Cinnamon-Sugar Candied Pecans
These easy, oven-baked candied pecans are the salty, sweet snack you need in your life right now. Perfect for snacking, tossing into salads, or gifting to others, these baked nuts can do it all! With just a few simple ingredients you can quickly whip up a batch of these pecans in no time.
What could be better than a salty and sweet snack? How about one with minimal prep time, pantry staple ingredients, and endless uses?
These candied pecans are extremely worthy of sharing, in fact, I urge you to make these immediately. Put them on the appetizer and desserts tables for Thanksgiving, throw them in your salad, put them in jars for Christmas gifts, eat them by the handful… just make sure you have a good hiding place for them because once you start eating them, you won’t be able to stop!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pecans: I like to use fresh, raw pecan halves to make these addictive candied pecans (see notes below on selecting pecans).
- Cinnamon sugar mixture: A blend of cinnamon, sugar, and salt coats the pecan halves to make a sweet brittle candy coating when they bake.
- Egg whites + Water: Binds the cinnamon sugar to the pecans while also hardening out the candied pecans during the baking.
- Vanilla: Added for a splash of flavor!
Notes on Pecans
When it comes to picking pecans the choices are numerous. You can buy whole, halved, chopped, roasted, sweetened, salted, the list goes on and on. For candied pecans, here is what I recommend when you are shopping for the pecans:
- Buy unsweetened and unsalted pecan halves. They will typically be labeled raw.
- Check the freshness date to ensure they have not been sitting on the shelf beyond their expiration.
- Look for plump, golden brown, uniform-looking pecan halves.
- If you are buying them in advance and plan to make the candied pecans later, store your pecans in an airtight container.
- Keep shelled pecans in the refrigerator for up to 9 months or in the freezer for up to 2 years.
Ingredient Swaps
- Nuts: This recipe can be made with a variety of nuts, not just pecans. Feel free to change it up and use walnuts, almonds, cashews, or a mix of your favorites.
- Spices: Other spices like nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, clove, a pinch of cayenne, apple pie spice, or even pumpkin spice would be delicious on these candied nuts!
Step-by-Step Directions
While I’ve seen candied nut recipes that require actual candy-making, i.e. using a candy thermometer and being very precise, these cinnamon-sugar pecans couldn’t have been easier.
- Prepare for baking: Preheat the oven to 250°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the cinnamon sugar: In a large zip-top bag, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
- Mix liquid ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, water, and vanilla extract.
- Coat pecans in egg white mixture: Add the pecans to the bowl and stir them into the egg white mixture with a rubber spatula, making sure they are all moistened.
- Transfer to cinnamon-sugar: Using a slotted spoon, remove the pecans from the egg white mixture and drop them into the bag with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Once all of the pecans are added, seal the bag, and shake it to coat all of the pecans.
- Spread out on baking sheet: Using a clean slotted spoon, remove the pecans from the bag and place them onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake + stir: Bake for 1 hour, stirring them every 15 minutes.
- Cool + store candied pecans: Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
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Storing + Shelf-Life
- Counter: Your candied pecans will last up to 2 weeks at room temperature in an airtight container.
- Gifting: Place some of the pecans in a cellophane treat bag or glass jar, label it and share with loved ones.
- Fridge: To keep the pecans longer, store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container.
- Freezer: In a freezer-safe container, these will stay fresh for 2 months in the freezer.
How to Use Candied Pecans
I love going after a bowl of these pecans for a sweet snack as well as gifting them at the holidays for others. Some other ways you can use these candied pecans are:
- Use them to top my signature salad.
- Swap these in for the plain pecans in this shaved Brussels sprout salad.
- Garnish a delicious carrot cake with sweet candied pecans.
- Chop them up and mix them into your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Fast FAQs About Candied Pecans
Are pecan pralines the same as candied pecans?
While both are made with pecans and are sinfully delicious, pecan pralines and candied pecans are slightly different. Pralines are coated in a melt-in-your-mouth caramel mixture while candied pecans are baked into a brittle cinnamon-sugar coating.
Why are my candied nuts sticky?
One of the main reasons your pecans might still be sticky after baking is that the sugar didn’t fully cook. Pop the tray back in the oven until they are more crispy, about 5-10 minutes.
Pecan Recipes You’ll Love:
- Bourbon Pecan Praline Recipe
- Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries, and Pecans
- Pecan Tassies
- Butter Pecan Ice Cream
- Chunky Pecan Pie Bars
Watch the Recipe Video:
Sinfully delicious, these candied pecans are the perfect salty and sweet treat! Seven ingredients, minimal prep time, and endless uses, these oven-baked nuts are sure to be a hit!
If you make this recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating - it helps others find the recipe! ❤️️
Candied Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 1 pound (453.59 g) pecan halves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large zip-top bag, combine the sugar, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, water and vanilla extract. Add the pecans to the bowl and stir them into the egg white mixture with a rubber spatula, making sure they are all moistened. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pecans from the egg white mixture and drop them into the bag with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Once all of the pecans are added, seal the bag, and shake it to coat all of the pecans.
- Using a clean slotted spoon, remove the pecans from the bag and place onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 1 hour, stirring them every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. The pecans can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Nuts: This recipe can be made with a variety of nuts; try it with walnuts, almonds, cashews, or a mix of your favorites.
- Spices: Other spices like nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, clove, a pinch of cayenne, apple pie spice, or even pumpkin spice would be delicious on these candied nuts!
- Storage: Candied pecans will last up to two weeks at room temperature in an airtight container and up to 1 month in the refrigerator.
- Gifting: Place some of the pecans in a cellophane treat bag or glass jar, label it and share with loved ones.
- Freezer: You can store the pecans in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Photography by Dee Frances
These look so delicious and tempting.. thanks for sharing :)
Oh my, those look delicious. My father would be happier with a bag of these than anything else I could come up with for the holidays.
