Recipe: Salted Maple Pecans | Delicious *and* Healthy

I'm officially obsessed with these delicious salted maple pecans. They are so easy to prepare and make a wonderful crunchy mouthful of yumminess - not too sweet, and just a little bit salty: a perfect combination. I especially love to grab a few when it's morning tea time and I've  made a perfect, warming cup of of Earl Grey tea to take to my desk. 

I started making these when I realized I had to cut down somewhat on my (ahem) generous-to-myself dark chocolate habit. Nuts are healthy to nibble on, with heaps of fibre, good fats, vitamins and minerals. (Of course, it's important not to go overboard. Calories are calories, whatever form they come in, and nuts should be eaten in moderation.) I added the salt and maple syrup because my mouth decided it needed just a hint of sweetness.

When I first made them, I had varying degrees of success. First they were too sticky, then they were too burned. A few times I got it exactly right, which made me hopeful I'd eventually get it right, and with time and trying, I've finally come up with the exact formula that gives me slightly sweet, slightly salty, crunchy, golden brown, perfect pecans every time.

Here's how to make them.

You'll need

150g pecans

1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup (not maple flavoured syrup - it's a different thing altogether)

1 tablespoon of butter. I haven't made these with butter substitutes, so if you want to do that, you'll have to experiment a little.

a sprinkling of ground rock salt

Instructions:

Pre-heat your oven to 150C (300F).

Put the maple syrup and butter together in a bowl and microwave until the butter is dissolved, and the mixture is bubbling. Alternatively, you can do this on the stove top. 

Mix the pecans through the maple syrup and butter mix. The nuts should have a thin coating of liquid on them.

Turn out the syrup coated nuts onto a tray lined with baking paper and spread out a little. Grind the salt over the nuts. 

Bake in the 150C oven for 15 minutes. (All ovens are a little different. If yours is a fast oven, keep an eye on the nuts so that they don't get too dark too quickly.) 

Take the nuts out of the oven and allow to cool. Keep them in an air tight container at room temperature. 

And there you have it. Delicious, crunchy, gently-sweet and ever-so-salty pecans, ready to pop in your mouth. Just try not to eat them all at once.

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