The Little Things...: Sugar & Spice and everything nice

I've gotten several comments from friends and family about the candied pecans I made as gifts for Christmas, so I thought I would share. (That is I will share the recipe...you have to seriously suck up to me to get these hand delivered.) I bet I made at least 10 batches of these and never got tired of them over the holidays (a great thing for my taste buds...not so good for my hips!)

Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen...

1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt (I might up this by a 1/2 tsp. next time for more of a sweet/salty balance)
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper (I swapped this with 1/4 teaspoon of hot smoked paprika)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pound walnut or pecan halves or whole peeled hazelnuts
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix sugars, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps; set aside. Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add walnuts, and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture, and toss until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven, and separate nuts as they cool. When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any that stick together.

Please forgive the out-of-focus picture. This is before I got a new camera for Christmas and I was still using my husbands camera that he got years and years and years ago.

May I also suggest that these would make GREAT Valentine's Day treats. :) Here are a few ideas for packaging these up in a lovey-dovey and absolutely adorable way: