Trying to find a pecan recipe from my youth

December 21, 2009 10:15 AM

I am trying to find a specific pecan recipe; not the usual candied pecans but something smokey and spicy.

My mother used to make a certain type of flavored pecan around Christmas each year. We have a bunch of pecans at our house so I would like to try my hand at them. Unfortunately it has been several years since my mother made them and she cannot remember or find the recipe. She is pretty sure it originally came from my father's mother in Texas. Anyway, these are pecans that are tossed with a seasoning mix and roasted in the oven, but they are not the sweet candied pecans you usually see. These tasted like they had a lot of Worcestershire sauce with maybe a little pepper and liquid smoke thrown in. There are some barbecued pecan recipes out there but they have ketchup or other tomato products in them which was definitely not the recipe I remember. If anyone can find the recipe I describe I will be grateful. And If I don't find exactly what I am looking for, I am more than willing to try another recipe, so feel free to point me towards a recipe even if you are not sure if it is what I am looking for. Thanks in advance!

posted by TedW to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

This is the one I make. The honey keeps all the spicy stuff stuck to the nuts, but this is a spicy, not sweet pecan recipe. You can definitely mess with the ingredients, sometimes I use steak seasoning spices in the mix and I'm sure you could add Worcestershire.

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
3 cups pecan halves

Preheat oven to 250°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Mix onion powder, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, curry powder, and cayenne pepper in small bowl to blend.

Melt butter and honey with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add pecan halves and stir to coat; remove from heat. Add spice mixture and toss to coat pecans evenly. Spread pecans in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake pecans until dry and toasted, about 40 minutes. Cool completely. Separate pecans. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.) Makes about 3 cups.
posted by jessamyn at 10:19 AM on December 21, 2009

Sounds like a Chex Mix recipe, minus everything but the nuts and seasoning.

I've been experimenting doing something like this, with just pecans as well. I'm using freshly ground cardamom, some aleppo pepper, some kosher salt, lots of butter, and baking at around 300 degrees for about an hour. But I don't have the amounts or times worked out yet.
posted by bendybendy at 10:24 AM on December 21, 2009

Try adding smoked paprika.
posted by elsietheeel at 10:31 AM on December 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

There are tons of spiced pecan recipes here, and it's my go to page whenever I want to make them.
posted by Kimberly at 11:13 AM on December 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I made a good batch last year with curry powder, paprika, cayenne, salt, and a tiny bit of sugar and butter to turn the other stuff into a glaze. Butter gets zapped in a bowl first, sugar stirred in, then spices and salt, then nuts swirled around to coat, then all goes in a singles layer on to a pan lined with tin foil, making sure you scrape all the extra spice goop onto the nuts. 300 degrees, about 30 min.
posted by rmless at 11:46 AM on December 21, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for all your replies. The curry powder recipes sound good and I may try them, but they are not what I remember. Bendybendy's comment that it is like a Chex mix recipe is right on the money. I might try something like that (but may have to do multiple batches; the folks at work may just have to suffer through multiple rounds of pecans).
posted by TedW at 4:33 PM on December 21, 2009