These praline pecans are some of the easiest snacks you will ever make. They are a Southern classic that the whole family will love. Store them in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
One of my all-time favorite candies to make during the holiday season is Praline Pecans. You won't need a candy thermometer for making this easy recipe!
I love making these all times of year round, but during the holidays, this pecan praline recipe makes the perfect treat for gift baskets, appetizers for a party, or just a snack while you are watching your favorite Christmas movie.
Now, these are a little different than your Southern Pecan Pralines made with heavy whipping cream, corn syrup, butter, and granulated sugar. A lot of people just call these candied pecans but they have the flavor of a Praline.
How to Make Praline Pecans
You only need a few ingredients when you are making this Praline Pecans recipe. All of these are pantry ingredients you should have on hand (if you stocked it as I told you to -- here's the free printable fall pantry checklist).
If you keep these on hand, then you can make them any time of year. But for me, I love making these for the Christmas holidays.
The first thing to do is mix the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt and set aside.
In another bowl, mix an egg white, and water. Mix that and then, in a large bowl, combine pecans with egg white and water.
Then toss in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and coat all the pecans well.
Now, line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper (please do not forget this step. You will thank me later). You do not want them sticking to the bottom of the pan. Pour out your pecan halves on this tray in a single layer and put them in a preheated 250-degree oven.
You will bake them for one hour. Every 15 minutes, pull them out and stir them with a wooden spoon. It will look yucky as they bake but don't give up. These crunchy pecans will turn out amazing and delicious.
Once they come out, mix one last time and let the sugars harden on the nuts. Let them cool to room temperature.
Once they do, you can store the candied pecans in mason jars, or serve them just like we did -- in a bowl on a beautiful napkin. The best place to serve them is over a big bowl of ice cream!
The first time you make these candied nuts, they will become a yearly favorite treat. The whole family will LOVE them. This is a favorite recipe that will cure any sweet tooth craving you might be having.
Looking for more snack ideas? Check out these delicious recipes!
- Pumpkin Pie Dip
- Southern Pecan Pralines
- Easy Chocolate No Bake Cookies
- On the Go Granola Pouches
- Easy Mini Fruit Pizzas
Do you have a favorite pecan recipe?
Praline Pecans
If you want a delicious sweet and salty crunch snack, make a batch of these Praline Pecans.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces of Pecan halves
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tablespoon of water
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- Aluminum foil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
- Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
- In a bowl, beat egg white and water until frothy. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- Take pecans and mix with egg and water mixture. Stir until all pecans have been coated.
- Pour in your sugar mixture and continue to stir pecans until they are coated well in sugar mixture.
- Pour pecans onto the foil lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 1 hour.
- Every 15 minutes remove from the oven and stir with a silicone spatula.
- At the end of the hour, remove from the oven and allow pecans to cool. Box up and give as a gift or serve at a party or function.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 264Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 96mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 3gSugar: 17gProtein: 3g
My husband loves pecans and he's diabetic. This would be a good treat for him to try.
These look delicious! I love the idea of cutting the calories on some of my favorite holiday treats.
These sound like an amazing holiday treat for a party!! I love the idea of using Splenda to reduce the sugar count.
Yes! It makes them guilt free. You need them to be that because they are so good.
How many per serving and does anyone know the smart points per serving
Serving size would be about 7 I guess. I have never figured the points out on them but I am sure if you googled it you could find it.
I really like this recipe. The idea with sweet and sour homemade sauce is just great, I love such flavor combinations. Did you come up with this recipe yourself or were you inspired by someone else's idea? This is a real masterpiece, I'm not joking :))) I think, it is possible to use other nuts by analogy with this recipe? I saved this recipe immediately and will definitely try to make it. Thank you so much!
@Ann, several years ago, a friend gave me this recipe from Allrecipes.com.
Made this today. Super easy. Family LOVED it. My dad is going out tomorrow to get more pecans!
So glad! We love this too. They are perfect for snacking and I love adding them to salads.
Can I make these with brown sugar only?
I don't see why not? They would taste amazing.
I made these for Christmas. My family thought I bought them. They said they tasted like they came from Buccee’s. They went over very well. My son bought more pecans to make more. Thanks for the recipe.
So glad to hear your family loves these! We do too.
Just made these, yum! Could hardly wait for them to cool! So good, such an easy recipe, thanks for sharing!
I know right? They are absolutely delicious! Be on the lookout for more candied nut recipes coming soon!
How many pecans do you get in one serving? This recipe looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.
I am not sure. A serving to me is the whole bag! Just kidding. I think about 1/2 cup??
I made this recipe and it turned out so delicious and very easy to make!
So happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
My husband is going to be so excited as he loves praline pecan and I never found the good recipe to make them for him. Thank you!
