Candied Pumpkin Spice Nuts ~ a great kitchen gift!

(Photo from Taste of Home)

I was looking for something different in the way of a nutty confection to make for a friend's birthday gift.  This recipe sounded good, so I decided to try it: Candied Pumpkin Spice Pecans.  I didn't have pecans on hand (and they are so expensive right now that I didn't want to buy any), but I did have a can of mixed nuts, so I decided to try that.

I had just over 3 cups of mixed nuts, and the recipe calls for 2 cups of pecans, so I made one-and-a-half times the recipe.   I always find making any caramel-type recipe like this a bit intimidating -- it seems the sugar and butter always separate at some point -- but it worked out fine in the end.  It seemed to me that the nuts were going to end up a bit greasy, so after they had cooled on the foil and appeared set, I transferred them to paper towels until they were completely cool before packaging them in a jar.

These went over well with our friend -- his wife has just asked me for the recipe -- and here at home too, as I had enough left over for us to enjoy some as well.  These nuts would make a nice kitchen gift for friends and family this Christmas!