cinnamon pecan brittle paleo peanut-free gluten-free recipe

Cinnamon Pecan Brittle

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I came up with the recipe for this Cinnamon Pecan Brittle when I messed up a recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s lovely cookbook, Around My French Table.

I had thought I was making Spiced Nuts, though when I pulled these out of the oven, I realized that I had actually made a scrumptious nut brittle. So, I made the recipe several additional times, tweaking each version along the way until I was pleased with this new permutation.

Cinnamon Pecan Brittle
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together egg white, agave, salt and cinnamon
  2. Toss nuts in the egg white mixture to coat
  3. Pour nut mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
  4. Bake at 300° for 30 minutes, until nuts are browned
  5. Allow nuts to cool for 5 minutes, then break apart and serve

This brittle is great for a party or nice to keep around as a snack.  It also makes a lovely hostess gift when placed in a little tin or box, that is then tied with a pretty ribbon.  By the way, this gluten free nut snack is one of my favorites. You can experiment with other nuts in this recipe instead of the pecans (though I haven’t tried this myself); if you do please let us know how it turns out.

You may also want to try some brittle type recipes from these bloggers:
–Cinnamon Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Stephanie of Wasabimon
–CrockPot Peanut (Not Brittle) Candy from Stephanie of A Year of Slow Cooking
-Spiced Almond Brittle from Kelly of The Spunky Coconut

Comments

  1. Claire Letkiewicz says

    You don’t mention if the pecans are raw, or roasted. Shouldn’t the pecans be soaked and roasted first? I always do this for better digestibility. I saw someone else asked, but there was no response. Thank you!

    Reply

    • Elana says

      Hi Mieke, if you google “temperature conversions from Celsius to Fahrenheit” you will get the temperature you need for this recipe. This google search will also help you convert the temperatures for my other recipes. Baking times will remain the same. Thanks for your question and enjoy the Pecan Brittle!

      Reply

    • Elana says

      Hi Michelle, that might be necessary if your oven temperature is a little off. If you put the brittle back in to firm up please keep a close eye on it and I hope you’ll let me know how it turned out.

      Reply

  4. SunnySky says

    Perfect! I did use half honey and half maple syrup (since I’m currently low on honey)—Now to stay away long enough to bring these as a snack prior to tonight’s football game! ;)
    Definitely a recipe to KEEP. Thank you.
    ♡ ♡ ♡

    Reply

  5. SunnySky says

    Yum! Will make today and bring to the football game tonight to have as a snack. I wonder, though, if I can use maple syrup in lieu of the honey — only because we’re low on honey, at the moment, vs honey. ?? I’ll try it.

    Reply

  6. Kara says

    My kids would love this! But they are allergic to eggs. Ideas for replacement/alternative combo of ingredients? Thanks!

    Reply

  7. Robyn says

    I was excited to try this recipe this morning and like many others that commented mine turned out gooey. Following some of the comments, I cooked for 5 additional minutes but this did not change the gooeyness. I added to the freezer (tip from a commenter) and this helped. I love Elena’s recipes but I feel that this recipe has way too much salt for me. I will make adjustments the next time I make it. Overall good recipe and you can add different seeds or nuts etc….

    Reply

  8. Natasha says

    I made this last night to try it out. I’m planning on giving this away to friends, etc. I love it. My coworkers like it (aka my guinea pigs). And my house smelled magical.

    Reply

  12. Kristin says

    ADDICTIVE!!! I can NOT stop eating them!! I do believe this may become my go-to dish to take to social events =)

    Reply

  13. Allison says

    For everyone who had problem with it being sticky, stick it in the freezer! Mine was a little goopy after 30 minutes too, so I let it cool in the freezer for a while. I could have let it set a while longer (the outside edges were hard, but the middle was still soft), but I just broke it all up and threw it in a container and popped that back in the freezer. It will keep it crunchy, I’m sure, and keep me out of it since I can’t seem to stop eating! YUM!!

    Reply

    • Reiko says

      Another way to avoid a gooey middle is to not have a middle at all! That is, drop them on the sheet separately instead of spread them in a layer. I have yet to try this technique, but I can’t imagine it failing :)

      Reply

  14. Elizabeth says

    I made these tonight and they taste great. Mine are sticky thought and not brittle – so you think I should bake them longer?

    Reply

  17. KR says

    I just made these and mine turned out gooey. I left them in the oven for another 10 min but it didn’t help. Any suggestions?

    Reply

  20. Kenna says

    This recipe is delicious and easy! As soon as I read the post today I went to the kitchen and in a matter of minutes my house was filled with a sweet, nutty smell. They are tasty little treats!
    Thanks again!

    Reply

  24. Susan Maki says

    Divine!! Just popped some in my mouth and they are yummy!! It was hard waiting for them to cool, but so worth the wait :-) Thanks Elana!

    Reply

    • Susan Maki says

      BTW – didn’t have enough pecans so I added some almonds I briefly ran through the food processor and some pumpkin seeds.

      Reply

  25. says

    This recipe sounds wonderful. I also wanted to thank you for your cookbook and blog – I recently was able to reintroduce almonds and duck eggs successfully, and since last month have been cooking and baking from your cookbook and enjoying it tremendously. :)

    Reply

  26. Cindi Johnson says

    Wow ~ Add a couple of other spices and the original recipe you were trying (spiced nuts) is what my mom made every Christmas for many, many years… and I have continued the tradition. I have never met anyone else with that recipe. The brittle version must be excellent because the spiced nut version is a hit every time. I really encourage others to try it.

    Reply

  29. says

    Mistakes are the best aren’t they? I make them in the kitchen all the time but magically it always leads me to a new creation! This recipe looks fantastic. It’s hard to find a healthier version of a brittle. Can’t wait to try it out!

    Reply

  30. Tamra says

    Thanks for this recipe. brittle was my go to Christmas present. But with white sugar. Now I can make it for me with Agave!

    And to those that add their ideas-Thank you!

    Reply

  32. says

    What a serendipitous discovery! I always loved nut brittle as a kid, but this version appeals to me now so much more than those sugar- & butter- laden brittles. I’m looking forward to making this!

    Reply

  33. says

    I make something similar to this for a healthy snack. I use 2 tbls of agave, 2 tbls of cinnamon, 2 mini scoops of stevia and whisk that together into a paste. Then I add 3 1/2 cups of almonds and stir around until they are all coated. Bake in a 9 x 13 cake pan (sprayed with pam or use parchment) at 350 for 20 minutes. Makes great cinnamon almonds, perfect for snacking.

    Reply

  42. says

    A brilliant recipe blunder! I feel like we are your kids that get to gobble up what mama wouldn’t serve to the guests because it wasn’t what it ought to have been. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  45. says

    These look delicious! They remind me of those caramel sheets with nuts, but way healthier!
    Can’t wait to try them, maybe with flaked almonds so I get a think delicate sheet to serve with your cashew ice cream.

    Thanks Elana, fab recipes as usual… would love it if you check out my blog too, I just started it… its gluten dairy and sugar free :-)

    theteeniefoodie.blogspot.com/

    xxx

    Reply

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