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Warm-Spiced Pecans with Rum Glaze

Source of Recipe

"Cook's Illustrated Cookbook" from the editors of America's Test Kitchen


Recipe Introduction

"Most spiced nuts are made with a heavily sugared syrup that causes the nuts to clump awkwardly and leaves your hands in a sticky mess. We wanted to develop a recipe that was both tasty and neat. We eliminated two popular methods—boiling the nuts in syrup and tossing them in butter—straight off. The former made the nuts sticky and the latter dulled their flavor. What finally worked was a light glaze made from very small amounts of liquid, sugar, and butter, which left the nuts just tacky enough to pick up a coating of dry spices. We like the crunch and clean flavor of kosher salt in this recipe, but table salt can be substituted—just reduce the amount specified by half."

List of Ingredients

Nuts:
â—¦ 2 cups pecans (8 ounces)

Spice Mix:
â—¦ 2 tablespoons sugar
â—¦ ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
â—¦ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
â—¦ â…› teaspoon ground cloves
â—¦ â…› teaspoon ground allspice

Glaze:
â—¦ 1 tablespoon rum, preferably dark
â—¦ 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
â—¦ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
â—¦ 1 teaspoon brown sugar


Recipe

For the nuts:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread pecans in even layer; toast 4 minutes, rotate baking sheet, and continue to toast until fragrant and color deepens slightly, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack.

For the spice mix:
While nuts are toasting, stir together sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice in medium bowl; set aside.

For the glaze:
Bring rum, butter, vanilla, and brown sugar to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Stir in toasted pecans and cook, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until nuts are shiny and almost all liquid has evaporated, about 1 ½ minutes.

Transfer glazed nuts to bowl with spice mix; toss well to coat.
Return nuts to parchment-lined baking sheet to cool before serving. (Nuts can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

Makes about 2 cups