I bet these would be amazing tossed into cookie dough. Or as garnish on top of a pumpkin pie. Mmm…
These look delicious and easy. What a great snack for holiday parties! :-) I will be trying them with a variety of nuts = pecans, peanuts, almonds. Yum!
This is the only way my daughter will eat nuts, so I will definitely be making these. And it sounds easy enough for her to help, too.
Making these as I type except I’m using almonds not pecans. They look and smell absolutely amazing!! Everyone is migrating to the kitchen from all over the house to find out what the delicious smell is. Lol. I hope they taste as good as they look. Thanks so much for the recipe. I too will be making these as pressies for Christmas xx
I’ll definitely try them! what if I don’t put the egg whites and just put water in order the help the sugar stick on the nuts??!
Hi Stella, You could try that, I’m not sure how well it will work, since the egg white actually gets frothy.
These look addictive in the best possible way!
How do I print off this recipe?
Just click the “Print” button right above the thumbnail of the recipe.
You would have to post these. I love Mashuga Nuts(brand name of these years ago. Don’t know if they are still around). Anyway, addictive yes, highly.
tasty!!! Are these better tasting than the recipe of sugar, water and spice on the nuts? That recipe looks too easy :)
I heard on the news that pecans are going to be sky high expensive this year, I guess it’s something about the weather and demand from China? If you give these away, you will certainly be giving not only a lovely hand-made gift, but no an inexpensive one either!
FYI: I bought 2 pounds of pecans at Sam’s, on sale for $10.98.
This is very like a recipe my cousin uses. I need to buy more pecans this week so I can make some. YUM!
These look stunning- pecans are my absolute favourite nut and they’re especially good at Christmas time!! They’re difficult to find in their shells here in the UK but the ready shelled ones are just as good I’m sure. Will definitely be giving them a go!
I love how simple this is!! I’m a huge fan of candied nuts. I go to Kris Kringle market thing-y every Christmas season and they have the most to-die-for candied nuts. These remind me of them!
Ooo! These would probably make great gifts. Candied nuts in a weck jar! Will definitely be trying this!
This is a perfect snack to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner. I love that I don’t have to use a candy thermometer for this recipe!
I hate when recipes don’t turn out well! But at least these delicious nuts were a product of the failure, because theses look amazing! Pinning this recipe now – what a perfect snack to have out around the holidays!
I made some amazing, addictive Cinnamon Sugar Candied Nuts from my blog as all of my wedding favors. They’ve been a favorite in my family ever since I made them last winter and passed them out as holiday gifts, so they went over really well at the wedding. Don’t you just love simple, no-fail recipes? I’m sorry your rolls didn’t work out! That fear of yeasted breads not turning out right is exactly what stops me from making them! You’re so brave!
I made this exact recipe last year and couldnt keep enough made. Everyone loves them. It is a labor of love when you pick-up, shell and then make them. I gave as gifts in decorated jars to my family. I had to hid me a bag in the freezer and yes they do freeze well.
I made a recipe very similar to this one and it was so much easier than having to deal with a candy thermometer! These are delicious AND addictive!
These turned out wonderful! I recommend that you mix all the nuts in the bag at one time, I tried to do two batches in the one bag and the second batch can out wet but still as good :) now I need to hide them for myself!!
Mmm pecans are such a fabulous snack, and these totally take them to the next level! Yum!
Thank you for this recipe. It looks delicious! Any suggestions on which egg white substitute would work best for this recipe? My family has egg allergies (I don’t so my house will be enjoying these as presented!) but love candied nuts. I was thinking these would be nice to put on the table for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Hi Sandy, For this particular recipe, I’m not sure what an appropriate substitution would be. There are some other candied nut recipes floating around that simply cook the nuts on the stovetop in a butter and spice mixture; you may want to try to find one of those!
I once made Paula Deen’s Cinnamon Toast Pecans (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/cinnamon-toast-pecans-recipe/index.html) which doesn’t use egg whites. They were good, but not as “candied” as I liked. The egg whites really help the spice mixture to stick and give the thicker coating.
I used flaxseed meal and it coated wonderfully! We have an egg allergy too! I use flaxseed meal for all my egg substitutes…other than breakfast eggs :)
for this recipe how much did you measure out by using flaxseed meal? I do not want to use egg or butter.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Pecans are the only nut that our whole family can eat, because of allergies to all the other types. I cannot wait to try these. I will need to check to see if pecans are in the stores at this point. I live in the north and the only time that I can find them at an almost decent price is around Christmas.
I live in Central NY state and most of the stores around here have their nuts out already. Or at least the 3 chains that I’ve been in over the last week have. I know I saw pecans, almonds, walnuts, and mixed nuts at the very least.
I just bought 2 lbs. of pecan halves and 3 lbs of almonds at Costco today. Planning to make them using this recipe and giving as Christmas gifts!
Totally addicting! I always got the cinnamon almonds and the Civic Arena during Pens games!
Snacktastic! Love these and great for so many things..
I made some candied mixed nuts a few months ago and seriously had to give them away because I would have eaten the whole batch myself. Like 3 lbs of nuts…LOL Yours look great and an egg white is key for coating-sticking power!
I love nuts like this! I have a recipe that has espresso powder in the coating – insanely good!
can you please share your recipe that has the espresso powder in it? I would love to try them! Thank you.
I love these types of recipes. I make a candied walnut that is even easier. Just butter, water and brown sugar heated in a sauce pan then mixed with the nuts. Let the nuts dry on a cookie sheet and enjoy.
Would you mind sharing your exact recipe?
Thanks so much!
Would you mind sharing your recipe for candied nuts? Thank you!
These look fabulous and I love how easy they are!