Candied pecans are a no-frills, no-fuss recipe perfect for topping salads, general snacking, adding to popcorn salads on family movie night, fancying up your holiday cheese or charcuterie board, or giving as delicious DIY food gifts. These sweet glazed pecans are delicious and hard to stop eating — you’ve officially been warned.
Perfect for holiday office parties or family get-togethers, these party nuts keep your guests satiated while the turkey or ham is still in the oven (especially if you’re also serving pre-dinner drinks at your soiree). This is the easiest spiced nuts recipe you can make requiring a mere 5 minutes of hands-on time, a bowl, and a baking sheet, plus it’s vegetarian and gluten-free (and it’s always the first thing to disappear from any holiday buffet)!
Watch the How to make candied pecans video down below to see just how easy this recipe is to make.
No Candy Thermometer Needed (Candied Nuts Recipe)
There are generally two easy ways to make candied pecans — baked in the oven or cooked in a skillet on the stovetop (or what are often called ‘quick candied pecans’). For these spiced pecans, I’ve used the no-fail oven-baked method which means you don’t need lots of experience or a candy thermometer to make sure the sugar mixture reaches the hard crack stage/temperature.
Even if you’ve never cooked in your life, this glazed pecans recipe is so easy it would be difficult to not have a 100% success rate! Even really young kids can help make these spiced nuts. Plus, you can make all kinds of party nuts using this recipe, by simply switching out the pecans for peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts, or even pepita seeds!
A No-Fail Candied Pecans Recipe
If you’ve ever made candied pecans in a skillet on the stovetop and wondered why they were sticky, it’s because the sugar mixture didn’t reach a high enough temperature (aka the hard crack stage in candy-making) in order to set the sugar and make it crunchy when cooled. That’s why, this is a perfect beginner’s candied pecan recipe because the oven takes out all of the guesswork.
Why We Love This Candied Pecan Recipe
- This is a super easy candied pecan recipe (they’re addictive!)
- Homemade sugared pecans are less expensive and fresher than store-bought
- Makes the best last-minute recipe to bake and take to holiday parties
- There are no weird ingredients or preservatives in these flavored pecans
- It uses 6 basic pantry ingredients plus salt (5 if you omit the pumpkin spice)
- It’s all mixed up and tossed together in 5 minutes
- It’s perfectly sweetened (not too much and not too little)
- They’re perfect to add to popcorn salads on movie night
- It’s a Christmas dessert recipe or Thanksgiving recipe kids can easily make and feel proud of
Overview: Cinnamon Glazed Pecans Ingredients (100% Made From Scratch)
Making cinnamon pecans (or any nuts with a cinnamon glaze requires just a few simple ingredients. The amount of cinnamon and sugar you use is up to you. I’ve used just enough in this recipe to create nuts that taste caramelly, and super crunchy with a hint of cinnamon flavor. We don’t love an overwhelming cinnamon taste so for us, these nuts are perfectly balanced. You will find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
For the Cinnamon Sugar Pecans
Sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness and a caramel flavor without being cloyingly sweet and overpowering the natural deliciousness of pecans.
Cinnamon adds just the right amount of warm spice without overpowering the flavor of the pecans which we want to be front and center.
Pumpkin spice (optional but recommended) has a few more warm spices in it that balance the overall flavor of these nuts in a way that makes them craveable.
Egg White works as the “glue” to ensure the sugar and spices adhere to the nuts and don’t just end up on the baking pan.
Homemade Pure Vanilla Extract adds another layer of flavor and helps create that caramel flavor I mentioned above (although, in a real pinch you can use water).
Salt adds the necessary balance to the sweetness and without it, these nuts would be very one-note nuts.
Pecans are naturally sweet, nutty, and delicious and in this recipe, they get exceptionally crunchy.
Overview: How to Make Candied Pecans — Toss & Bake
This recipe is just about as simple as tossing everything together in a bowl and baking the pecans. Here’s a look at what to expect, but you can find the full instructions in the recipe card.
- Toss the pecans in the egg white-vanilla extract mixture.
- Toss the fully coated pecans in the sugar and spices.
- Bake the pecans, stirring 4 times total as they roast until crunchy and evenly browned.
Candied Pecans step-by-step recipe photos
Watch the How to Make Candied Pecans Video Below
How To Use Candied Pecans
Candied Pecans make excellent DIY food gifts for the holidays, or to bring along as a hostess gift for your nut-loving friends. They’re a perfect (mostly healthy) snack that pairs extremely well with cheese, fruit, and crackers on a charcuterie board, used as a delicious salad topper, sprinkled over a bowl of your favorite ice cream, or crumbled and baked right into some of your favorite muffins, or even pumpkin bread, or my favorite — this 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ banana bread recipe!
How to Store Candied Pecans
Store candied pecans in a sealed glass jar at room temperature for up to 1 week (or any airtight container will do). These don’t last long at our house, but if you want to make them ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze them you can (see below):
- Store them at room temperature for up to a week
- Store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks
- Store them in the freezer in a freezer bag, or other airtight container (tempered glass jars work well too) for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove them from the container and allow them to come to room temperature on a baking tray.
