Orange Chipotle-Spiced Pecan Mix

I made these very tasty pecans for Thanksgiving appetizer. I will definitely be making more - sweet and spicy! If you can, buy the chipotle chili pepper. It is a great smokey hot flavor.

I found this recipe from on myrecipes.com and it was originally in Cooking Lite in November 2008.

1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 large egg white
2 cups pecan halves
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
Cooking spray
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 225°.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk until slightly frothy. Stir in pecans. Combine sugar, salt, and pepper. Add to pecan mixture; toss well. Spread mixture in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 225° for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven; cool completely. Stir in cranberries.

Chili Lime Peanuts

For this recipe, I was on the search for salt free, dry roasted cashews, as the recipe calls for, but I couldn't find them at the grocery store but I did find salt free peanuts. I decided they would be just as good for this sweet and spicy snack. The recipe is from the June 2009 Everyday Food magazine:

2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest (I used the juice of 1/2 a lime instead)

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 large egg white

3 cups raw unsalted nuts (peanuts, cashews, a combo)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, using the back of a wooden spoon, grind salt with lime zest (or juice). Add brown sugar, red pepper flakes and egg white. Whisk together until frothy. Add nuts and toss to coat.

Spread cashew mixtures in a single layer onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, 15 - 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Before they're tossed in the oven

These are a little well done so I recommend checking them after 15 minutes.

Very tasty... a nice bite but the sugar makes them sweet so you can easily eat handfuls at a time!