Sugar and Spice Pecans Recipe

By Helene Segura, M.A. Ed., CPO® | December 22, 2020 |

Pecans are definitely not my favorite nut, but I was willing to give this recipe a try because of the story behind it. Betty Lifshutz shared this recipe with her community when she was in her 70’s and included the following story with it:

“When we got married, I gave Archie the choice of having good times in the kitchen or the bedroom. As a result, we eat out a lot of the time. Therefore, the Sugar and Spice Pecans have become my specialty.”

Betty is quite a character. How can you not try this recipe after reading that? By the way, Betty is now in her 90’s and just as feisty as ever.

Ingredients

1 egg white

½ cup sugar

1 TB orange juice (frozen)

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

½ tsp cinnamon

4 cups pecan halves

Pam

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 250°F.

In a bowl large enough to mix 4 cups of nuts, beat the egg white with a fork, then mix in the sugar.

Add the dollop of frozen orange juice and mix well with a spoon.

Add the salt, ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon and mix well.

Add the pecan halves and mix well.

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam.

Bake at 250°F for a total of 1 hour, stirring gently halfway through.

My Recipe Notes:

Betty’s daughter-in-law made a batch for me, and they were delicious! The pecans had just enough coating to taste the sugar and spice. I have a sweet tooth, so I decided to tweak her recipe a bit.

Thicker coating – I doubled all of her ingredients, but left the amount of nuts the same, 4 cups. The nuts were not only well-coated, but the extra sauce adhered the nuts together in small clusters, like a soft peanut brittle. It certainly made my sweet tooth happy! Add an extra cup of nuts if you don’t like your nuts to be drowned.

Nuts – I used half pecans and half walnuts, mixing them all together in the bowl of coating. I enjoyed this even more than straight pecans since I prefer walnuts over pecans. Don’t be shy about experimenting with your favorite nuts! I’m also thinking about using this same sauce with diced apples or pears.

Keto or Sugar-free – I’d originally planned to use white sugar as called for, but I didn’t have enough. In my doubled recipe only ¼ cup was white sugar, and ¾ cup was monk fruit granules. It turned out just as delectable.

Pam – I enjoy cooking and baking, but not cleaning. I took the lazy way out and substituted foil for the Pam. With my next batch, I’ll try out parchment paper.

Orange juice – We do not use frozen orange juice, and for whatever reason my grocery store did not carry the tiny tubes of OJ, only the larger cans. I hated to throw an entire can away after using only two tablespoons, so I replaced the lid and wrapped it tightly in a freezer baggie so I’ll have plenty for future batches.

Enjoy!

About Helene Segura, M.A. Ed., CPO®

As The Inefficiency Assassin™, Time Management Fixer Helene Segura empowers professionals on the go with the tools to slay lost time. Personal inefficiency at work leads to increased stress levels, lower morale, higher absenteeism, more turnover – and rising spending on employee health care and hiring. Why not improve productivity, decrease stress levels, and increase profits instead?The author of four books – two of which were Amazon best-sellers – Helene Segura has been the featured organization expert in more than 200 media interviews. She has coached hundreds of clients to productivity success and performance improvement by applying neuroscience and behavioral modification techniques to wipe out destructive, time-wasting habits.Helene turns time management on its head by sharing both client case studies and pop culture examples to teach her mind-bending framework for decreasing interruptions, distractions and procrastination so that companies can spend more time generating revenue.

Leave a Comment