You'll love these two-ingredient candied pecans. They're crunchy, perfectly sweet and a great snack. Made without egg and on the stovetop. Vegan and Gluten-Free.
How to make candied pecans video
About this candied pecan recipe
While a lot of candied pecan recipes are baked and use egg white to make the sugar stick to the nuts, we opted for a stovetop method with no eggs. Our candied pecan recipe has only three ingredients, pecans, water, and a sweetener, which makes it vegan and gluten-free.
We tested this recipe using white sugar, brown sugar, and maple syrup. All the pecans ended up crunchy and tasty. The candied pecans made with white sugar had the cleanest taste, the ones made with brown sugar had more of a caramel-y tone to them, and the candied pecans made with maple syrup had the most sugar crystal texture and had that characteristic maple taste.
Our recipe testing leads us to believe that this candied pecan recipe can we also made with honey and agave. We may also test this recipe at a later date with date sugar and coconut sugar. We will update this post and let you know the results.
This candied pecan recipe is:
- Easy to make
- Vegan
- Gluten-Free
- Crunchy
- Sweet
- Has 86 calories for 5 candied pecan halves
- Versatile. It can be made with any other type of nut like walnuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc.
- Flexible, it can be made with white sugar, brown sugar or maple syrup
- Can be made more savory by adding black or cayenne pepper or spice mixes like our Crazy Good Shawarma Spice Mix, our Homemade Garam Masala or your favorite spices.
How long can you store candied pecans?
- We like to store candied pecans in a glass jar with a tight lid
- Store on your kitchen counter or pantry to 1-2 weeks ( if they last that long...)
- Store in your fridge for 4-6 weeks
- Store in your freezer for 2-3 months
How to use candied pecans
- Add to your favorite salad
- Use as a crunchy topping for rice
- Mix them into yogurt
- Add them to oatmeal
- Add them to ice cream
- Put them in a pretty jar and give them as a thank you gift
Other Thanksgiving Desserts We Recommend
- Vegan Pumpkin Mousse
- Cranberry Pear Pie
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Candied Pecans
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- Ginger Snap Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Mousse Cashew Cheesecake
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ice cream
- Bourbon Pecan Pie
- Lemon Infused Almond Milk Custard
Did you like our candied pecans recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, it would help us tremendously if you left us a star rating in the comments below or on the recipe card. Do you have any questions about the recipe? Do you need a swap for any of the ingredients? We are here to help, just leave us a question in the comments below.
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Candied Pecans
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups candied pecans 1x
Description
You'll love these two-ingredient candied pecans. They're crunchy, perfectly sweet and a great snack. Made without egg and on the stovetop. Vegan and Gluten-Free.
Ingredients
- 2 cups ( 7 oz / 200 grams) raw pecans
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoon ( 4 ⅜ oz / 130 grams) white sugar (SEE NOTES 1 & 2)
- ⅔ cups water
- ¼ tsp salt (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet (or your counter if it's heat resistant)
- Combine, the pecans, sugar, water and salt (if using)In a medium-large skillet (it's best to use a deep skillet, to prevent the sugar from splashing, but a regular skillet will work as well). Have a wooden spoon handy as well
- Cook over high heat until it boils, about 1-2 minutes, and reduce heat to medium-high
- Continue cooking and stirring with a wooden spoon until the liquid becomes thicker and darker in color, about 4-5 minutes, and reduce the heat to medium
- Continue cooking until all the water evaporates and stir constantly until the sugar crystallizes and becomes sandy, about 3-5 minutes. Lower temperature to low (check out the video or the images in the blog post)
- Once all the pecans are coated with the sugar crystals, keep stirring until the sugar starts melting again and starts coating the pecans with a shiny sugar coating. Not all the pecan will have an even coating (SEE NOTE 3)
- Remove from heat and place the pecans on the prepared parchment paper.
- Let the candied pecans cool completely. DO NOT TOUCH THE HOT PECANS, THEY WILL BURN YOUR SKIN. BE CAREFUL!
- Once the candied pecans have cooled completely, separate any that have clumped together.
- Store in a glass jar with a tight lid.
Notes
- If using brown sugar, use ½ cup plus ⅓ cup of packed brown sugar. If using maple syrup, use ½ cup
- The recipe calls for ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of white sugar. Use the whole amount to get the best results.
- Brown sugar will take longer to remelt than white sugar and maple syrup doesn't really remelt, so the pecans will have a thicker crystallized sugar coating on them
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Snack
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 candied pecan halves
- Calories: 86
- Sugar: 6.3
- Sodium: 0
- Fat: 6.5
- Saturated Fat: .6
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.9
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 7.2
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: .8
- Cholesterol: 0
Paula Zevin
I'm definitely making this with the pecans and other nuts left over from recent baking. How much of your shawarma spice mix would you suggest adding? I have some left over as well.
Vicky & Ruth
It depends on how much you would like the Shawarma flavor to come through. For 2 cups of nuts, we would add between 1/2 -1 tsp. Also, we would also add salt and not skip it, so you get a more distinct sweet and savory flavor.
Raquel
These are addictive in the best way possible! They taste good as a snack, on a salad, on top of soup- they will elevate any dish and bring it to the next level!
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you!
Anna
These candied pecans are so addictively amazing!
Vicky & Ruth
Max
The first time I made these I did not have the patience to let the sugar melt again to get the shiny, thicker coating. The pecans were still delicious. I just made my second batch and followed the recipe...all I can say is "WOW".
Vicky & Ruth
We agree! They are dangerously good!
Sarah
These candied pecans are out of this world. I am going to make several batches and to send to family and friends this holiday season.
Vicky & Ruth
AWW! We hope everyone enjoys them as much as you do.
Sarah
Luv these candied pecans.
Vicky & Ruth
We know! They are amazing, if we may say so
Naomicc
Amazing how easy this made making
Candied pecans. Delicious and elevated
Every dish I added them to.
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you, happy to hear that you enjoyed our candied pecans
Cindy
My favorite type of recipe!! Few ingredients, easy to follow directions and tastes great!! The only problem is not eating all of them at once!!!
Vicky & Ruth
Ha, ha, you are so right!
Rebeca
Easy to make and so delicious!
Alison
I’m excited to try this recipe using maple syrup. I tried using coconut sugar on the stove-top, and the sugar didn’t melt well and ended up with a terrible aftertaste. If you do go with the coconut sugar, I’d be interested in seeing how you succeed.
Vicky & Ruth
Oh no! Coconut sugar is tricky, it seems to quickly get a burnt flavor. We will let you know if we find a way to make candied pecans with coconut sugar. Let us know how you like the candied pecans with Maple Syrup.