This homemade Cinnamon Sugar Pecans Recipe is easy to make with only 6 ingredients & is so much more delicious than the nuts from the mall or fair! Plus, these candied pecans are gluten & dairy-free & freezer-friendly! Make a batch, store them in the freezer and use as a salad topper or enjoy as a sweet snack!
You know when you’re walking through the mall and you smell something amazing? You look around and realize that the heavenly aroma is coming from a glazed nut stand…so you casually walk by because you know there will be a free sample…oh, don’t mind if I do…
Well, these Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Pecans are better than those nuts you find at the mall or fair! They are so easy to make and have very few ingredients! This recipe has been a staple in my life for about 10 years now. I always have these on hand. They’re totally freezer friendly, so you can make a batch, eat some warm from the oven, and freeze the rest to toss on salads or enjoy as a sweet snack!
They also make great gifts for friends and neighbors for the holidays! Wrap them in a cute cellophane bag or mason jar and give your loved ones an extra special treat this year!
Easy cinnamon sugar pecans
One of the things I love the most about these Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Pecans is just how remarkably simple they are…but they are anything but ordinary in regards to taste and texture! The only wet ingredients for an entire batch is 1 egg white and 1 TBS vanilla! No butter! No oil! But definitely NO sacrificing on taste!
The dry ingredient list is short too…sugar, salt, and cinnamon! I recommend regular organic sugar for these, but coconut sugar is a possibility for a refined-sugar free option!
How to make Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Pecans
Like I’ve said before, these beauties are really easy to make, but we will walk through the recipe step by step to ensure you success!
Mix dry ingredients together
Begin by mixing together the sugar, sea salt and cinnamon in a small bowl, then set it aside. It’s important to thoroughly mix the dry ingredients together so that the ingredients are evenly distributed on the candied pecans!
Mix wet ingredients together
Use either a wire whisk or a hand mixer and beat the egg white and vanilla together until frothy. You will notice in the video that the mixture is a little whiter, that is just because the egg white was beaten longer. You just need the wet mixture to be frothy, you do not want to beat the egg whites until they are stiff.
Add pecans
Next, add the pecans to the wet mixture and stir until thoroughly combined and coated.
Amount of pecans.
Start by adding a little less than 4 cups of pecans to the wet mixture, and slowly add the rest to be sure there are no dry pecans and no wet mixture stuck to the sides of the bowl. The amount of nuts can vary slightly depending on the size of your egg white, so be careful!
Bake!
The baking time, temperature and method is extremely important in this cinnamon sugar pecans recipe.
- Do not use parchment paper/foil! DO bake these Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Pecans directly on the pan. When you stir the pecans, you need to reincorporate the syrupy goodness from the pan onto the nuts, and parchment paper/foil soaks up the liquid, which results in less coated nuts and a big old mess.
- DO NOT adjust baking time. Bake at 250 for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Even if they seem done after 45 minutes…the extra 15 minutes gives these Cinnamon Sugar Pecans the perfect crispiness that’s retained even after freezing.
Enjoy!
I dare you to resist eating these beauties warm fresh from the oven. They are to die for and will not only taste delicious, but they make your house smell like cinnamon-sugar heaven.
How to store cinnamon sugar pecans
This candied pecans recipe makes a LOT of nuts. I always make the full recipe and enjoy some, then freeze the rest for later. I like to have them on hand to pull out and use on salads!
How to freeze cinnamon sugar pecans:
- Let pecans cool completely
- Transfer candied pecans to a freezer-friendly, airtight container.
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Let thaw at room temperature and enjoy! They thaw very quickly, and even taste great frozen!
Cinnamon Sugar Pecans: Ingredients & Substitutions
I absolutely do not recommend any substitutions in this recipe! My sincerest apologies to all my friends out there who can’t bring yourselves to follow recipes to a “T,” but this one is not to be tampered with! 😉
- Pecans. Use raw, unsalted pecans halves in this candied pecan recipe. I don’t recommend any substitutions, although I have heard other people using a variety of nuts with great success!
- Granulated Sugar. Regular granulated sugar and organic cane sugar are the two varieties I have used to make these cinnamon sugar pecans. Some readers have had success making a refined-sugar free version using coconut sugar, but I have not tried it!
- Egg White. Use a large egg white to make these candied pecans. Remember, the size of your egg will effect the amount of pecans used!
- Sea Salt. I only ever bake with pure, fine sea salt. If you only have iodized table salt, you will need to cut the amount of salt in half.
- Ground Cinnamon. Use a high-quality ground cinnamon for the absolute best flavor!
- Vanilla extract. Please only use pure vanilla extract, no imitation!
Serving suggestions:
- Serve with this balsamic vinaigrette on a salad for a delicious combo.
- Sprinkle some on these roasted beets! SO GOOD!
- Add a few to this burrata salad or this roasted vegetable quinoa salad!
- Sprinkle some on top of these overnight oats with yogurt!
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Cinnamon Sugar Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 egg white
- 1 TBS pure vanilla extract
- 4-5 cups pecan halves
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet. (Do NOT use parchment paper or foil. Bake directly on the greased pan)!
- In a small bowl, combine sugar, sea salt, and cinnamon, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip egg white and vanilla with a whisk until frothy (about 1 minute).
- Add pecans to wet mixture 1 cup at a time, stirring to coat the nuts evenly. Depending on the size of your egg white you may use slightly more or less than 4 cups pecans. Just make sure all nuts are well coated before adding more.
