I listen to that all year long #SorryNotSorry).

I’ve convinced myself that these get a free pass because you obviously need to test them out for yourself and then use them to top your Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole! Don’t steal that, fellow blogger. It’s mine, mine, mine. The reality is that I am all for keeping the Christmas tree locked in a box until after the turkey naps have been had, but the baking totally starts in November. It’s also my birthday month. 22 this year (we’ll say). I can do whatever I want just because of that. *twirl*

German Roasted Candied Pecans

After a ton of research about these treats, I discovered that people are pretty emotional about how they should be prepared. No eggs (we used egg whites in a previous baked candied pecan recipe that is excellent – especially on a cheese danish), use water in the dilution of sugar, use a massively huge (because, German) copper kettle. Wait. Hold up.

Since most of us don’t have a huge copper kettle heated by a jet plane engine, we’re going to bend the rules. Ideally, you roast the nuts (traditionally almonds) with just water, and then add in the blazing hot sugar and cinnamon to let it glaze.

Sounds lovely, right? We can just about duplicate that exact process on our stovetop. Copper is great if you have it, anything else works fine if you don’t. Some water, sugar, a splash of vanilla and an entire boatload of cinnamon, and you’ve got it.

Most recipes will have you stop once the liquid has all evaporated, and the nuts have this odd, faded look. That’s pretty much the result of the baked candied pecans recipe we mentioned earlier. These are delicious! But… I wanted a bit more of a crisp bite to the coating. I thought about what had happened to the sugar already… Really the liquid had just all evaporated, leaving the coating on the pecans. Sugar takes a while to really heat up, so I was banking on the hope that it hadn’t actually started to change phases yet. I decided to continue cooking them in the pan (stirring like I was trying to keep the titanic afloat). Voila! …I mean, Da! (or something… I took French, y’all)

The sugar started to change back to liquid. Science, yo. Enough stirring with an eagle’s eye to prevent burning, and you have that semi-glossy, perfectly crunchy coating that you pay so much for at the mall.

German Roasted Candied Pecans

You can now sit at home, baking holiday cookies (or snack cakes, if you really love your family and friends) and watch the Macy’s Parade while snacking on these sweet, candied German Roasted Pecans instead of trekking through the sea of sweatpants-wearing mall walkers, Nashville tourists (did I say that?), and super-sale go-getters.

Enjoy! Happiest of holidays, y’all.

 

German Roasted Candied Pecans
 
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Homemade German Roasted Candied Pecans - Perfect holiday-inspired treats with a crisp, cinnamon infused, sugary coating, just like you find in stores for Christmas. Simple recipe without any egg whites.
Serves: 3 cups
Ingredients
  • 3 cups pecans, raw, halved
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup sugar, white granulated
  • ⅓ cup water
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
Final glaze
  • ¼ cup sugar, white granulated
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
  2. Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (preferred) or parchment paper.
  3. In a large sauté pan (with taller, straight sides), combine sugars, water, cinnamon, salt.
  4. Heat over medium heat until it boils.
  5. Add pecans and vanilla.
  6. Stir vigorously and continuously. Don't stop stirring!
  7. Keep stirring (good arm workout) until you see the liquid all evaporates and the pecans are left with a dry-looking coating (see blog pictures for an example).
  8. Reduce heat slightly.
  9. Continue stirring (constantly) until you see the sugar coating start to melt. This may take a few minutes.
  10. Add the final glaze ingredients (sugar and syrup) once the sugar coating has started to melt on the nuts.
  11. Stir in well until glossy and coated.
  12. Turn out pecans onto prepared pan in a single layer.
  13. Bake for 10 minutes to roast the nuts. This step is critical to preventing softened pecans.
  14. Remove and cool completely.
  15. Enjoy! - More recipes on SouthernFATTY.com
Notes
2015 - SouthernFATTY.com
Nutrition Information
Serving size: As much as you can fit into your mouth

 

What’s your favorite holiday sweet that you wait all year to get your hands on? Let us know below!

 

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  1. I’ve lived in the Nashville area my entire life. I made these tonight and can confirm they actually do taste just like the ones from Opry Mills. Haha! Thank you so much for this recipe!

    Reply

  2. I can’t wait to try this recipe and I love the way you explain things! Your sense of humor is priceless! Thank you for sharing this.

    Reply

  3. I made these last night and the coating was great before I put them in the oven, but while in the oven the coating fully melted down into puddles that turned glassy when they cooled instead of crystalized. I stirred constantly and got the coating to melt as described before putting them in the oven, but maybe I let it melt too much before putting them in the oven?

    Could I start with roasted pecans and skip the baking step to avoid getting glassy pecan brittle?

    Reply

  4. trying this right now. easier than expected. If they turn out terrible atleast my house smells amazing. BTW Im right there with ya on the holiday music 🙂

    Reply

  5. Tried this yesterday and they are amazing! Finally found a good recipe that works and doesn’t just slide or flake off the pecans. I am so very happy and I’m making another batch this week for an event. Now, I didn’t get that second sugar melt you were talking about so I might not have had either the patience or the correct temperature but I stirred for @10 minutes on lower heat before giving up and moving on to the oven. Still delicious! I also don’t keep corn syrup on hand so I used maple instead.

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    • That’s awesome! Love seeing people post pictures. The 2nd melt can be tricky to get without burning. If you try again on the stovetop, bump your heat to medium-low and keep ’em moving.
      Looks like you ended up with delicious bites. Thats all that matters! Enjoy 🙂

      -Phillip
      Have a photo to share? Tag us on social using @southernfatty / #southernfatty!

