Baking: Candied Pecans

One of the girls at work (there's only 3 besides me! ha) made candied pecans last week and brought them in to share. Oh My Gosh! They were so freakin' good...I'm glad I only let myself eat 1 piece! haha My momma loves pecans, so I thought I'd try the recipe while visiting my sis this weekend. I did...and we are all addicted to 'em! :p Once again, good thing I wasn't counting points this weekend! EEK!

Join the lovely ladies over at Two Maids a Milking for their weekly baking linky! :)

Candied Pecans

2 3/4 c. pecan halves (we used 3 c.)

2 T. butter, softened, divided

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. vanilla extract

Place pecans in a shallow baking pan in a 250* oven for 10 minutes or until warmed. Grease a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of butter; set aside.

Grease the sides of a large heavy saucepan with the remaining butter; add sugar, water, salt and cinnamon. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cover and cook for 2 minutes to dissolve sugar crystals.

Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reaches 236* (we didn't have a thermometer, but it's until it hits soft-ball stage). Remove from the heat, add vanilla. Stir in the warm pecans until evenly coated. Spread onto prepared baking pan. Bake at 250* for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Spread on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet to cool.

THESE ARE SO YUMMY!! Making another batch tonight because the first batch is long gone! ha