I haven’t posted recently in my tips and tricks section so today I thought I would add a little tidbit into that category. This little trick is a great way to enhance the flavor of any salad – candied pecans.

The recipe came about when I recently hosted a Super Bowl party. Being that my home town team (the Denver Broncos) was in the game I wanted to have a menu that would allow me to actually watch the game but still serve food that was quick and easy but also special. For one of my dishes I decided to have an apple, cranberry spinach salad and decided that adding candied pecans would dress it up nicely. Needless to say, they were a hit. One guest said she wanted to forget the rest of the food and just eat the pecans. So next time you want to dress up a salad try this recipe. They’re so good and you can make them ahead of time which is always a good thing when you’re having a party.

So let me share a couple of quick reminders when making candied pecans…

Lesson Learned 1 – Make sure you line your baking pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper: Otherwise you will wind up with a sticky mess that will be very difficult if not impossible to clean.

Lesson Learned 2 – It is important to stir the pecans every 15 minutes: If you don’t they will all clump together and not roast evenly. The sugar mixture will harden so you want to regularly loosen it up and prevent having big globs of pecans stuck together.

Other than that, this recipe is very easy to make. But let me warn you, you’ll need strong will power in order to resist gobbling them all up yourself. Enjoy!