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Find out how easy it is to make Vegan Candied Pecans! These candied pecans are great for salads, snacks, or a delicious homemade holiday gift for your friends or family!
I have been craving candied pecans for YEARS but because they are typically made with eggs I haven’t had the luxury to enjoy them! That is until now with this Vegan Candied Pecans recipe!
Vegan Candied Pecans? No Egg? How?!
First, let me explain what candied pecans are if you are unaware. Candied pecans are literally pecans topped with sugar or “candy” like mixture. It’s a similar process like my Baked Candied Sweet Potato recipe. Essentially you are literally making candy or candy-coated pecans.
I know you’re thinking “how did I coat the pecans without the use of an egg?” With two magical ingredients: ground flaxseed and aquafaba!
- Ground Flaxseed: Ground flaxseed are simply whole flax seeds grounded up almost into a powder. I often use ground flaxseed mixed with some type of liquid as an egg replacement for baking. You can see an example of this in my Vegan Pumpkin Muffins. In the vegan community this is typically called a “flax egg” or “flaxseed egg.”
- Aquafaba: This fancy word is not such a fancy ingredient. It’s just the liquid from canned chickpeas. Typically this liquid acts like egg whites and can even be whipped into a fluffy consistency to make vegan whipped cream or even vegan mayo! I’ve used this liquid in my Vegan Lemon Cake recipe to create a fluffy and moist texture.
When these two are mixed it creates a substance of a whole egg and helps the sugar mixture coat the pecans.
HUGE NOTE! Be sure to use RAW Halves and Pieces NOT ROASTED. Chopped pecans won’t work for this recipe either.
2 Cooking Methods in Making Candied Pecans
- Baked or Oven Roasted: This is my preferred method and how this recipe is created. I find that baking them helps the sugars coat better so it actually feels like your eating homemade candy pecans vs pecans with sugar on top.
- StoveTop: If you are short for time you can do a stovetop method. With the stovetop method you won’t get a “clustered” or fully coated pecan BUT they will still be tasty. Jessica in the Kitchen has a great Easy Stovetop Pecan recipe on her food blog!
How do I Serve Vegan Candied Pecans?
- On Green Salads: Tossing these pecans on salads not only gives your salad a nice crunch, but it also adds some calories! Pecans are calorie-dense foods and in my 28 Day Meal Plan Guide, I stress the importance of adding calorie-dense foods to otherwise low-calorie meals as a salad would be!
- As Grain-Free Granola: Because these pecans are clustered, they make a great substitute for an oatmeal free granola! Just add some dried cranberries and plant-based milk to a bowl and you have a delicious holiday breakfast!
- As a Snack: I often toss these pecans in some small snack size Ziploc bags and they keep me going between my meals!
- On top of Vegan Desserts: I mean if you seriously have a sweet tooth, I dare you to try these pecans on my Sweet Potato Pecan Pie recipe, Banana Cinnamon Muffins, or even on my Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream!
- Give Away as Holiday Gifts: Nothing says I appreciate you more than homemade gifts! Grab you some gift boxes and parchment paper, and give these pecans to a special someone!
How to Make Vegan Candied Pecans?
*Please read detailed and printable recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions
Prepare Sugar Mixture and Flaxseed “Egg”
- In mixing bowl combine sugar and spices together. Mix well and set aside. (Photos 1 & 2)
- Then in a smaller separate bowl, combine ground flaxseed and aquafaba together and mix well until combined. (Photos 3 & 4)
Pour Mixture Over Pecans and Bake
- Immediately pour egg mixture over pecans followed by your sugar mixture. (Photos 1 & 2)
- Mix until pecans are fully coated and add to a parchment-lined baking pan. Bake in preheated oven until pecans have “clustered” up. (Photos 3 & 4)
Substitution, Cook, & Storage Tips:
- Remember to use Halves and Pieces RAW (not roasted) Pecans NOT chopped pecans. You can order some here or find them in your local grocery store.
- This recipe will work with all kinds of nuts! If you don’t like pecans, swap it out for walnuts or almonds! Hell, go “nuts” and create a mixture of candied nuts (pun intended haha lol).
- I added a variety of warming spices like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg to create a holiday flavor profile. Feel free to omit or cut back on any of these spices if you don’t find them pleasing to your palate.
- By using ground flaxseed and aquafaba, my vegan candied pecans came out clustered. However, if you want a more coated type of candied pecans, omit the ground flaxseed and just use aquafaba. Please read the detailed recipe card below for simple instructions on how to do this.
- If you don’t want to use aquafaba, mix your flaxseed with water instead. If you don’t know what aquafaba is, oops you need to scroll back up to the “Vegan Candied Pecans? No Egg? How?” where I give an explanation.
- Leftovers. Vegan Candied Pecans can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week, in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for two months.
Vegan with Curves Star Ingredient:
Pecans are the Vegan With Curves star of this dish! Pecans are a calorie-dense food meaning that it’s high in good healthy fats. One serving of pecans has 20 grams of plant-based fats.
To make this more weight loss (waste/weight release friendly) you could:
- Use a sugar substitute like monk fruit or erythritol to lower the calories you would get from the sugar.
- Watch your portions and only eat 1 serving at a time.
Vegan Candied Pecans is so easy and simple to make. Stop yourself from eating them all lol, give them away as a holiday gift, and your loved ones will be very appreciative!
Happy Holidays and Enjoy!
More Christmas Recipes You'll Love:
Other Snack Recipes to Try:
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Vegan Candied Pecans
Ingredients
- 2 cup raw pecans halves and pieces see notes
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
- 1 tablespoons cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 6 tablespoons aquafaba or water see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300° F (150°C).
- Pour pecans in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Then add brown sugar, organic cane sugar, cinnamon powder, sea salt, ground ginger, and nutmeg powder to a separate bowl. Mix until well combined and set aside.
- In a separate small dish, add ground flaxseed and aquafaba or water to a bowl. Mix well and then pour over your pecans. Mix pecans until flaxseed mixture fully coats pecans.
- Next, pour sugar mixture over pecans and mix very well. Spread on single layer parchment-lined paper 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until pecans are fragrant.
- Remove from the oven. They will be bubbling and have this syrupy candied coated texture. Allow cooling for a minimum of 15 minutes so that your pecans can harden and cluster up.
- Once cool, break apart and serve as a snack along with some Vegan Eggnog! You can use these pecans on top of my Sweet Potato Pecan Pie or my Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream recipe!
- Leftovers. Stor in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week, in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for two months.
Video
Notes
- NUTS: Use Halves and Pieces RAW (not roasted) Pecans NOT chopped pecans. You can order some here or find them in your local grocery store. If you don’t like pecans, swap it out for walnuts or almonds!
- AQUAFABA: If you don’t want to use aquafaba, mix your flaxseed with water instead. If you don’t know what aquafaba is, scroll back up to the blog post and read the section “Vegan Candied Pecans? No Egg? How?” where I give an explanation.
- ADDITIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS: Using ground flaxseed and aquafaba, my vegan candied pecans came out clustered. However, if you want a more coated type of candied pecans, omit the ground flaxseed and just use 3 tablespoons of aquafaba. and then coat your pecans with the candied mixture and bake as instructions suggest above. You might have to adjust the baking time so keep an eye out for it if you use this method checking every 15 minutes or so.
- OPTIONAL: Feel free to omit or cut back on any of these spices if you don’t find them pleasing to your palate.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published on November 5, 2018, but was republished with new photos, step by step instructions, tips, and a video on December 16, 2019.
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