Maple Glazed Pecans

Glazed pecans add the perfect crunch to salads, or snack on them by the handful! These sweet and salty nuts are covered in a coating of maple syrup.

They’re sweet, a little salty, and have the perfect crunch! These glazed pecans are so tasty, you’ll want to make up a batch immediately for topping all your salads. Alex and I made these to top our Spinach Apple Salad, and kept the leftovers in our cupboard. Our 3-year-old Larson has become enamored with them as a treat, asking with a sneaky smile, “Mama, can I have a pecan?” So these work as a “healthy” version of candy, too. (Ha!) Keep reading for how to make them!

Also try: Perfect Candied Pecans

What’s in this pecans recipe?

This glazed pecans recipe has only 3 ingredients! Yes, 3 ingredients to make the tastiest treat: and there’s no refined sugar either. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Raw whole pecans (if roasted is all you can find, you can use those too!)
• Pure maple syrup (none of that fake stuff, now!)
• Kosher salt

Yes, this glazed pecans recipe is naturally sweet using maple syrup. You’ll notice that we use maple in many of our dessert recipes and even in our cocktail recipes to sweeten them! It’s our favorite natural sweetener around here, hands down.

How to make glazed pecans: the basic steps

There’s really only one part of this glazed pecans recipe that’s “tricky”: making sure you don’t cook them too long! Here are the basic steps (or go straight to the recipe!):

1. Simmer. Simmer 1 part maple syrup to 4 parts pecans in a skillet for about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. In the last minute, stir and watch carefully! In the last minute, the maple syrup will be almost totally cooked out, and the nuts will start to clump together. Keep your eye out! Pull it from the heat once the syrup is cooked out, but don’t leave it on the heat too long! You’ll end up with a powdery sugar look (more below).
3. Spread on parchment paper to dry, and sprinkle with salt. Glazed nuts are best with a little salt to play up that salty sweetness! Spread them in a single layer on parchment paper to dry. You can eat them right away after 5 minutes, but if you’re storing them wait for about 15 minutes until they’re hardened.

What if I cook them too long?

Good question! If you cook these maple glazed pecans too long, here’s what happens. The maple turns from shiny to powdery! You end up with something that looks like sugared pecans instead.

Is that bad or wrong? Not at all! We compared two batches flavor-wise, and they both tasted great! So never fear if you cook them too far. They come out a bit crunchier as sugared pecans, and they taste just as good. They’re just not shiny like they are above.

How to serve glazed pecans

How to serve these shiny glazed pecans? They’re a perfect easy salad topping (even better than croutons, in our opinion). Here are a few great ways to use them:

1. Spinach Apple Salad This salad features a zingy balsamic dressing and sliced apples and pears. We like to alternate serving it with glazed walnuts or pecans.
2. Best Oatmeal or Instant Pot Oatmeal Glazed pecans add the perfect crunch to oatmeal! Try them with a sliced banana and spoonful of peanut butter.
3. Bananas Foster How delicious would crunchy pecans be on this easy dessert? Yum.

What other ways would you serve glazed pecans? Let us know in the comments below! And if you want more pecan recipes, here are our Top Pecan Recipes to choose from.

This glazed pecans recipe is…

Vegetarian, plant-based, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free.

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