Cinnamon and Sugar Coated Pecans

I have been looking for a recipe like this for years!  Last year I made one and the pecans were sticky and soggy...yuck!  This year I searched the web and looked at several recipes, and then kind of took the parts I like from different ones and made these!  They were EXACTLY what I was looking for!  :)  They were delicious warm and room temperature!  And these will make great gifts in little gift bags or jars.

Of course, pecans are expensive.  I buy mine at Costco.  You can always try a different kind of nut!!

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

4 cups pecans (about 1 pound)
1 egg white
1 tbsp. water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon


Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Spray two baking sheets (with sides!) generously with cooking spray.  Put the egg white and water in a mixing bowl and with an electric mixer, whip the egg and water until it is foamy.  Pour the nuts into the bowl and toss to coat.  Place half the sugar/cinnamon mixture in a shallow bowl.  Grab a handful of coated nuts and toss them in the mixture.  Place on baking sheet.  When you run out of sugar/cinnamon mixture, add the rest to your bowl. (The reason I don't add it all at once is it ends up getting all gooey, and the last nuts don't get a great coating.)  Make sure pecans are in a single layer on the sheets, place both in oven on two different racks (make sure there is space between racks).  Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring nuts every 10 minutes and swapping the pans between racks. (35 minutes were perfect for mine!)

Hope  you love these as much as we all did!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I saw this recipe and immediately thought of my kids. I am always buying granola bars at the store and they are expensive and full of ingredients I can't pronounce.  I thought maybe these would be a good alternative, and even though they still have a fair amount of sugar, I am in control of the ingredients. 

This recipe came to me from an e-mail from Taste of Home. Click here to go to the original recipe.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

1/2 cup your favorite peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup peanut butter chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the peanut butter, honey, egg, oil and vanilla together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar and salt. Add half of dry mixture to wet mixture and mix well. Repeat with the other half.  Stir in chips.

Spray a 9x13 baking pan/dish with non-stick spray.  Spread mixture into the pan and pack it down well with the back of a spoon. It is normal for the batter to seem sticky. 

Bake for 15 minutes or until set.  Place dish on a wire rack until cool. Cut into bars. 

My kids are absolutely crazy for these. And they are so easy to make. I have already made a couple batches and have been wrapping some of them in wax paper and placing in a freezer bag and freezing them so when the crazy baseball/softball season starts in March, I will have a head start on some quick snacks.

Enjoy!

Stovetop Popcorn

My BFF Tricia always makes delicious popcorn, and finally after tiring of the fake tasting microwave popcorn, I found out from her how to make it. It's more of a "technique" than a recipe, but for those of you who haven't made it before on the stove, this will help you!

Also, I will be referring to this recipe in the next couple weeks when I share a recipe for Caramel Corn!!!

Stovetop Popcorn

3/4 cup popcorn kernals
2 tbsp. olive oil
Crisco butter spray
Popcorn salt

In at least a 6qt. pot with lid, place the olive oil and ONLY 3 popcorn kernals. Place the lid on the pot and heat on medium high heat, shaking the pot occasionally. Once the 3 kernals have popped, the oil is hot enough, and now you can add in the rest of the popcorn kernals and replace the lid. Shake/swirl the pot around so all the kernals get covered with oil and kind of spread out on the bottom of the pan. The popping will start shortly. Continue shaking the pot occasionally. When the popping significantly slows down so you only hear one or two kernals popping at a time, turn the heat off, shake the pot a few times so the last few kernals can pop, then take off the lid and you should have a full pot of popcorn!!!

I then pour about a third of it into a large bowl with a lid and spray it with Crisco butter spray and sprinkle with popcorn salt. Then put the lid on and shake it up. I repeat this until all the popcorn is in the bowl, then serve!

This is the ONLY way we eat popcorn at my house anymore! It's an easy, inexpensive, low fat snack that we can have on hand all the time!

A couple of tips that I have found make for better popcorn....1) only buy major brand popcorn. I have not found a store brand that works as well. I use Orville Redenbacher. 2) I prefer "light tasting" olive oil, but any oil will work. If it has a strong flavor, you will taste it on your popcorn. 3) Only Crisco brand butter spray. Just trust me on this one. 4) Regular salt won't do. You must have the nice, fine, popcorn salt. You can find this near the regular salt at the grocery store. And I don't buy the butter flavored kind. Just the regular salt.

Anyhow, now you are ready to make your own yummy popcorn! If you have a bigger or smaller pot, you can adjust the amounts of kernals and oil accordingly!

Happy popping!!!