Cinnamon pecans

When my sister and I were little, it was about this time of year that we started getting impatient. School had finished for the year, we weren't going to the beach for another week, all the Christmas preparations were done (well as done as they can be for a kid) and we were ready for Christmas.

Neither of us could wait a moment longer for Santa to come and to be able to open all the presents under the tree. One year we came up with a brilliant plan. We thought that if we went to sleep, we could sleep for a few days and when we woke it would be Christmas. To us it was like being instantly tele-ported to the magical day.

Instead of climbing into bed in our Christmas PJs we chose to wait out Christmas on the couches by the tree. After about half an hour of opening our eyes and asking each other if it was Christmas yet, we realised we weren't quiet as clever as we thought.

Now that I'm a bit older and wiser I wish there were a few more days between now and Christmas. Just an extra day or two to fit in the enormous list of Christmas recipes I wanted to make (and couldn't possibly eat/find enough people to gift them to).

In the madness that has ensued here recently, I have managed to whip up all my Christmas treats for gifting (in fact as I write this there is a Stollen baking away in the oven for my grandma and boy does it smell good).

Unless someone specifically requests a certain gift, I tend to give things that I would like to receive (personalised to the person of course). You already know that this means I give a lot of food gifts.

Last year I made spiced nuts (although apparently not for Christmas, I'm not sure why I made such a big batch!) but this year I thought I'd go with a sweet treat seeing as the macadamia dukkah will balance it out nicely.

You know I love anything with cinnamon and sugar and to me they're a rather Christmassy combination.

I might have gone a little bit overboard with my cinnamon sugar to nuts ratio but in my mind you can never have too much. Feel free to cut it down a little but I think the thicker the cinnamon sugar crust the better. I challenge you to stop at eating just one peacn. I had trouble resisting them as they posed for their photo shoot.

If you need a last minute present or something to take as a hostess gift cinnamon pecans are perfect because it's literally just a case of throwing everything together, stirring and baking. You don't have to use pecans - almonds or walnuts would be just as good. The hard part is deciding how to package them. I'm going with clear cello bags and red and white bakers twine. Enjoy!

What about you? Do you have traditions in the lead up to Christmas?

Recipe

Cinnamon sugar pecans

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 cups

Author: Claire Cameron

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 egg white
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 400 g pecans
• ▢ ½ cup caster sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 120C fan-forced and line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Combine the egg white and vanilla and mix well.
• Pour the nuts into a bit bowl and then fold through the egg whites. Make sure that all the nuts are coated and glossy.
• Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and then pour a little over the nuts.
• Fold it through then repeat adding a little at a time until all the nuts are well-coated.
• Spread the nuts onto the tray in a single layer, breaking up any clumps.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Take the tray out of the oven and carefully (use tongs so you don't burn yourself) break up any clumps.
• Pop them back into the oven and keep cooking until they are completely dry (about another 20 minutes).
• Leave the nuts to cool completely on the tray then bag/bottle them up and give them away so you don't eat them all.

Have you made this recipe? I'd love to hear what you think. Tag me on Instagram @clairekcreations