Roasted Pecans

This is the best little salty snack or treat. If you've never had a roasted pecan, then you obviously don't live in the south! This is a staple for baby and bridal showers, a real southern church reception or any other family gathering. I love to make them around the holidays, but they are really great anytime. I need to make them more often. They are super quick and easy to make too. My parents have pecan trees all over their property and they pick many pounds each year. Pecans have gotten so expensive so I am very lucky that they share these little nuggets of gold with me! And these in the photo are Mayhan pecans, some of the biggest and best you'll ever taste. Perfect size for roasting!

I'll let you in on a little secret that my parents will kill me for......we like to call these Daddy's nuts. :-) So yes, we roast my Daddy's nuts. Yep, they are going to kill me. This is one way to find out if they are reading my blog....and actually, anyone else who reads it!

Back to making....okay, I won't say it again....roasted pecans. They are so easy, let's get started:

Start with as many raw, shelled, pecans as you'd like to cook. I made a small batch this time. I usually make about double this batch. Place the pecans in a baking dish and put many pats of butter on top. I used about 4 - 5 Tablespoons of butter on this one.

Place pan in a 350 degree oven. After the butter melts, about 10 minutes, begin to stir often. I stirred every 1-2 minutes. As you'll see from the picture below, the pecans begin to darken. You want all of the pecans to look like the few dark ones that are scattered throughout.

Keep checking and stirring. This probably takes 10-15 minutes to fully cook them, but they brown quickly so don't leave the kitchen.

Now, when they all look brown, pull them out of the oven and salt to taste, fairly liberally. It takes more salt than you think to coat them. You want to salt them while they are hot so that the salt sticks to the butter coating.

Now you can just eat them out of the pan, or serve in a lovely dish for your next party.