Trying a new recipe for a kitchen gift

 For most of the Christmas season, I've been thinking about trying a recipe I found in an older Victoria magazine.  It sounded as if it might make a nice kitchen gift.

Yesterday, I finally got around to trying it.  We have a New Year's Eve fellowship coming up at church, and I thought we could take these nuts along as one of our contributions to the snack fellowship.  (I also plan on making a cheese log, and of course Mr. T will bring along a cookie and fudge tray.)

Here is the recipe:

BARBECUE SPICED PECANS

1 pound pecan halves 

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon each celery salt, paprika, and dry mustard

A large pinch of cloves

Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350º.  

On a baking sheet, spread the pecan halves into one layer and bake for 10 minutes until lightly  brown and crisp.  

Transfer the pecans to a large bowl and, while sill hot, toss with the butter.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, add to the pecans, and toss to coat.  Let cool.  Store airtight up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 4 cups.

Now.  I wanted to make only a half pound, so I used only 2 Tbsp. butter.  If I had had more maple sugar on hand, I would have used 2 Tbsp. brown sugar.  I had 1 Tbsp. of maple sugar so I used 1 T. brown sugar as well.  I should add that I used smoked paprika for more of a barbecue flavor.

But I miscalculated when making the sugar and spice mixture and added the entire 1/4 tsp. of each spice (rather than cutting the amount in half as I'd done with the other ingredients), so I ended up adding 2 Tbsp. more brown sugar.  It was too late at that point to add more butter.  

The pecans came out quite tasty.  They are not overly spicy at all, so I might tweak the spices another time.  And if I can get it, I will definitely substitute maple sugar for light brown.

All in all, I'd call this recipe a success!