Go nuts with pecans beyond pies and brownies

Mint

a day ago

I took my first bite of a raw pecan and thought—this is exactly what you'd get if a cashew and a walnut had a baby. Pecans take the best from both: the sweet butteriness of a cashew and the earthy nuttiness of a walnut.
Until now, my encounters with pecans had been in pecan pies or a brownie, but this is one nut that scores a perfect ten, even when raw and untoasted. It also has an inherent crisp texture that avoids one of the most annoying traits of most nuts when eaten raw—that tendency of getting stuck between your teeth.
For years, nuts have been high on the shopping list of Indians visiting the US—and I'm clearly not alone in thinking so. When I asked my Instagram audience what tops their 'must-buy" list from the US (given that you can find almost everything here these days), pecans and walnuts emerged as clear favourites. And with good reason: the quality is excellent, and the prices can be far more attractive than in India.
I picked up a two-pound bag of fresh pecan halves at Costco in US for $12.99—about ₹1,200 per kilo. A quick online check back home showed Indian retailers selling pecans for anywhere between ₹3,300-5,000 per kilo. While almonds and cashews might sometimes be better value locally, pecans are still something of a niche nut here. With nuts, freshness matters. Long import journeys and months on store shelves can dull their flavour and texture, which is why a bag hand-carried by a friend or family member from abroad will almost always trump anything you can order online. That said, if there's no travel on the horizon, a small pack from a reliable local source can still be worth it, if only to enjoy the distinct buttery sweetness that makes pecans so special.
But are pecans truly 'cheap" in the US? Climate change and global exports mean that even the locally grown nuts are no longer super-affordable. I read this interesting piece on how pecan has become way too expensive for their own Thanksgiving pecan pie. Historian James McWilliams recounts in The Pecan: A History of America's Native Nut (2013), it took just one tasting at a Paris trade show in 2006 for a group of curious Chinese buyers to set off a chain reaction. Within a few years, China went from having no word for 'pecan" to importing a quarter of the US crop. Brined, roasted, and marketed as an antioxidant-packed luxury snack, they went from unheard of to being available in local gas stations. Add to that Texas droughts, late frosts and the fact that bakers prize only the freshest, prettiest halves for pies, and you have the perfect recipe for expensive pecan pie.
I have a bit of a hoarding tendency when it comes to exotic ingredients, saving them for a 'special" day or dish. I'm sure some of you reading this will relate. But after too many rounds of clearing out expired treasures from the back of my freezer, I've resolved to use these pecans in the here and now. Beyond eating a few raw to savour their flavour and roasting some for snacking, I've used pecans in muffins—a perfect grab-and-go snack for kids. My kitchen notebook is filling with ideas: Sunday banana pecan pancakes, quinoa salad with roasted vegetables and pecans, pecan-and-chilli crusted paneer, homemade granola with dried fruit and coconut flakes and a chocolate bark with sea salt for a healthy-ish treat.
At this rate, my two-pound stash will vanish sooner rather than later. I'll be hoping a travelling friend steps in and gets me a bag.
HOT MAPLE PECANS
Makes 1 cup
Ingredients
1 cup pecan halves
1 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
1 tsp olive oil
Half tsp salt
Half tsp red chilli powder
Preheat the airfryer to 160 degrees Celsius
Method
In a bowl, whisk the maple syrup, olive oil, salt and chilli powder together. Add the pecans, tossing well to coat.
Line the airfryer basket with parchment, transfer the nuts and roast for 5-6 minutes, shaking once midway. Watch closely as nuts can burn quickly. Serve once cooled or store in an airtight container and use them to top salads and grain bowls.
PECAN APPLE OAT MUFFINS
Makes 9
Ingredients
Half-cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Half tsp salt
Half cup brown sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
Half cup milk
Half to three quarters cup of milk
1 egg
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Half tsp vanilla extract
1 red apple, coarsely grated
Quarter cup chopped pecans
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a 9-cup muffin tray with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, oat flour, cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and grated apple until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the chopped pecans. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge, where they will keep for up to a week.
Tip: You can make oat flour by blitzing rolled oats in a blender until finely ground.
Double Tested is a fortnightly column on vegetarian cooking, highlighting a single ingredient prepared two ways. Nandita Iyer's latest book is The Great Indian Thali. She posts @saffrontrail on Instagram and X.