Sugar Free Cinnamon Pecans
These delicious sweet and salty, sugar free pecans are made sweet naturally- with dates!
We used pecans this time. With more than 19 vitamins and minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats, pecans are a great addition to any child’s diet.
This recipe includes ground up dates for the sweetness, which is a healthy, natural alternative to refined sugars.
Sugar Free Cinnamon Pecans
- 12 Dates (soaked for 12 hours or longer in water)
- 5-6 TBL Water
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 cups pecans
After dates have soaked sufficiently (soft to the touch), place in blender. Add water, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and blend until it’s saucy. Pour over the 2 cups of pecans.
Pour coated nuts onto cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Put in oven at the lowest setting your oven can go (170° was mine). Bake for 2-3 hours, stirring once or twice.
These babies made a great after school snack. Plus, the little egg holder was the perfect size for portion control.
Pecan Pie Bars (No Corn Syrup!)
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cups unsalted butter cold and diced into small cubes
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups pecans coarsely chopped
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving some over hanging on the ends to make it easier to lift the bars out once they are done baking. Lightly spray the parchment or foil with cooking spray.
- In a food processor, pulse together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt just until combined. Add the cold butter and vanilla, and pulse until the mixture starts to come together with some small round balls starting to form. It will take a few minutes of pulsing.
- Transfer the mixture to your pan and press the crust evenly in the bottom of the pan with your fingers. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges of the crust are lightly brown and the center is set. Set aside.
For the Filling:
- In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, and cream. Bring to a rolling boil and then reduce the heat and simmer on medium low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- This step is tempering the eggs so that they don't scramble in your caramel mixture. In a small bowl, beat the eggs together with a fork. Add a tablespoon at a time of the caramel mixture to the eggs and whisk to combine. Continue adding caramel and whisking until the eggs have completely combined with the caramel. Pour back into your saucepan.
- Add vanilla and chopped pecans and stir to combine.
- Pour the pecan filling onto your crust and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes. You will know its done when the top isn't jiggly and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. If the top is getting too brown as it bakes, loosely cover with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven, set on a wire rack, and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
- Once the bars have cooled, lift the parchment or foil from the pan and place on a cutting board. Slice into 36 bars. Enjoy!
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
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I just used Ener-G egg replacement, following the instructions for one egg. This whipped up pretty well and the almonds were a big hit at the office.
Great idea Jade! Thanks for sharing!!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Holly and Healthykids, Healthykids. Healthykids said: Sugar Free Cinnamon Pecans: Last week, when I shared the Cinnamon Almonds, Becky was hoping to find an alternati… http://bit.ly/gaBkiN […]
I was hoping for sgar-free as well. LOVE this! I also love that I NEVER have a problem getting your blog to load on my phone!
I’m so happy to find your blog thru Rebecca Cooper’s blog. This is fantastic information and ideas. From now on I will be following. Thank you for all these ideas and help. The food ideas look so yummy.
I was hoping for sgar-free as well. LOVE this! I also love that I NEVER have a problem getting your blog to load on my phone!
I was hoping for sgar-free as well. LOVE this! I also love that I NEVER have a problem getting your blog to load on my phone!
I’m so glad Nona! The URL you left doesn’t work for me though.. isn’t typed wrong?
I almost cringed when I saw “sugar free” because I was afraid that meant artificial sweeteners (which we don’t use), but I was thrilled to see that you used dates instead! I can’t wait to try these!
Blehh! Can you imagine? I just can’t even stand the taste of artificial sweeteners, (and then of course there is all the unknown harm too!)
[…] Sugar-Free pecan recipe […]
[…] No Sugar Added Cinnamon Pecans […]
I haven’t used dates much…are we talking a long soak for dried dates or is there another way to buy them?
I was thrilled to see an egg-free variant. I’ve got a son with egg allergies, too!
You just need to soak them until they are easy to blend. So if they are fresh dates, you shouldn’t have to soak much at all!
I would like to make these for my diabetic grandson. Do you think I could substitute figs for the dates? There are less calories and cars in figs.
“Bake for 2-3 hours” is pretty vague. How do you know when they’re done cooking? Thanks!
Bake for 2-3 hours” is pretty vague. How do you know when they’re done cooking? Thanks!
When they are no longer sticky!
This is the perfect way to get my kids to eat nuts. They don’t go for the raw nuts so this is the next best thing. Love these!
Yum. I need to try those. And that cute chicky cup is awesome!
This alone has prompted me to become a member! My husband and I drive a big rig for a iving and its impossible to find anything healthy or fresh to snack on at a truckstop. :-). Ruthie
Hoorray! Glad to have you Ruthie!
I’ve made something similar to these but with date syrup from The Date Lady. Boiling the syrup till it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water, then mixing in some toasted nuts (coco powder & sprinkle of sea salt for a chocolate treat) and left to cool on parchment. Once cooled they have a caramel texture…pop them in the freezer for a brittle! So yummy!!
Sounds amazing Ashley!
I’ve been loving your site! I discovered it after I had RNY gastric bypass in September. (down 70lbs!)So many of your recipes have worked perfectly for my new lifestyle. Made your version of sugar free cinnamon nuts this morning. Waiting on them to cool 🙂 thank you for all your wonderful recipes & ideas..I’m hooked!
I am on Weight Watchers. Any good, low calorie recipes?
Good for you Becca! Weight watchers is great. Although I’m sure we have a lot of low calorie recipes, since our site is about adding more fruits and veggies for kids, we don’t categorize them that way. You can start with our veggie category though. https://www.superhealthykids.com/recipe-category/vegetable/