- Once pecans are completely coated, sprinkle the dry ingredients over the pecans and stir until evenly distributed. Make sure to scrape any extra cinnamon sugar mixture off the sides and bottom of the bowl and incorporate it into the pecan.
- Spread the pecans evenly on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake at 250 degrees F for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes (you will stir 3 times before removing from the oven).
- Let cool or enjoy them warm!
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer!
Video
Notes
How to store cinnamon sugar pecans:
- At room temperature: store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
- In the freezer. once cooled, transfer pecans to a freezer-friendly container and store for up to 3 months. I like to have them on hand in the freezer to toss on salads or to snack on. They thaw very quickly!
Nutrition
Fun fact: Before blogging was a thing {or before I knew it was a thing}, Ritch and I used to take pictures of our recipes and submit them to allrecipes.com. We had so much fun doing it! I would get so excited when our pictures won “photo of the day” or when they were chosen as the key photo for very popular recipes.
The picture above was taken 7 years ago! I adapted this recipe to make these Cinnamon Sugar Pecans that I’m sharing with you today, and submitted this picture. It’s been the key photo ever since! Ahhh the little things!
Seriously, everyone in your life would love to receive these Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Pecans as a gift this Christmas! And I promise that once you make a batch, you will want to be sure that you are never without some in your freezer! We love eating them on salads, for a snack or as a special little dessert! Try them warm over ice cream or just plain!
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Bev Larkin
Perfect!!
Bev Larkin
My search for the perfect cinnamon pecan recipe has come to an end. These are absolutely wonderful – light and delicious! So yummy.
Magritte
Wondering if these can be cooked in a nut pralinator??
Kristy
Oh, I want to make these tomorrow! I am just curious as I’ve been looking at a lot of candied pecan recipes… how long will the pecans stay fresh tasting with the egg white getting crispy. The recipe I made today says only 4 days and that seems awfully short, will they just start to soften and lose some of their crunch?
Lisa
I put mine in the freezer and they are perfect right out of the freezer to pop in your mouth or put on a salad. They are cool but not frozen. Crunchy, fresh tasting and delicious!!
Elizabeth Barger
Kristy; when I made these amazing sweet pecans, it was my understanding that you beat the egg white/vanilla mixture with a whisk for only about a minute until the mixture is frothy. My pecans came out so good, they’re disappearing at a rapid rate! I don’t think you’re wanting to whisk the egg white mixture until it reaches the meringue stage…although that might work…I dunno. Hope that helps. 😀
Des
Made exactly as the recipe called and they are amazing! Reminds me when I was a kid and had these at Disney World! Thank you for such a great recipe!
Laura
Thank you so much Des!
Ximena
I have been making these for years. I am always unsure how much sugar to add. So thanks for sharing your recipe. I however, mix everything in a plastic ziplock bag and let the kids shake it up. They love it and it means less mess for me. 🤗
Carol
These turned out amazingly delicious!!! Because of Covid all the Christmas Shows have been cancelled and it was always an annual tradition to go shopping and munch on these. I was a little bummed and craving these so bad. When I came across your recipe and saw how easy you made it sound to make them I thought I could give it a shot. Thank you for your easy to follow instructions! 😁😋
Teena
I made these last evening as a cake topper.
I used both walnuts and pecan pieces.
Delicious! We ate what didn’t go on the cake.
I only made about two cups. The recipe worked well. The last 15 minutes makes the difference. It’s like magic. From a little wet to wonderful crispy deliciousness.
Thank you.
I will be making them for every event and as gifts.
Keisha
I tried this and threw in walnuts and almonds to mix things up. It’s an awesome snack. I used swerve sweeteners to make mines keto friendly. 😈
Julie
Should I wash the shelled pecans before I use them? Do I need to soak them?
Jamie magula
Absolutely on point the only sub I did was monk fruit sweetener instead of sugar. They turned out incredible. Thank you for the great recipe!
CriticalChris criner
Has anyone toasted the pecan halves prior to coating? Wondering if it is necessary.
Laura
Hey Chris. No, they toast as they cook for the hour after coating, so please do not toast the raw nuts first.
Rachael
A friend made these for me and I fell in love!!! I have since made these numerous times and have shared recipe with others. Thank you for sharing!!😊❤
Leigh
I put off making these because my brain said it would be complicated. My brain is an idiot! The easiest, yummiest addition to my party! Will be making these a LOT!
Sandra
I made two batches last nite, I think they turned out great!
Laura
Thank you Sandra! This is one of my favorite recipes, I’m so glad you love it!
Stefanie Bristol
I absolutely love these. My daughter’s friend brought them to us as a Christmas/house gift when she stayed with us one year, and I just rave about them. I’m planning on making them myself, now that I have the recipe, but I would like to know if anyone ever tried making them with Stevia instead of sugar.
Sherry Sorkness
I use Splenda-the kind that measures like sugar. They end up being lite and crunchy and no one has ever noticed that I used Splenda rather than sugar.
Rocki
These are not dairy free as you use egg whites……..
Laura
Hey Rocki! Eggs are not part of the dairy food group! https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/are-eggs-dairy
Richard
They are great. And yes, eggs come from chickens, while dairy is from cows. Moo Hoo!
Jeff
Super easy and came out great. Even subbed cashews on a batch for my wife who loved them.
Vanessa
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Laura
I keep them in the freezer and they last for up to 3 months!