If you want to wow the room or make a food gift everyone will be talking about. Make these Candied Pecans. This recipe is egg free and made on the stove vs the oven. Spiced Pecans with a candy crunch are incredibly tasty!
This recipe for Candied Pecans is easy. I promise! The hardest part is the stirring, it's an arm workout! However once you make delicious candied nuts you will be able to pump batch after batch!
These nuts easy to customize if you enjoy spicy-sweet. They make an amazing addition to a cheese board or charcuterie board. Or, you can just enjoy them on their own. Watch out however because these are deliciously addictive!
Table of Contents
Why make these amazing Candied Pecans?
Plain or Spicy Candied Pecans make a fabulous holiday food gift as well as a thoughtful host/hostess gift! Just package them up in a cute box or decorative baggie with ribbon. Or better yet in a cute mason or glass jar!
Ingredients
- water
- vanilla
- sugar
- whole pecans
- spiced sugar or cinnamon sugar
Tips
- Use my Spiced Sugar recipe for some of the sugar, the flavor is amazing and is perfect for making these spiced pecans!
- This is an easy recipe in my opinion however you need to be organized and focused. Have all ingredients measured out and ready to go.
- Works best in a nonstick pot/pan with a rubber/silicone spatula.
- Use a larger pan/pot than you think you need. This way it moves a little faster and you reduce the chance of any splatter.
- Once the liquid is drying up you must pay full attention and stir, stir, stir. The nuts will become crusty dry but then as you stir they will get wet again in spots. Once 35-40% wet again in spots is when you add in your spiced sugar and stir stir stir. Once you again begin to see some wet spots, turn the nuts out onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet quickly and carefully.
- Definitely make some sore of spiced sugar, it makes them even better!
- Do not seal in a jar or baggie until completely cooled (although you can eat away while they are still warm!! Who can resist?
Candied Nut Variations
- For a sweet salty crunch, add in a couple pinches of kosher salt when you add in the final ¼ cup of sugar.
- For a spicy sweetness, add in cayenne / red pepper when you add in your final ¼ cup of sugar (mix it into the sugar before adding).
- Make these nuts spice or not at all, up to you.
- Swap the pecans for whole almonds, even better IMO. More crunch!
If you enjoy holiday entertaining and holiday foods in general, here are some of my favorites to try.
I hope you LOVE LOVE LOVE these Candied Nuts as much those I often gift those to do (and me too!).
Thanksgiving recipes to try
- Smoked Turkey - If you know you know!
- The Original Pumpkin Pie - This is the most delicious and different Thanksgiving recipe that has a lot of history.
- Applejack Mule - An easy & delicious fall cocktail with history.
Christmas recipes to try
- Nantucket Pie - I've been viral on TikTok for this one, perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert. You've never tasted anything quite like it (and its easy!!)
- Cranberry Soda Bread, another viral video the last few years. SO good, a must make during cranberry season!
- Christmas Wassail - A family tradition.
Enjoy! XO - Colleen
Candied Pecans
How to make Candied Pecans that taste like NYC or theme park vendors. Warm, crunchy, fragrant AMAZING candied nuts!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup water plus 1 TBS
- 1 TBS vanilla
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups whole pecans
- ¼ cup Spiced sugar or cinnamon sugar (see notes)
Instructions
- Add the water, 1 cup of the sugar and vanilla to a heavy bottom saucepan or skillet with sides. Use a larger pot/pan then you think you'll need.
- Bring sugar, water and vanilla to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Once boiling, add in the pecans and stir almost CONSTANTLY until the water is boiled away.
- The sugar will begin to dry out a little and start to stick to the pecans, almost like a dusty white. Keep stirring them around, so that the nuts don’t have a chance to burn on the bottom of the pan. If things get dicey, remove from heat and keep stirring until it cools a bit (heat conductivity of pans and stoves will vary)
- One the pecans begin looking dry, turn the heat under the pan to medium-low, to keep the sugar from browning too fast. Keep stirring until the almonds start to get a little shiny in spots, like they are wet.
- You are getting a serious arm workout making these – but its all good! It means you can eat extra!!
- Remove your pan from the heat for a minute, add in the ¼ cup of spiced sugar (recipe in notes) . Keep stirring.
- At this point, there might be some noise coming from your pan. Some crackling and popping, but hopefully not to much. It depends on how fresh your nuts were. Really fresh nuts may make a popping noise. That’s the water escaping. If the nuts are older, that will not really happen.
- Keep stirring until the pecans are a little shiny in spots, but still a bit lumpy and coated.
- The best ones are the ones that are shiny in some areas with some delicious lumps of cinnamon sugar on other parts of the nut. As soon as you see that happening, take them off the heat and transfer the pecans to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread them apart, but don’t worry about some of them sticking together initially.
- BE CAREFUL, however. These are extremely hot, so use a spoon. The coating on the pecans will harden up as they cool.
Notes
Click here for my Spiced Sugar recipe.
To make your own spiced sugar to put on many things, excellent in a variety of baked goods. Combine 1 ½ cups of sugar with 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 TBS cinnamon and 1 vanilla bean. Slice vanilla bean down the full length and scrape out the seeds. Shake in a jar or stir until fully combined. You can also choose to add in ½ teaspoon or so of nutmeg,
Nutrition
Serving: 8servingsCalories: 296kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 2gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gSodium: 0.5mgPotassium: 105mgFiber: 2gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 14IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg
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Regina Wilson says
I want to try this recipe. Can I use lemon flavor instead of the vanilla?
Colleen says
Hmm, not sure how that would be. If you don't like vanilla, just leave it out. Add in some spices like I recommend with the spiced sugar. Enjoy!
dantani says
My first batch turned out great! My second batch was a disaster. I think because I used salted cashews in the second batch. I think the salt mustve mucked something up.
Debi says
Do I need to use raw nuts?
Colleen says
Unsalted nuts as you would find in the baking aisle or Costco.
Sharon says
I keep ending up with lots of loose sugar when they are done. Am I doing something wrong? These are delicious but I feel like I can do them better!
Colleen says
There will be some loose sugar at the end, but not too much. Allow some of it to once again melt after the second addition of sugar. That equals crunch. Move pot/pan on and off the heat if you feel a burn coming on.
Emily says
Amazing recipe!!! was looking for how to make it on the stove since it yields a small batch in the over and takes what feels like forever. Made 1/4th of the recipe to try but I will definitely be making this again.
Colleen says
Fantastic! I do love this recipe! Started many years ago making it with almonds (the German way) morphed into all sorts of nuts and variations. Glad you enjoyed Emily, thanks for the comment!!