When you're a maple syrup producer you sometimes get to the next maple syrup season with maple syrup still on hand. When that happens at our house my wife boils it down carefully to make maple sugar.

She has this jar sitting on her coffee table so that she can use it in her coffee in the morning. We use it for baking, candy and ice cream making, and to add some extra depth of flavor to savory dishes.

Sometimes when I'm sitting on the couch and start to feel a bit snackish for something sweet and salty I make this stuff.

I throw a bunch of pecan halves into a frying pan, add a bunch of maple syrup (not quite to cover the nuts, a splash of vanilla (preferably Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla in bourbon, I love the flavor), and a healthy pinch of salt.

Then...I turn on the first and give it a mix until everything is dissolved. I carefully boil off the water until it starts to dry and and get really sticky then I turn it out onto a piece of baking paper and let it cool down.

This is the end result. The matrix of this confection is solid maple sugar.

You can add butter, too, but that tends to make it more chewy. You can add a bunch of butter and some heavy (whipping) cream and you end up with @$% delicious ice cream sauce.