Spiced Pecans

This holiday season, we put together some of our favorite, least-perishable items together as gifts for our friends. Homemade granola, toffee syrup for coffee, bacon jam, and these spiced pecans.  The coffee bags were purchased at the Container Store and served as the perfect vessel to hold the nuts. These pecans are perfect for snacking - the addition of the holiday spices and a healthy sprinkling of salt really help curb the sweetness and add an additional layer of flavor to the roasted nuts. There are alot of different spiced nut recipes out there, most of which require you to cook down sugar into a caramel-y syrup before tossing the nuts in. As I tend to burn my caramel and make a mess in our kitchen, this egg white/sugar coating keeps the whole process clean and simple.

Spiced Pecans
adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
3 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a small bowl beat the egg white with the water. Stir in the pecans, mixing until well moistened.

In a small bowl, mix together sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Sprinkle over the moistened nuts. Spread nuts on prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Be careful not to overcook and burn the nuts.