Pecan Butter--SIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNfully good!

Sometimes something so good bears spreading around. Via, Creepy Cupcakesa most delightful blog from a self professed Happy Halloween Homemaker comes this recipe for Pecan Butter. I tried this easy and delicious recipe this weekend with spectacular results, Paula Deen would be proud for the butter involved! And for those concerned, I did keep my Weight Watchers points values in line despite the temptation to just grab a spoon and dig in!

"Toast 1/2 cup pecans, chopped preferred, in the oven: I did 15 minutes at 325o, but you might not need to go that long - when they are fragrant, they are done.

While the nuts are toasting, cream together a 1/4 cup light brown sugar and
2 sticks salted butter (you can do unsalted if you prefer, it will have a more mellow taste), adding in 1 tsp pure vanilla extract.

I like to do all of this in my food processor. It makes the next step easy.

Add your cooled, toasted nuts. Blend on "chop" in the food processor until well combined.

Seal in a container (my personal container is decked out with a hand-drawn skull-and-crossbones and the word 'poison' to keep the cruddy little critters I live with from eating it); I'm not sure exactly how long it lasts, but please make more if the nuts begin tasting rancid. :(

I like my butter to have a smooth consistency without large chunks of pecan - if you prefer it will more chunky pecan, you can simply stir in chopped pecans, or use the food processor with half the pecans and stir in the other half of the chopped pecans in at the end.

My smooth version looks like a super-pale spicy mustard. It tastes like all the best parts of cake batter with just a smack of pecan. It's good on toast, pancakes, or anything else you might otherwise put butter and syrup on. I would also recommend it melted and drizzled on apples.

Make it for friends, take it to brunches, etc this holiday season."


And her last recommendation to which I can only wholeheartedly agree...

"IMPORTANT: Don't do what I'm doing here. Make this for people, let them 'oooo!' and 'awe' over it. Then don't tell them how to make it. I mean really, tasty things like this lose so much magic when you know how easy they are to make."