Buttery-Salted Roasted Pecans

Nothing like feasting on crisp, Buttery-Salted Roasted Pecans when trying to curb your hunger or satisfy that beastly snack attack. They’re a no-guilt munch that pleases most with simple preparation and easy storage, but knowing some particulars gets you a consistent outcome every time.

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I grew up picking and eating pecans from my Mawmaw’s large pecan orchard. Since the pecan tree is well suited for Louisiana soil with its sub-tropical climate and spacious flat land, her pecans were the best. Harvesting the fallen nuts from the towering trees planted in rows, consisted of raking and picking them up by hand. Then they were placed in cotton sacks, tied up, and placed flat on the wash house cement floor for drying.

I remember my grandparents sitting at their kitchen table which was covered with pecans. My Pawpaw would crack the pecans with a loud nutcracker, and my Mawmaw would peel the shells away. Sometimes we’d help, but not for long. This was toilsome work for small fingers. Little did we understand the good eating that would result from their labor.

One of my favorite things Mawmaw would make was her pralines. It’s so delicious, and I’ve never met a person who doesn’t think so. I share it in Noelie’s Pecan Pralines post and her recipe. With simple instructions, you’ll see how easy this southern Louisiana pecan praline candy is to make.

Interesting Pecan Food Facts:

• Technically the pecan is not a nut but a drupe, similar to the peach and plum.
• Pecan trees produce full crops every two years.
• They are native to the good ole’ USA! (where most are grown)
• It takes 12 years for a pecan tree to begin producing fruit.
• They grow up to 150 feet, 3 feet in diameter, and live up to 300 years.
• This nut tree has mammoth qualities.
• Pecan shells were roasted and substituted for coffee grinds during WWII. (Tea, please!)
• They have a thousand different varieties.
• It has its own day of observance on April 14th, National Pecan Day, and July 12th is National Pecan Pie Day. Lest we forget!
• Albany, Georgia, is the Pecan Capital of the WORLD! (growing more than 600,000 pecan trees)
• They are full of fiber and healthy fat, contain antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
• Texans claim the pecan as their state tree and invented butter pecan ice cream. Thank you, Texas!
• French people in New Orleans came up with the pecan pie, of course!
• Wood from the pecan tree is used for furniture, flooring, paneling, and smoking meat.
• Pecans can be ground and made into nut milk, pressed into oil, and processed into pecan butter.
• The word pecan can be pronounced 2 ways. (I prefer the way that doesn’t sound like a facility to relieve oneself, thank you.)

How To Make Roasted Salted Pecans?

Roasting is a cooking method known to deepen and enrich food flavors. This recipe is simple, but there’s a sure way to consistently achieve satisfactory results for crisp, Buttery-Salted Roasted Pecans.

So first things first! Melt 3 1/2 tablespoons of salted butter. Not 3 and not 4. Three and one-half! That’s the magic combination. I find 4 leaves your hands and the container too greasy, and 3 isn’t enough butter flavor. So there!

Next, place 3 cups of pecan halves in a large bowl. That’s just the right amount so that they aren’t fighting for space on the sheet pan, and they don’t fly out when giving them a toss in the middle of roasting. Then pour butter over the nuts and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Now, stir, stir, stir to coat every pecan with flavor.

Your next step is to line the sheet pan with parchment paper, place the pecans in a simple layer on the paper and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 12 minutes. Pull them out of the oven and use a long-handled set of tongs to turn the nuts over and stir them around to help each get an even roast. Place them back in the oven and roast for another 10-12 minutes, checking the color towards the end. You don’t want them to turn dark brown and have an overdone taste.

Storing The Buttery-Salted Roasted Pecans

Let the roasted pecans cool, then store them in a tightly covered container or ziplock bag either in or out of the refrigerator. A quart jar with a screw-on lid works nicely. I usually don’t refrigerate them because they get eaten up so quickly.

If you like your snacking with a bold punch of taste, try my Cajun Roasted Pecans. You may be surprised to discover where they get their spicy Louisiana flavor from. Try liquid Concentrated Shrimp And Crab Boil. Oh, yeah!

More Than Snacking

Using Buttery-Salted Roasted Pecans adds more flavor to other recipes like these:

• Easy Charcuterie Appetizer Boards
• Fresh Sweet Potato Casserole
• Cajun Cake
• Pimento Cheese, Classic, Pecan, and Jalapeño
• Chicken Salad Your Way
• Chocolate Chip Cookies

Of course, only if you have any leftover pecans or succeed in hiding them for later!

More Recipes From Louisiana Woman!

• Bread Pudding With Pumpkin Pecan Praline Sauce
• French Toast Or Pain Perdu (Lost Bread)
• King Cake Recipe: A Traditional Version
• Pumpkin Cheesecake With Pecan Streusel
• Noelie’s Pecan Pralines
• Cajun Roasted Pecans

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Have a nice day!

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

John A. Shedd