I still remember the first time I had candied pecans. I was at a friend’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. There were roasted yam, cornbread stuffing and a huge bird on the table, but everyone fought over the seemingly simple salad. It took me a while to figure out that they were really after the candied pecans in the salad. My friend’s little sister even made my friend put back the extra pecans he was apparently “hoarding” on his salad plate.

I have to admit that I’ve never gotten that nuts over these nuts, but I definitely think they are an important addition to a fall salad. These candied pecans are sweet and sticky on the outside and nutty and crunchy on the inside. The best part is that they take no effort to make.

I’ve tried quite a few recipes for candied pecans. Some use butter. Others use egg whites. I’ve stuck to this one over the years because it requires just water and sugar.

This is a very basic recipe that you can tweak to spice up your pecans. You can use brown sugar instead of regular sugar for that extra bit of molasses. You can also add in a few pinches of cinnamon, cardamon, or nutmeg.

These pecans are a excellent midday snack. I like to pair them with some cranberries and salty pretzels for a trail mix. I also like to add them to a spinach salad with apples, cranberries and blue cheese. Drizzle on some balsamic vinegar and olive oil and you will have the best of the holidays packed in a bowl. Just make sure you make enough of these nuts for the salad because people will definitely fight over them.