Sweet & Spicy Candied Pecans

For some reason, I just don't love making salads. I feel like a really good salad just takes SOOO long to make. I like to eat salad though, so sometimes I have to bite the bullet and make one. I think most really good salads have some kind of candied nut in them. I seem to try and candy/toast any type of nut if its going in a salad.

So, when I came across this recipe that had a bit of a twist to it, I thought, hey, what the heck. Thus, I candied some more nuts! They was great... but I probably could have eaten the nuts without the salad! :)

In the future, I think I'm just gunna leave the salad making to the Pro's.

Sweet & Spicy Candied Pecans

Nonstick Vegetable Spray

3 TBSP Light Corn Syrup

1 1/2 TBSP Sugar

3/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1 1/2 Cups Pecan Pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine corn syrup and next 4 ingredients in a bowl. Stir together to blend. Add pecans and stir gently to coat. Transfer to prepared cooking sheet.

Bake pecans for 5 minutes. Using a fork, break up pecan pieces and then continue cooking until pecans are bubbly & golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a sheet of foil on the counter top. Use your fork & quickly separate the pecans that have been stuck together. Cool on foil. Use in your favorite salad, or store for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

***For this particular salad I used:

Granny Smith Apples

Hormel Bacon pieces

Thinly Sliced Purple Onions

Spinach, Baby Greens, Radichio

Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese

Craisins

Cranberry, Walnut, Gorgonzola Salad Dressing from Trader Joe's

& I would have used the pomegranate seeds I purchased but them seemed to have disappeared...