      Reply

  7. Just made these. Best decision I ever made for a snack. I love these but hate the price in the mall. Simple and fast.

    Reply

  8. I love these they are sooooooooo good I got my first taste of them on 24th of March when me, my daughter, and her (now) fiance went to a Harry Potter convention (which my daughter got proposed to at the convention during the sorting hat ceremony) but I’m getting off topic I want to say ty ty ty ty ty for sharing this recipe with everyone

    Reply

    • I’m so happy to hear that! They really are addictive. Thank you so much for sharing.

      Best,
      Phillip

      We would love to see pictures if you share from the recipe! Tag @southernfatty and #southernfatty on social media to share.

      Reply

  10. Hello, thank you for the recipe. It looks delicious. However, when in the pan I stirred for a long time, but never got the dry looking coating described in the recipe. The pecans just started to clump together and I was afraid they were burned and cooking for too long. Please tell me what I could have done wrong.

    Reply

    • My guess is that your oven is a bit different than mine. I would reduce the heat next try. It will sometimes clump and look like it just isn’t going to work out but when the dried out sugar gets hot enough, it will recrystallize and melt again.

      Reply

  12. I bake salted pecans often, but was looking for a simple sweet roasted pecan recipe when i found this one. I doubled the ingredients, using slightly less sugar and slightly more water. I also added a dash of nutmeg and paprika. I stirred the heated pecan mixture until it began to be difficult, then substituted hazelnut liqueur for the syrup. Stirred some more then added the final coating of sugar.
    375 seemed too high a baking temperature, as my salted pecans will burn at that temp. So i put them in the oven at 300 for about 30 minutes. They came out dry, toasted and perfectly coated.
    Absolutely delicious! Will be bringing them to a Christmas party this week. Definitely will make this again.

    Reply

  14. A lot of my coating fell off the pecans while stirring in the dry time before the sugar remelted. Any idea what I did wrong?

    Reply

    • Hmmm…. I’ve never had that happen. Usually sugar syrup like that will stick to everything very well. You could try adding bit of corn syrup and sugar to the mix see if that sticks everything back on and then crystalizes when it remelts.

      Reply

      • I thought that when I added that at the end it might stick back together but it didn’t. I’ll try again and see if it works the second time. They still taste good but just have a small coating on them. The crumbs I pitched. Thanks for replying right away. I couldn’t see my comment so I posted another. Please disregard it

        Reply

  16. These were fabulous! Easy, quick, tastes great! My family loves them. Will definitely be using this recipe again. Thanks.

    Reply

  18. Hi Phillip! What should these look like when they come out of the oven, before they cool? Mine got burnt at 350 and the sugar coating had completely melted again. I’d really like to try again because they tasted great before they went in the oven! Maybe if I did a lower temp for a longer time? Thank you!!

    Reply

    • They shouldn’t burn during that step. My guess is that they may have been left still for too long, or cooked too high in the pan before they were baked off. I would recommend lowering your oven temperature to 325 to be safe, but to be sure you are stirring constantly when coating. That’s almost always where they go wrong. My guess is that even though they tasted ok before baking, they had already been cooked a bit too far. This type of sugar coating burns very easily. Good luck!

      Reply

    • I think in this case, you could. I only say that because it is used as a final glaze. In recipes where you would be cooking the syrup down, I would advise against it. Corn syrup is an invert sugar, and will leave you with a very specific less grainy, smooth texture in your finished product if you cook it for long enough. Since you are glazing only here, and using a small amount, I think it would be just fine.

      Let me know how it goes! You can tag @southernfatty / #southernfatty if you post on any social media outlets.

      Enjoy! These are one of my favorite snack treats to make.

      -Phillip

      Reply

  20. Just made these. WOW!!!! Super easy and so tasty! I will for sure be making these again and again throughout the year. Thank you!

    Reply

  21. Have made these several times now, always turn out great! Very easy, just keep stiring! I love that they are egg and dairy free, my son has allergies, so they’re perfect!

    Reply

  22. How should these be stored and for how long will they last? I want to give them as Christmas presents to my neighbors, instead of the usual cookie gifts. They just sound so yummy!!

    Reply

  24. I can’t wait to make these roasted candied pecans. Pecans are one of my mom’s favorites, and while I am visiting her over the holidays, this recipe will be such a great treat to create for the family. I adore your delicious mouth-watering pictures and will be following your blog. Cheers!

    Reply

  27. Hmm, how does copper make a difference in these pecans? Interesting post and lovely mouth watering pics as always Phillip 🙂

    Reply

    • Thanks! Copper is preferred for cooking sugar because of its ability to heat so evenly. Most sugar-based recipes are ruined in a home kitchen because the pots and pans have hot spots during cooking. Uneven heating means varying and inconsistent texture and taste. This simply doesn’t happen with copper, due to the way the heating works. Probably not worth the huge investment if you aren’t a candy-maker, but great if available.

      Reply

  30. YUM. this is one of my favorite things to make for goodie bags for the holidays. it’s also, not coincidentally, one of my favorite things to eat myself. 🙂

    Reply

  31. We just spent a weekend in Nashville (hockey tournament) and thoroughly enjoyed your city! Sadly, we didn’t see any of these nuts in our travels, maybe because we left our sweatpants at home, but I’m adding these to my Christmas baking list!

    Reply

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