Candied Pecans
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These candied pecans are perfect to serve with cocktails or toss over salads, and the best part is they take just 15 minutes to make!
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
These sweet, spicy, and salty candied pecans are madly delicious. They’re perfect to serve with cocktails, toss over salads, or just keep around the house over the holidays. They also make a fabulous homemade gift. The best part? You only need four simple ingredients to make them — and if you start right now, you’ll be done in 15 minutes. What are you waiting for?
“I made these just as written and they are PERFECT!! I plan to make another batch to take on a car trip next weekend. I’ll need to pack them in the trunk so I don’t eat them all before I get there!”
What You’ll Need To Make Candied Pecans
- Confectioners’ sugar: Combined with water, it creates a syrupy glaze when baked, coating the pecans evenly and caramelizing the exterior.
- Kosher salt: Adds a savory balance to the sweetness of the sugar.
- Cayenne pepper: Provides a hint of heat for a flavorful, subtle kick.
- Water: Mixed with the sugar and seasonings, helps create a syrupy consistency to coat the pecans evenly.
- Pecans: Serve as the crunchy base of the recipe. Pecans’ crevices absorb the flavorful glaze during baking.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the Confectioners sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper and 4 teaspoons of water in a medium bowl.
Whisk until combined.
Add the pecans to the sugar mixture and stir until evenly coated.
Place the nuts on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the nuts are crusty on top and caramelized on the bottom.
Slide the parchment off of the baking sheet onto a countertop; this stops the nuts from overcooking on the hot baking sheet.
When the nuts are completely cool, use your hands to break them apart.
Transfer the nuts to a bowl and serve, or store in a covered container for up to a few weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other nuts will definitely work, but pecans are wonderful due to all the crevices they have to collect the glaze. Walnuts work nicely too.
The nuts have a hint of heat, but they’re not spicy enough that they would put off anyone (unless they’re very sensitive to spice). That said, a number of people have used ground cinnamon in place of the cayenne pepper. Alternatively, if you want to up the heat, you can add a little more cayenne to the glaze mixture.
Confectioners’ sugar is preferred for its fine texture, which dissolves quickly, creating a smoother glaze. Granulated sugar may not dissolve as well, affecting the texture of the candied pecans.
VIDEO TUTORIAL
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Candied Pecans
These candied pecans are perfect to serve with cocktails or toss over salads, and the best part is they take just 15 minutes to make!
Ingredients
- ½ cup Confectioners' sugar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 teaspoons water
- 2 cups pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the Confectioners' sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, and water.
- Add the pecans to the sugar mixture and stir until the nuts are evenly coated.
- Transfer the pecans to the prepared baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Do your best to make sure the nuts are evenly spread out (if they are clumped together, they won't cook evenly). Scrape out every last bit of glaze from the bowl and drizzle over the nuts. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the pecans are caramelized and the caramel on the baking sheet is a rich brown color but not burnt. (The nuts around the edges will darken first; watch closely so they don't burn.)
- Immediately slide the parchment off of the hot baking sheet and allow the pecans to cool completely on the countertop (this stops the cooking process and prevents the nuts from burning). Once cool, remove the pecans from the parchment, breaking apart any clusters if necessary, and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
- Note: If the nuts are sticky after cooling, that means they are a bit undercooked. Pop them back in the oven for a few minutes and let cool again.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 1/4 cup
- Calories: 217
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Sugar: 8 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 178 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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Hi, In my family we can’t eat hot pepper. Can I make this recipe using Cinnamon or Cinnamon, Allspice & Nutmeg? (Without using too much of each to make it too spicy)? If so how much do you suggest I use?
Thanks & Happy Thanksgiving,
Jay M
Hi Jay, It’s fine for you to replace the cayenne with any of those spices and you’ll only need a total of 1/2 teaspoon, so you could use 1/4 teaspoon each of two of the three spices you mentioned. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn
Made these for my family at Canadian thanksgiving. They were a big hit and gobbled up. Just the right amount of sweet and spicy for us.
Thanks for another great recipe.
Regards Sharon
I want to make these to add some interest and spice to my streusel for Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. Do you think I should reduce the salt for this purpose? Or just keep the same and try not to eat them while sweet potatoes bake?
Hi DA, They are more sweet than salty so I would make them as the recipe specifies — and good luck resisting!
Thanks they are cooling now and absolutely delicious. After trying they are not going into streusel (why dilute this goodness) instead just rough chop to top bourbon mashed sweet potatoes for thanksgiving tomorrow. TBH might just to make more tomorrow: you are so right about resisting!
These keep almost forever if sealed tight and frozen.
This is a great recipe and provided a great outcome! The only thing I would do is reduce the amount of cayenne pepper because it does come with quite a kick! Otherwise my family and I love it!
Love this recipe!! I made 2 batches 3 days ago, stored them in an air tight container, but now they are sticky. Can I put them back in the oven to get rid of the stickiness? How long would I cook them for?
Thank you!
Hi Jane, it’s worth a go. I’d probably start with 5 minutes and see how they feel.
These are so good and easy it’s unbelievable! I bought the Once Upon a Chef Cookbook last year and use it more than my many, many cookbooks. The recipes are all so no nonsense and excellent. No crazy list of unusual ingredients that you’ll not use again-thank you!The many I have made turn out perfectly. I moved to the UK in 2021 and my books are still packed so I searched the site in hopes of finding this recipe-hoorah!
❤️
These are simply amazing! How far in advance can you make these pecans, assuming they are stored in an airtight container?
Glad you like them! These are best if eaten within about a week (but you can probably get away with a few extra days tacked onto that.
Absolutely delicious!!! Thank you for this wonderful and simple recipe. We all love it as a snack!
Absolutely love this recipe. Also tried it with almonds, not as good as they’re so dense but still enjoyable. One issue however, the nuts kept sticking to the parchment paper. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong?
Hi Willie, did you definitely use parchment paper? Also, they do stick a little, but I find that if I start to crumble up the paper a little as I’m breaking up the nuts that they release from the paper. Also, it could be that they were a bit undercooked. Please LMK if I can help in any other way.