Slow Cooker Cinnamon-Sugar Pecans for Purim or Valentine's Day

Have you OD'ed on chocolate yet?  Thought I'd give you a break, Dear Reader, and provide you with something less Valentine and more Purim ... with delicious packets of candied pecans, perfect to slip inside your mishloach manot baskets.

I had posted a while back on how to make Cinnamon and Sugar Almonds.  Delicious they may be, the baking part is a little messy and a lot hands-on (more correctly electric mixer-on and spatula-on), what with stirring and foil ripping every 15 minutes until finally, they are done  (along with a pile of aluminum tinsel, no extra charge).  With today's recipe, you simply toss the ingredients in a crock pot and stir pretty much whenever you feel like it.  And since you don't have to beat the egg whites into a lather, there's no separation anxiety if a drop of yolk sneaks in.  Mucho much easier!

The ingredients list is essentially Mel's.  Aside from substituting pecans for the almonds (you can use whole almonds if you really truly want to), I tinkered with the quantity proportions because a slow cooker works better when it is half to two-thirds full.  If you decide to proceed with the original proportions, Watch. The. Pot to avoid burning the batch.  And not in a good way.  I like burnt fries, but burnt pecans?  Yuk!

I recommend packaging up the pecans just as soon as they cool so that you don't eat the entire batch.  Just sayin' ...

Slow Cooker Cinnamon-Sugar Pecans - Easy
Adapted from melskitchencafe 
Yield:  5 cups

2 egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp. cold water
Cooking spray
5 cups pecan halves
1 1/2 packed cups brown sugar, light or dark
1/4 tsp. table salt
1 Tbl. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a 1 quart mixing bowl, whisk together the egg white and water until combined; set aside.  Line a large rimmed cookie sheet with a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper; set aside as well.

Lightly coat interior of a  4-quart slow cooker with the cooking spray.  Add the pecans.  Stir in the egg white mixture until pecans are moistened.  Sprinkle in remaining ingredients and stir until pecans are evenly coated.

Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally until the coating has dried, and the pecans turn a rich brown and are no longer sticky. Check frequently after starting hour 3 in case your slow cooker runs hot, even on low (temperature settings on slow cookers are not standard and can vary wildly).

Immediately transfer pecans to prepared cookie sheet in a single layer.

Let cool completely before eating or decoratively bagging (bow optional).