Holiday Spiced Pecans

Holiday Spiced Pecans – a special treat for you, and also perfect for gift giving. This delicious snack is crunchy, sweet, and full of toasty warm cinnamon and spice. It’s perfect for the holidays, or any time really! Low in sugar and made with simple, real food ingredients – this is a holiday appetizer that everyone will enjoy!

Holiday Spiced Pecans are roasted to absolute perfection.

They’re infused with maple syrup and a nice blend of spices. The process of roasting the nuts releases some of the natural fats from within the nut, which deepens the flavor, enhances the natural sweetness, and creates the most delicious aroma. The end result is a delicious DIY candied nut that’s much lower in sugar than traditional spiced nuts. Roasting also provides a slightly crunchy texture to the nut, which makes it hold up well in other recipes.

You can enjoy them as is, add them to a mixed greens salad such as our Pomegranate Mixed Green Salad, top them on our Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes, share them at your holiday gatherings or package them in mason jars for a special and simple holiday gift.

These cinnamon roasted pecans are easy to make, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, and paleo-friendly, and made with no added refined sugar. This is a recipe that you and your family will love and one that you’ll continue to make year after year.

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Ingredients for Holiday Spiced Pecans

Just a few ingredients are all you need to make these roasted maple spiced pecans. Feel free to substitute additional cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for the ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom.

• Pecan halves 
• Maple syrup 
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Ground cloves
• Ground nutmeg
• Cardamom

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How to Make Holiday Spiced Pecans

There really isn’t much to this recipe. Just toss all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, pour on a sheet pan, and let them roast.

If you happen to be missing a certain spice in your kitchen, no worries, and no need for a special trip to the grocery store. Simply use what spice mixture you have on hand. For example, using a blend of cinnamon and nutmeg, or cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice also works wonderfully in this recipe.

If you’re a fan of the salty-sweet combo, we also HIGHLY recommend adding a sprinkle of sea salt on top of the pecans when you pull them out of the oven!

Can I use other kinds of nuts?

Yes, absolutely!

We especially love to add other kinds of nuts when doubling the recipe. To add variety, you can mix it up by adding 1½ cups of raw cashews and 1½ cups of raw almonds or any of your favorite nuts (walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, etc.).

How to store this Spiced Pecans Recipe

After roasting, allow the nuts to cool completely. Then, store in an airtight container at room temperature. We tend to gobble these up within a few days of roasting, but they should last for a few weeks. That also makes these a great recipe for gifting, because you can prep the pecans ahead of time and then individually package them when you’re ready to gift (more on this below!).

Make gift giving simple and delicious this holiday season!

Holiday Spiced Pecans are one of my go-to’s when it comes to gift-giving. Simply package them in a small mason jar, wrap the jar with a pretty holiday ribbon, include a small card with the recipe and let your friends and family enjoy the heck out of them. Sometimes the best gifts come right from your very own kitchen!

Other Food Gift Recipes You’ll Love

• Slow Cooker Spiced Pecans
• Chili Rosemary Roasted Mixed Nuts
• 3-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Mint Cups

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Let's Get Cookin'

Holiday Spiced Pecans

Holiday Spiced Pecans are roasted to perfection and infused with a blend of spices. Eat them as is, add them to a salad or package them in a mason jar for a special holiday gift.

• Author: The Real Food Dietitians
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 20 mins
• Yield: 12 servings 1x
• Cuisine: Paleo, Vegan, Gluten-Free

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups pecan halves
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. cardamom

**May sub an additional 1 tsp. of cinnamon for the ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Place pecans in a large bowl and mix in maple syrup until coated. Add the spices and mix well.
3. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
4. Spread the pecans evenly over the parchment paper.
5. Bake 10-15 minutes, stirring nuts every 5 minutes, until toasted and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
6. Cool until able to handle. Break apart pecans as some may stick together.
7. After completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/4 cup
• Calories: 224
• Sugar: 6 g
• Sodium: 0 mg
• Fat: 22 g
• Carbohydrates: 10 g
• Fiber: 3 g
• Protein: 3 g

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All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians.

Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter.