An easy recipe for toasted pecans with a crunchy cinnamon “sugar” coating. They require almost no effort to make & are perfect for healthy snacking!
In middle school, my best friend’s mom and grandmother hosted a New Year’s Eve slumber party for a few of us close girlfriends at their house across town. Since I practically lived over there (I even called her grandma “Nana” and little sister “Sissy!”), I arrived early in the afternoon and helped out with the last-minute party preparations.
Her mother loved to entertain, so she always bought plenty of festive decorations and accessories from Party City, like “Happy New Year!” banners, themed paper plates and napkins, sparkly tiaras, gold and silver beaded necklaces… And enough colorful silly string and loud party poppers for nearly twenty people to celebrate at midnight, even though there were only six of us girls!
While we counted down the hours, we usually watched a chick flick or two and played card games while nibbling on the appetizers and snacks my friend’s mom set out on the kitchen counter. She supplied us with plenty of food: cheese cubes, crackers, Chex Mix, Goldfish, chips and salsa, a huge hand-sliced crudités platter with dip, and a batch of her famous slow cooker co*cktail “smokies.” She always left many bottles of sparkling apple cider in the fridge, too!
Since we all enjoyed our sweets, she also gave us lots of desserts and candy. Chewy chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, fudgy brownies… The mini-sized Reese’s, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Twix, Hershey’s kisses… And so many Tootsie Rolls. Those were Nana’s favorite, so my friend’s mom always bought the biggest bag she could find since Nana snuck so many from the bowl!
Although I still have a huge sweet tooth and would happily polish off all of those desserts and candies, I don’t want to tempt fate and earn myself a stomachache this New Year’s Eve… So I’ll be making a batch of these easy 5 Minute Candied Pecans to snack on instead! They’re sweet and crunchy, and according to one of my childhood friends, their cozy cinnamon flavor makes them taste just like pecan pie!
In other words… They’re dangerously addictive.
Many traditional recipes for candied nuts require baking them in the oven for an hour and tossing multiple times partway through to prevent burning. But… I don’t have the time or patience for that, so we’re making this easier recipe on the stove instead. This also means you get to start snacking that much sooner!
To begin, you’ll need pecans. Both halves and chopped pecans work, but I prefer the latter since there’s more surface area showing and therefore a larger cinnamon-sugar-to-nut ratio. (Is “cinnamonaholic” a word? Because I’m definitely one!) Since pecans are fairly soft nuts, I break the larger ones into pieces by hand, but chopping them with a knife works just as well.
The sweetness in the candied coating comes from Truvia, which is made from stevia. Steiva is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly. You can find tubs of Truvia on the baking aisle of nearly every grocery store near the regular sugar, as well as online. Thisis the exact package that I buy.
To the Truvia, you’ll add cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and a tiny bit of water. You just need enough water to moisten the other three ingredients, but not enough to make the mixture runny. This little trick helps the coating process go much faster on the stove!
To start, you’ll toast the pecans for a couple of minutes in a small pan over medium heat. Once they begin to smell fragrant, add in the Truvia mixture. The Truvia will melt almost immediately, so stir constantly with a spatula until all of the nuts have been coated. Then pour the pecans onto a sheet of foil, and let them cool until they’re hard and crunchy.
That’s all there is to it!
Dangerously simple. Dangerously quick. Dangerously addictive!
| 5-Minute Candied Pecans | 5.0 from 7 reviews |
Yields: about 1 cup
These sweet and crunchy pecans are the perfect cozy snack! They require very little time to make, and they disappear even faster. The pecans will keep for at least two weeks if stored in an airtight container, and the recipe is easily doubled or tripled to serve more. (Just remember to use a larger pan!)
- 3 tbsp (40g) Truvia
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tsp water
- 1 cup (112g) pecan halves, left whole or chopped
- Cut a large sheet of foil, and place it on the counter.
- In a small bowl, stir together the Truvia, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in the water until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
- Add the pecans to a small pan, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the cinnamon mixture. Stir constantly with a spatula until the pecans are completely coated. Transfer the mixture to the prepared foil, and let the pecans cool completely to room temperature and the coating has hardened and turned crunchy.
Notes: I highly recommend chopping the pecan halves! This creates more surface area, so you’ll have a larger cinnamon-coating-to-nut ratio.
Granulated sugar or brown sugar can be substituted for the Trvuia.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low carb, sugar-free}
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