Ridiculously Easy Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans

These pecans are super delicious and fabulous as a snack or cocktail nibble, on salads, yogurt, ice cream, desserts ... and they make a wonderful gift too!

This Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans recipe is one of those oldie but goodie recipes that got lost way back in the Café archives. I had totally forgotten about it (with over 1400 recipes, sometimes things slip a little) until I got these two emails recently:

I just made your Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans. Fantastic . . . especially when combined with the Buttermilk Maple Toffee Sauce over vanilla ice cream. 

Of course these are good, but I can't believe what an incredible hit they've been with every single person I've gifted them to...family, friends and coworkers! These are going to become my annual holiday gift to everyone. Thanks so much for that!!

Intrigued, I quickly looked up the recipe, made a batch myself and was wowed by the delicious flavor, crisp, candylike coating and how crazy easy they are to make. How could I have forgotten about THIS one?

Ridiculously Easy

After seeing how quickly and easy this recipe comes together, I knew it needed to go into our Ridiculously Easy Recipe hall of fame, so I spiffed up the photos, post and recipe a bit and made a gift label to go along with everything. So here you go, a ridiculously easy, ridiculously delicious candied pecan recipe that I think will wow you too!

If you're not famililar with our Ridiculously Easy recipes, you can read all about them here but to quickly explain, they're a collection of our favorite recipes that are super easy and don't take a lot of hands-on time. My favorite way of describing this category is: "recipes that make you look like a kitchen rock star with minimal effort on your part".

Like that? Yep, me too!

Testing and tweaking

It took a few batches to get these pecans right. I was looking for a shiny, beautiful glaze and the first couple of tries just didn't make it. With a bit of testing and tweaking, I figured out a few little tricks to achieve the sheen I was looking for. I learned that the nuts need to be completely coated with the glaze before they go into the oven. Several little steps help me accomplish that. First, a short stint in the microwave (which thins out the syrup and molasses). A very thorough stir (one minute) after microwaving is also important. Lastly, having enough of the glaze makes a difference. After experimenting, I learned that ¼ cup of maple syrup is the perfect amount.

I love that the hands-on time (less than 5 minutes) and effort is pretty minimal with these delicious pecans (no one needs to know that). Maple, molasses and a touch of cinnamon wrap around the nuts to give a warm, wonderful flavor you can't quite put your finger on.

What to do with these Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans

I think you'll find lots of ways to use these fabulous sweet and salty nuts. Besides being an addictively delicious snack, they're also wonderful as a cocktail nibble, in salads, on yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream and they add a touch of crunchy gourmet, elegance to all kinds of other desserts. Just make plenty or hide them till you're ready to use them. Don't ask me how I know about this.

Want a super easy dessert idea that will wow everyone? Pick up some good vanilla ice cream, then whip up a batch of Microwave Caramel Sauce (the real deal) or this Ricidulously Easy Butterscotch Sauce. Scoop up the ice cream into pretty bowls, drizzle with the sauce then sprinkle your delicious sundaes with a few of these Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans - I promise, everyone will be in heaven (and you will have spent minimal time in the kitchen)!

Give them as a gift!

Need a little hostess, teacher or new-neighbor gift? Whip up a batch of these Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans, pack them up in a cellophane bag or gift box and add a pretty ribbon. They'll want to know which little gourmet market you picked them up at.

Because they make such a great gift, we've created a free printable gift tag to add to your packages. If you'd like to receive these gift labels, just scroll to the very bottom of this post and leave us a comment indicating that you'd like them. We'll email you the labels along with instructions on how to use them and links for the boxes and ribbon shown in the pictures.

So come on, whip up a batch of these Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans ASAP! You'll be deliciously happy you did!

Café Tips for making these Ridiculously Easy Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans

• This recipe calls for a microwave-safe bowl. What does that mean? Microwave-safe simply means that the bowl won't get hot or melt in the microwave. Glass, most ceramic ware and heatproof glass ware are safe in the microwave oven. The best type of bowl to use for these nuts is a 4 or 8 cup pyrex measuring cup with a handle. The handle on these types of cups doesn't get hot.
• If I'm giving these pecans as gifts, I like to pick out the prettiest pecans that aren't broken up. I save the broken ones to sprinkle over salads, oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream, etc.
• If you store these nuts in an airtight container or ziplock bag, they'll stay fresh for a week to 10 days.
• Be careful when stirring these nuts, the glaze gets very hot.
• Don't skip lining your pan with foil and the greasing the foil. Otherwise the nuts will stick and make a mess.
• Work quickly in the final step as you turned the glazed nuts out onto the foil. Try to separate them as much as possible and spread them to a single layer.

Thought for the day:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

What we're listening to for inspiration:

The Light's Always Stronger

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.

5 from 12 votes

Print

Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans

Super easy and crazy delicious, these maple molasses glazed pecans are fabulous as a snack or cocktail nibble, on salads or desserts. Plus they make a wonderful gift!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Appetizer, Toppings

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Glazed Pecans, Maple Molasses Glazed Pecans

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 25 mins

Servings: 2 cups

Ingredients

• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray the foil generously with nonstick cooking spray. (this will keep nuts from sticking to the pan). Layout a second piece of foil on a work surface and again spray with nonstick cooking spray. Rub each with a small piece of paper toweling to evenly coat with the oil.

2. Combine all ingredients except pecans in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Stir well.

3. Add pecans, then place bowl in the microwave and cook on high power for 1 minute. This will thin out the maple mixture to help coat the pecans better. Stir continuously for 1 minute (no cheating, you want the syrup mixture to get in every little nook and cranny of the pecans), until pecans are thoroughly coated.

4. Turn pecans out onto the prepared sheet pan, making sure to scrape out all of the maple syrup mixture as well. Spread out pecans to a single layer on the pan.

5. Place pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir well to redistribute nuts then spread out again to a single layer. Bake until deep golden brown, about 8-12 minutes more. Watch them carefully towards the end as nuts can quickly burn.

6. Stir again after removing from oven then spread out to a single layer on the prepared foil on your work surgace.

7. Allow to cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container for storage.