Spicy Honey Roasted Pecans (Paleo)

These spicy honey roasted pecans are seasoned with honey, cayenne pepper and thyme. They are just lightly sweetened, so low in sugar but still have a delicious sweet and salty flavor. This recipe for spicy pecans is a great salad topper and is gluten free, refined sugar free and paleo.

I've been putting a lot of raw nuts on my salads lately and decided I needed to "spice" things up a little and make my own simple seasoned nuts. 

I love all nuts, but pecans are one of my favorites in terms of taste and texture.  Thus, this easy recipe for spicy roasted pecans was born - turning out to be my new favorite Paleo salad topper.

These honey roasted pecans are seasoned with cayenne pepper, thyme, avocado oil and salt and sweetened with a little honey. 

Ingredients

These seasoned pecans are made with a handful of simple, real food ingredients. Here's what you need:

• pecans
• avocado oil (or olive oil)
• honey
• thyme
• salt
• cayenne pepper

If you prefer, you can swap the honey for maple syrup and the thyme with another dried spice like rosemary. I only used a teaspoon of honey in this pecan recipe. However, you can increase the amount of honey to make them more like candied pecans.

These roasted pecans only use a little cayenne pepper. I wanted a slightly spicy flavor, not one that was overwhelming and too much to enjoy. However, if you're really into spicy, then add another ¼ tsp cayenne.

How to make spicy pecans

Seasoning and roasting pecans is so easy! 

To make these spicy honey glazed pecans, simply coat raw pecans in a mixture of oil and honey. 

Next, sprinkle the spices over the pecans. Mix until well coated.

Spread the pecans onto a lined baking sheet, then bake in your oven for about 10-15 minutes. Baking time will vary slightly depending on your oven temperature and the color/material of the baking sheet you use. Therefore, be sure to keep a close eye on the pecans while they bake.

After baking, remove the roasted pecans from your oven and let them cool to room temperature on the pan. You can pop them in the fridge to cool faster.

Storage

These savory spiced pecans are best kept in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge. Keep at room temperature for up to two weeks, or two months in the fridge.

Spicy pecans for any occasion

I most definitely made these spicy pecans as a salad topper, but I will argue that they'd go well on nearly anything and everything. 

They'd go well with vanilla ice cream as a crunchy topper for salmon or on a sweet potato casserole.  The honey accentuates the natural sweetness of the pecans and is balanced by the earthy dried thyme and spicy cayenne.  This sweet and salty combo not only makes these pecans irresistible, but great as a topper on any dish.

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