How To Toast Pecans How To Cook Like Your Grandmother. This technique works for most types of raw nuts pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc. It intensifies the flavor of the nuts and makes them a bit crunchier. Perfect for salad toppings and baking into breads. Toasted Pecans With Sugar' title='Toasted Pecans With Sugar' />This is just one method, Ill describe a few others below. Directions. I start with shelled nuts. I dont mind sitting there with a nut cracker snacking while watching TV, but when I need a bunch I go for the convenience. If youre going to chop the nuts, do it before toasting. The more surface area you have, the more toastiness youll end up with. There are several options for toasting stovetop or in the oven dry or with oil, butter or cooking spray. You can find people who swear by each method. Make and share this How to Toast Pecans recipe from Genius Kitchen. How to toast pecans for your baking recipes or as a snack. With Step by step photos to guide you. Toasted pecans make a delicious treat or for any recipe. How to Toast Pecans. Toasting nuts like pecans results in a more intense flavor. Toasted pecans are a great addition to baked breads or as a topping on salads. The only one Ill never use is cooking spray, because thats not food. So of the methods I would choose from, here are the pros and cons Stovetop vs. Stovetop is faster and its easier to keep an eye on the nuts to make sure they dont burn. But the finish is less even youll have dark spots where the nuts touched the pan and you have to keep the pan moving the whole time. Oil or butter vs. Best Way To Eat Sardines. Any kind of fat will make the finish more even, especially on the stovetop. The fat will potentially add some flavor, and the finished nuts will have more of an oily finish. This could be good, as it will help salt and other seasonings stick. And more butter flavor is rarely a bad thing for any food. This batch was going to go in a salad, so I wanted crunchy and dry but without adding a lot of other flavors, so I went with dry on the stovetop. Heat a non stick pan over high heat until extremely hot, then turn the heat down to medium. The quick blast of heat when you first add the nuts will extract some oil from the nuts, just enough to keep them from sticking or scorching. SAFETY NOTE Nonstick cooking surfaces are not rated for extremely high heat. If you leave the pan on high with nothing in it for as little as five minutes it can reach a dangerously high temperature, both damaging the cooking surface and possibly releasing toxic fumes. Dont walk away while preheating, and dont cook in it if you notice any odor at all before adding the nuts. Keep the pan moving, tossing the nuts so they dont keep sitting the same way down or youll burn the bottom. If you thought you saw some nuts flying out of the pan, it was just static in the video. Really, I promise. Toasted Pecans SaladIf youre not confident with tossing the nuts, turn them over with a spatula or wooden spoon several times while cooking. As soon as they start looking darker and you can smell the toastiness, get the pan off the heat and dump the nuts out. Nuts can go from finished to burned pretty quickly, and will even keep cooking for bit after removing them from the pan. And thats it. Other methods. To use butter or oil on the stovetop, toss the nuts in the oil or melted butter before putting them in the pan. Also, dont heat the pan up so much before adding the nuts. Just start at medium heat and keep it there. In the oven, use a non stick cookie sheet if you have one. Otherwise you should probably oil or butter the nuts before putting them on your baking sheet. Cook at 4. 00 for 5 1. Stay close, and check them every minute or so after turning them over. Just like the stovetop method, theyre done when you see the color get darker and you can smell the toastiness. PS I used the word toastiness three times in this post and my spellchecker keeps saying its not a word. If I say it and you know what I mean, then its a word. Most recipes for cheese balls and cheese logs call for rolling the finished product in toasted pecans. What is a good way to toast the nuts B. B., Birchwood. Keep Buttery Toasted Pecans handy for guest to nibble on throughout your party. Patiently roasting pecans the entire 25 minutes at 325 to coax out. This technique works for most types of raw nuts pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc. It intensifies the flavor of the nuts and makes them a bit crunchier.