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These Southwestern Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans come together in less than 30 minutes. But beware: they are addictively delicious!
Many years ago, I won second prize in a brownie contest sponsored by our local newspaper in Raleigh. I was thrilled but never made that recipe again. From that day on, I always made the first-prize recipe. My son Nick would sometimes get frustrated and ask me to make my original recipe. I would always respond that I knew my recipe was good but this one was better. What does that have to do with these Southwestern Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans? Read on!
I got the idea for Southwestern Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans from a Rick Bayless recipe that I found online. If you're not familiar with Rick Bayless, he's a culinary guru when it comes to Mexican cuisine and has several award-winning restaurants in Chicago. I tried his Spicy Glazed Pecan recipe and while being delicious they weren't very attractive and burned easily toward the end of the cooking time. I was going for beautiful, shiny glazed pecans and that was not the result I got.
I went on to try several other popular online recipes for glazed pecans with similar results, fairly tasty but not very pretty with a rough, sugary coating. Then I remembered my own recipe for Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans (duh?), a super simple recipe that comes together in way less than 30 minutes and results in beautiful mahogany-hued pecans with a lovely shiny glaze.
Why reinvent the wheel?
I pulled out the Maple, Molasses Glazed Pecan recipe and ran with it in a Southwestern direction. Voila! As you can see the results are beautiful and SO easy! A win-win! I had a little flashback to that long ago brownie contest. Now, whenever I want to make glazed pecans, I will stick to a tried and true recipe!
How to make these Southwestern Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans
As mentioned above, these delectable pecans come together in less than 30 minutes. This is, in a nutshell (pun intended!), how it works:
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium-size bowl that can go into the microwave.
- Microwave on high power for one minute, then remove from the microwave and stir, stir stir, for another minute. Heating the mixture then carefully stirring is one of the magic tricks for this recipe. Each pecan gets thoroughly coated, down into all the cracks and crevices with the delicious sweet, spicy honey-maple syrup.
- All that's left is to bake the pecans and give them a couple of stirs to ensure that they bake evenly.
- Turn them out onto a clean piece of foil and try to control yourself until they cool a bit.
How spicy are these pecans?
Using a half teaspoon of ground chipotle gives these Southwestern Sweet and Spicy Pecans a pleasant, but fairly mild amount of heat. If you like things spicier, you can always add more, but I would start in small increments and taste them before baking. You can always add more heat at this point but you can't take it away.
How to use these sweet and spicy glazed pecans
- They make a wonderful snack, decently healthy and good protein.
- Give your oatmeal a little Southwestern pizzazz with a sprinkle of these pecans.
- Serve them on salads for a nice sweet and spicy crunch.
- Sprinkle them on yogurt.
- Serve them as a cocktail nibble.
- Serve them on a charcuterie board for a delicious sweet and spicy crunch.
- And when your guests rave about how delicious they are, have a little bag or box of them to take along when they leave!
Yes, they make a wonderful gift! That's why we created a pretty label to make your packages look festive and beautiful. To obtain the free printable labels, simply scroll to the bottom of this page and let us know in the comment section. We'll send you a PDF for the labels along with instructions on how to use them and links for the boxes and ribbon pictured.
Have I convinced you that you want these Southwestern Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans in your life? Make a batch and the first sweet, spicy, super crunchy bite will have you sold!
Café Tips for making these Southwestern Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans
- This recipe calls for chipotle chili powder (aka ground chipotle). Chipotle chili powder is a mildly spicy, slightly smoky chili powder made from chipotle peppers which are actually smoked jalapenos. It adds fabulous flavor to these Southwest Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans. I would recommend picking some up as it's a great chili powder to use in lots of recipes, but you could also use an equal amount of ancho chili powder or regular chili powder.
- When choosing pecans for this recipe, look for packages that have mostly intact half pecans. Sometimes, during shipping and stocking, pecans can get very broken up and, while they will still taste delicious, they won't be as pretty. I save the broken ones to sprinkle over salads, oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream, etc.
- That being said, if you'd like to make this recipe with chopped pecans, which is nice for salads, feel free!
- This recipe calls for a microwave-safe bowl. What does that mean? Microwave-safe simply means that the bowl won't get hot or melt in the microwave. Glass, most ceramic ware and heatproof glassware are safe in the microwave oven. The best type of bowl to use for these nuts is a 4 or 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup with a handle. The handle on these type of cups doesn't get hot.
- If you store these nuts in an airtight container or ziplock bag, they'll stay fresh for a week to 10 days.
- Be careful when stirring these nuts, the glaze gets very hot.
- Don't skip lining your pan with foil and greasing the foil. Otherwise, the nuts will stick and make a mess.
- Work quickly in the final step as you turn the glazed nuts out onto the foil. Try to separate them as much as possible and spread them to a single layer.
Thought for the day:
You are the Lord, you alone.
You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens,
with all their host, the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them;
and you preserve all of them;
and the host of heaven worships you.
Lamentations 3:13
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoy any of these recipes, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder sometimes simply called Chipotle
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups pecans
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Preheat oven to 325˚F. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray the foil generously with nonstick cooking spray. (this will keep nuts from sticking to the pan). Layout a second piece of foil on a work surface and again spray with nonstick cooking spray. Rub each with a small piece of paper toweling to evenly coat with the oil.
