Maple Pecans

Every year my parents get thousands of pecans off the pecan trees that line their driveway.  The driveway itself is 1/4 of a mile long, so you can imagine just how many trees there are.  Nick and my Dad spend days collecting the pecans once they are ready.  Dad will drive them across town to a man who cracks them open and will force them through an air shoot to get all the hard shell pieces off of them.  When we get home we then inspect them to make sure they are all okay, and that all of the shells are off.  Sometimes pieces get stuck in the cracks.  The whole process takes a couple of weeks to do, but its fun to know that the desserts we make started in my parents very own front yard.  Then comes the task of trying to figure out what to use all the pecans for :)  I found a recipe online that seemed really fast and easy so I gave it a try.  It was AWESOME!!!  Last weekend we were at Cabela's and they sell candied almonds/cashews/pecans.  For $4.50 per tiny bag.  I didn't buy it because the price is ridiculous.  These tasted exactly the same and cost less than a dollar to make :)  I'm happy, and yes, I will make this many more times!!!

Ingredients:
2 Cups pecans
1/2 Cup Pure maple syrup (just shy of 1/2 cup really...)
Pinch of kosher salt

Directions:
*Preheat your oven to 350*F

*Pour your pecans into a small/medium bowl.

*Pour the syrup on top of the pecans.  I used a full 1/2 cup and it was a little too much.  I would say use a little less.  I had to keep baking mine over and over to get the syrup to harden.  You wouldn't have to do that if you didn't use too much syrup.  The next time I make it I will pour in just enough to lightly cover the pecans.  I had some syrup pooled at the bottom of my bowl and that meant I probably had too much.

*Add a pinch of salt.

*Mix well

*Pour onto parchment paper.  It MUST be parchment paper.  It will stick and not work if you spray down tinfoil.  Parchment paper is that amazing non stick stuff that I keep telling ya'll you need to get :)

*Spread it out some so that the pecans are not clumped together.

*Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.  (Side note: I used too much syrup the first time, so I had to keep baking mine.  When you take it out of your oven it will be bubbling all over the place.  Place it out of the oven to dry.  It doesn't take long to dry, say 10 minutes or so.  Once its dry you will be able to break the pieces off.  If it is still sticky, throw it back in the oven.  I probably had to do my first batch for a total of about 30 minutes because I couldn't get the syrup to fully cook and harden.  It got easier when I put a second piece of parchment paper onto the counter and took the pecans out of the oven and transferred them to the other piece of parchment.  They all hardened really quick then.  This recipe is super easy.  If it doesn't fully harden, cook a few more minutes, and keep doing so.  Really easy, nearly impossible to mess up.  Give it a try!)