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Easy Candied Pecans

Easy candied pecans made with an egg-white coating and a cinnamon sugar crust, baked low-and-slow until crisp and crackly. Coating stays glossy as the sugar sets, then cools into crunchy pieces on parchment.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Pecans
  • 1 lb pecan halves
Egg white coating
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat oven to 250F and line a sheet pan with parchment for easy release.
  2. Gather your ingredients and keep a spatula or spoon nearby for stirring.
Coat the pecans
  1. Whisk egg white, water, and vanilla until frothy and lighter in color.
  2. Toss pecans in the egg mixture until evenly coated so every piece gets a sheen.
Season and bake
  1. Mix sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then toss with the pecans until the coating looks evenly dusted.
  2. Spread the pecans in a single layer on the sheet pan so they bake crisp instead of steaming.
  3. Bake 1 hour at 250F, stirring every 15 minutes for a consistent crackly sugar coating.
Cool and store
  1. Cool completely on the pan until crunchy, then break apart into clusters.
  2. Store airtight after cooling for best crispness.

Notes

Pro tip: keep the oven at 250F and stir on schedule—uneven stirring can lead to sticky pockets instead of a crackly shell. Cool fully on the pan for crunch; store airtight at room temperature up to 7 days. Freezing is not recommended because the sugar coating can soften after thawing. If you need a dairy-free option, this recipe is already dairy-free; for a lower-sugar approach, try swapping part of the sugar for a 1:1 baking sweetener.