Can You Add Other Flavors to Homemade Candied Pecans?
Yes, you can easily add different flavors to candied pecans or other party nuts by substituting the vanilla extract with other extracts like almond, coconut, orange, or even rum extract. You can also add cayenne pepper to make spicy candied pecans. Or use different spices like nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and ginger to give them a different spiced flavor altogether. Lastly, you can also add grated orange zest to give candied pecans a slight citrus flavor or add cayenne for a spicy kick which also tastes great.
Looking For More Holiday Dessert Recipes?
Below are just a few of our favorite easy holiday desserts to make. If you’re trying to get a headstart on baking, these are definite crowdpleasers!
- Easy All-Natural Strawberry Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust
- Best Ever All-Natural Strawberry Cheesecake Crostata
- Diner Style Triple Coconut Cream Pie (With Mile-High Meringue)
- Easy and Delicious Pecan Tassie Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust
- Best Ever Black Sesame Triple Coconut Cream Pie
- All-Natural Pumpkin Pie Tart w/Pecan Crunch (no canned pumpkin)
- The Very Best Southern Pecan Pie (Made for the Oscars literally)
- Torta Di Mela (Easy & Delicious Italian Apple Cake)
- Incredibly Moist Carrot Cake (best carrot cake recipe ever)
- Sweet Cherry Crumb-Crunch Pie w/Streusel Topping 100% From Scratch Streusel
- White Chocolate Creme Brûlée Cheesecake w/Biscoff Cookie Crust
- Super Moist Devil’s Food Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chestnut Graham Cracker Crust
- Granny’s Perfect Pumpkin Bread w/Toasted Pumpkin Seeds (Vintage Recipe)
Let’s get started!
Print
Candied Pecans Anyone Can Make (Easy, Crunchy, Delicious)
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 pound Candied Pecans 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Perfect for holiday office parties or family get-togethers, these party nuts keep your guests satiated while the turkey or ham is still in the oven (especially if you’re also serving pre-dinner drinks at your soiree).
This is the easiest spiced nuts recipe you can make requiring a mere 5 minutes of hands-on time, a bowl, and a baking sheet, plus it’s vegetarian and gluten-free and it’s always the first thing to disappear from any holiday buffet!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar or pure cane sugar (80g)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (1.5g)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pumpkin spice (1.5g) (sub cinnamon if desired)
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (15g)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more or less to taste (1.5 to 3g)
- 1 pound pecan halves (454g) (sub walnuts, almonds, etc.)
Instructions
- Toss the pecans in the egg white-vanilla extract mixture. Preheat the oven to 250°F/120°C. Add the egg white and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the pecans and toss them until fully coated on all sides.
- Coat the pecans with sugar and spices. In a small prep bowl, add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice (if using) and stir until well blended. Add the mixture to the pecans and toss well to fully coat the nuts.
- Bake the pecans. Add the pecans to a baking sheet (with or without a silicone baking mat) and bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Give the nuts a stir, rearrange them back into a single layer, and bake for 15 more minutes before tossing them again. Continue baking for 30 more minutes tossing the nuts 2 more times at 15-minute intervals. After about 1 hour of total cooking time, the pecans should be evenly browned, crunchy, and no longer sticky. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature before storing them in a glass jar or eating them, Enjoy!
Notes
- You may use half brown sugar and half granulated sugar to give the candied pecans even more caramel flavor, but you may need to increase the roasting time by a few minutes because brown sugar has more moisture in it than granulated sugar.
- Substitute any nuts or seeds for the pecans in this recipe, but be sure to account for the revised baking time needed. For instance, the raw peeled peanuts I used took 30 to 45 minutes longer to roast than the raw pecans, so I ended up separating out the pecans when they were ready and putting the peanuts back into the oven to finish (don’t make this mistake). If you used pepita seeds for instance, they would likely take less time than the pecans, so on and so forth.
How to Store Candied Pecans
Store candied pecans in a sealed glass jar at room temperature for up to 1 week (or any airtight container will do). These don’t last long at our house, but if you want to make them ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze them you can (see below):
- Store them at room temperature for up to a week
- Store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks
- Store them in the freezer in a freezer bag, or other airtight container (tempered glass jars work well too) for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove them from the container and allow them to come to room temperature on a baking tray.
Can You Add Other Flavors to Homemade Candied Pecans?
Yes, you can easily add different flavors to candied pecans or other party nuts by substituting the vanilla extract with other extracts like almond, coconut, orange, or even rum extract. You can also add cayenne pepper to make spicy candied pecans. Or use different spices like nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and ginger to give them a different spiced flavor altogether. Lastly, you can also add grated orange zest to give candied pecans a slight citrus flavor or add cayenne for a spicy kick which also tastes great.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Nibbles + Bits
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