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Combine all ingredients except pecans in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Stir well. Add pecans, then place bowl in the microwave and cook on high power for 1 minute. This will thin out the maple/honey mixture to help coat the pecans better. Stir continuously for 1 minute (no cheating, you want the syrup mixture to get in every little nook and cranny of the pecans), until pecans are thoroughly coated.
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Turn pecans out onto the prepared sheet pan, making sure to scrape out all of the maple syrup/honey mixture as well. Spread out pecans to a single layer on the pan. Place pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
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Remove from oven and, using a heat proof silicon spatula, bring all the pecans to the center of the pan. Then stir well and spread out to a single layer again. Do this again at the 15 minute mark.
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Bake until deep golden brown, a total of 18-22 minutes. Watch them carefully towards the end as nuts can quickly burn.
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Stir again after removing from oven then spread out to a single layer on the 2nd sheet of prepared foil. Work quickly with two forks to separate the pecans. Allow to cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container for storage.
See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.
If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.
Dayna Hemmelgarn says
These sound delicious, I'm going to make some as gifts! Could you please tell me the best place to buy pure maple syrup? I would love to have the labels and where you got boxes. Thank you very much!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Dayna, I normally purchase maple syrup at Costco or Sam's. Aldi also has it for a reasonable price. We will send the labels your way!
Donna says
These look delicious! Will be making them, and would love the labels!
Thanks!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Donna!
Jane says
Would ❤️ to have the cute labels! Cannot wait to make up a batch!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Jane!
Joan says
Can't wait to try this recipe - would love to have the labels. Thanks J
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Joan!
Brigida says
Thank you Chris, for another delicious recipe, I have all the ingredients and would love to have the labels so I can gift some to my friends.
Thanks again
Brigida
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Brigida!
Lila Register says
Can’t wait to give these as gifts. Please send me the labels. Thank you so much.
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Lila!
Judy Brody says
Bought all the ingredients for this delicious recipe, if possible, would love the labels too!!!!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Judy!
Julie Sorvaag says
Would love to have the labels and link to the gift boxes. Thanks so much!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Julie!
Doug says
Very Anxious to give it a whirl and share with friends.
Please send me the 'labels'
Thank You !
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Doug!
Fran says
Am going o give some of thee away for gifts and would love to have the little labels Thanks so much for all your interesting recipes.
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Fran!
Kim says
These pecans are great! I saw the recipe this morning and ran out to buy some pecans just to make the recipe. The chipotle chili powder adds just the right amount of kick to go with the sweet.
Julie says
I've made your maple, molasses glazed pecans and given them to family and friends for Christmas gifts. Loved by all! Please send me the link for the gift boxes and the labels for this recipe. Thank you!
Gayle Humann says
Hi Chris,
Can’t wait yo try this recipe! Could you send the labels please?
Thank you,
Gayle Humann
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, sending them now, Gayle!
Cindy says
Chris, these are ridiculously addictive! I've made 2 batches so far and will for sure make more. They bake up glossy and crunchy. Used almonds for the first batch. Didn't have cooking spray so oiled the foil with canola and had no problems with sticking. The taste seemed a bit off though. I know that different salts have different saltiness- used grocery store kosher for the first, so for the second batch (with pecans) I used regular table salt and that hit the sweet-salty nail on the head. The chipotle seasoning was just right. Thanks for another stellar recipe! I loved your French Grandmother's Cake- have made it three times, topped with chocolate ganache- to rave reviews.
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! So happy you already enjoyed this recipe, Cindy!
Elizabeth says
Would you please send me the pdf for these nuts.
They will make for great gift giving
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, happy to send them!
Patricia says
I actually have all the ingredients and will use this recipe soon. I would like to have the label, please.
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Just sent them Patricia!
Rhonda Jurgens says
These look divine. Would you please send me the pdf for the label? Thank you so much!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure! They should be in your email now, Rhonda!
Karyn says
I'm very excited to try these nuts, and would love to have the labels for gifts!
Chris Scheuer says
Hope you enjoy them, Karyn! Sending the labels now.
Jill Phillips says
Thanks, would love the labels. Can’t wait to try!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Jill! Enjoy!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, they're on the way, Jill!
Daun says
Please send pdf file for candied pecans
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Daun!
Chris Scheuer says
We're happy to send you the labels, Daun!
James DAvis says
Please send the southwestern pecan label. Thank you!!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, James!
Chris Scheuer says
You're welcome, James! Just sent them.
MaryJo says
Please send the southwestern pecan label. Thank you!!
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Mary Jo!
Chris Scheuer says
Happy to send the labels, MaryJo!
Marissa says
I will definitely try this recipe. Can you please send the labels. Thank you in advance.
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, sending them now, Marissa!
Liz Hager says
This looks delicious. Please send labels.
Thank you so much for all that you do.
Chris Scheuer says
Sure, Liz!
Chris Scheuer says
You're welcome, Liz! Sending the labels now!
Anne says
Love all your recipes!! Please send the labels and box info.
Many thanks!!
Anne
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Anne! Sending them your way 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Anne, happy to send them!