Martha Stewart Living Sweet-and-Salty Pecans

I'm a huge snack person. When I was younger I was always active in swimming, dancing, running; you name the physical activity and I probably had tried it. In the evenings after school I would run in and eat half the fridge before dashing off for hours of swimming lessons or dance classes. I was lucky that I had inherited my dad's very tall and lean bone structure and a very high metabolism. When my parents first got married my dad apparently ate 5 bologna sandwiches for lunch and was still a six foot three inch bean pole. As I've gotten older and had two c-sections I now try to watch the snacks that I put into my body and find a balance between protein and taste. Don't get me wrong, I am still the most likely person in my house to eat cake for breakfast, but I am also the one snacking on almonds and soy nuts. Recently, Martha Stewart Living had a recipe for Sweet and Salty Pecans, which looked simple, delicious and perfect for snacking.

This recipe has 4 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of prep and cooking time, 5 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 cups of nuts. Since this recipe has so few ingredients, I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I chose to use pecans, but cashew or walnuts would work just as well. Make sure to stir your nuts every 5 minutes and keep the nuts flat in order for them to be crisp, not soggy. Salt the nuts while still warm for the best flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With four ingredients, this is a very easy recipe. These nuts were great to grab as a snack during the rush of Thanksgiving cooking and my two kids thought they tasted like candy. I used these nuts as a snack, but they would make a perfect gift. With a great package and a bow these nuts would make a great homemade Christmas gift. Overall, a very easy and delicious snack or gift idea.

For the recipe go to Sweet and Salty Pecans.