These look delicious. Perfect for the holidays. Thanks for sharing!
Love these for the holidays! They turned out perfectly so I’m going to make a double batch gifts to give my family!
My granddaughter and I just made these for a cocktail wedding reception. Everyone loved them!
So glad to hear that.
Hi! Do I need Splenda white sugar and Splenda brown sugar in equal amounts in the recipe ? I could not find this information anywhere on the post- just in the replies- help please!
Renee
Since my original recipe calls for regular brown sugar and white sugar, I would definitely choose both in Splenda if that is what you are using.
How long will they keep? How would you suggest storing them? In the freezer?
Freezer, they will keep for months. On the counter, I would say a couple of weeks in an airtight container.
Great recipe! I substituted vanilla extract for 1/3 of the water, and baked on parchment paper for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Once done, after pecans cool, I crunched up the paper to break up praline residue and stired this in a glass jar. Will be great to sprinkle over cakes, muffins, breakfast oatmeal, etc.
That sounds amazing. Thanks for your tips!
@L. D. Shaw, ohhh the vanilla idea is awesome!!!
I saw your post and I love making them all year round, but for the holidays they are perfect for gift baskets, party appetizers, or just to munch on while watching your favorite movie.
So yummy!! First time making praline pecans and I’ll be making more very soon. Thanks for the recipe!
You are so welcome. We love making these every year. They make great holiday gifts.
These are the ones! Exactly what I was looking for after a crockpot-praline fail... :/ They're crisp and delicious!
I noticed the blog post mentions vanilla, but it's not in the recipe. I used 1 Tbs Mexican vanilla in place of water and the recipe came out perfect, in my opinion. Thanks for posting a winner!
So glad you liked it. It is definitely a favorite here for sure!
I did make this recipe only I used walnuts as that was what I had. They were delicious !!! My grandson and his girlfriend wanted more. I am making them for Christmas gifts to the people I just want to remember but buy a gift. I am going to try a few almonds to see how they are. Great recipe, thanks
Kathy Roe
We make them sometimes with walnuts also.
These turned out AWESOME and I used half Swerve natural sugar and brown sugar substitute and half regular sugar/brown sugar! To those using Splenda, please know there’s natural sugar options that don’t cause cancer like Splenda, Swerve is one and there’s stevia blends that are also really good and also natural.
Thank you so much for this awesome
recipe!
So glad you were able to make it work for you!
I made an adjustment to the second batch to satisfy my craving for a more traditional (buttery) praline pecan flavor and texture. I added 1/4 tsp. of butter flavoring (bakery emulsion) to the frothing step, and then added double the pecans, without changing the amount of any other ingredients. The result was absolutely perfect...a little hint of a more buttery praline flavor, with a lighter coating on each nut. The original recipe was just a bit overpowering for me with the heavier cinnamon sugar coating. If you LOVE the flavor of pecans, you will want to either increase the nut count, or reduce the sugar/cinnamon mix. I will make these EVERY holiday now...thanks so much for this great recipe!
You are so welcome. Glad you found a way to make it work for you.
Ready to make these but your directions say to mix the egg white, vanilla extract and water together, then the recipe and those directions don't list the vanilla. How much should it be?
Thanks for catching that. It is a teaspoon of vanilla. I will add that addition.
These are not praline pecans these are candied pecans. There’s a big difference. Praline pecans don’t have Cinnamon for one thing
Well I have always called them praline pecans and I even note in the post that this is not the original praline pecans.
Made this recipe tonight. The pecans were amazing. Will definitely make these again. Thanks for recipe!!
Glad to hear that!
I love your praline pecan recipe. I follow a low carb diet and made these using monk fruit sugar substitute. They are delicious and only about 1 net carb per 1/4 cup!
That is awesome to know Gail! Thank you for sharing that.
I must have done something wrong! Followed the recipe, all good, popped them in my oven, pre heated to 250 degrees, opened the oven at 15 mins to find a blackened pile of sugar coated pecans and my kitchen filled with smoke! Is 250 degrees different in the USA compared with UK as if I'd cooked them at that temp any longer they'd have been charcoal! Saved much of the batch by cooling my oven to 120 degrees and cooking for only a further 20 minutes
It may be. Don't you guys cook in celcius in the UK? The 250 degrees is F
Loved, loved, loved, this recipe. So easy to make and so delicious. Thank you for sharing this. It will become a new staple at our house.
So glad you loved it! It has always been a favorite here as well.
I make these every Christmas and it's impossible to have just one handful. They are dangerously good! Most recently I prepared the recipe using pecans pieces rather than pecan halves as that's all I had on hand. They still came out perfect and the smaller pieces make them even more craveable. Probably would make a great ice cream topping, if it lasts! 😅
Oh that sounds awesome. I cannot wait to try that too!