These Keto Pecan Pie Clusters are a great, easy to make treat for satisfying any low carb sweet tooth!
What I really love about this recipe is that it derived from, in the words of everyone’s favorite television painter, Bob Ross, “a happy accident.”
I was trying to make a keto-friendly version of caramel turtles, but just couldn’t get the caramel right.
Three different recipes, and each one was more of a flop than the last.
I figured I might as well try to assemble something anyway, so I did, finished them up…tasted one, and accepted my failure.
When my husband got home from work he noticed them on the counter and inquired. I warned him not to try them…but thankfully he didn’t listen.
He took one bite and said…”These aren’t bad!”
Five minutes later he had finished the entire tray and said with his mouth full “These are delicious. They taste like the stuff that’s in a pecan pie.”
He was right! And after a few more recipe tweaks, today’s post was born….
Keto Pecan Pie Clusters
Keto Pecan Pie Clusters
- Yield: ~10 clusters
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2 oz dark or sugar free chocolate, chopped
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. Zen Sweet (or sweetener of choice)
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Over medium heat, brown butter until golden. Stir frequently being careful not to burn
- Once golden, add heavy cream and whisk together. Turn down heat to a simmer
- Whisking quickly, add sweetener and vanilla, being sure to break up any lumps
- Continue whisking occasionally for next 5 minutes as mixture begins to thicken
- Mixture will have consistency similar to caramel and slightly darken. Remove from heat
- Mix in chopped pecans and spoon clusters onto parchment lined tray or plate
- Place in freezer for 5 minutes
- Microwave dark chocolate for 20-40 seconds until melted and smooth, drizzle over clusters
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cluster
- Calories: 140
- Sugar: 0
- Fat: 14
- Carbohydrates: 1
- Protein: 1
Jeni says
Can I use coconut milk instead of cream?
Sam says
I’ve never worked with coconut milk before, but let me know if it does!
Tiffany says
I used coconut cream and added 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder, and mixed the pecans with unsweetened shredded coconut. (I also halved the sweetener bc I used pyure.) So good! Tastes like an Almond Joy!
Blessing Freeman says
Did you add the cocoa powder to the entire mixture?
Tammy says
I tried these tonight. Absolutely delicious!! Mine did not turn out right though. I think I over cooked the sauce. It started to separate and became very oily. I will be trying again. They still tasted amazing. They were even husband approved!
Cindy says
Mine did the same thing. I made sauce second time. Again it turned to liquid. I used liquid stevia. I think that had something to do with it.
Amanda says
Yes for me too!!!
Amanda says
I just redid mine with the granulated stevia and it worked great.
Sylvia says
Delicious! I just poured the syrup over whole pecans spread in a parchment paper lined pan. My pan was a bit to large but they were absolutely great!!
★★★★★
Katy Glover says
I followed this recipe to a “t”, only addition I made was a pump and a half of Torani SF Brown Sugar Cinnamon syrup (I use it to make keto-friendly cinnamon dolce lattes). These things are THE BOMB DOT COM. A real homerun. I wanted something for dessert after thanksgiving dinner and I thought I would give these a whirl. They absolutely do not disappoint. This recipe is an absolute gem.
★★★★★
Sam says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Jenny says
Delicious!!
★★★★★
Melinda says
Do these need to be kept in the freezer or the refrigerator.
Sam says
They work great in the fridge for me!
Nicole says
How long do you think they should be good for in the fridge?
★★★★★
Diane Battaglino says
Super easy and so good.
★★★★★
Kris says
This recipe was easy to follow and was a success.
Stacey says
My “Carmel” type sauce was so runny and thin there was no way it would hold together on parchment paper. What did I do wrong??!
Sam says
It’s a bit hard to say where the issue was. It does thicken up as it cools, did you notice that at all? Sometimes letting it cool for a minute or two will allow it to thicken up before you pour it.
Aprill says
I had to turn my heat up a little during the simmer phase because it was thin. That did the trick. Took a little longer than 5 mins…SO GOOD!
Joie says
Have been experimenting with several keto desserts and came across these. I was pretty sick of chocolately desserts (tho I love chocolate). These were really a nice change. I also had trouble with my sauce not thickening so I added just a pinch of xanthum gum which did the trick. Thanks for this recipe!
★★★★
Alicia says
Mine was kind of thin too so I brought it to a boil then simmered and it seemed to help
Geri says
Mine Carmel was just a thin butter. So when I poured it on the pecans, I just got buttery pecans.
★
Cindy says
I have tried twice and cannot get it to thicken to caramel like consistency.
They taste really good but def don’t look like the pictures
Kendra says
Made this today. Turned out great!
★★★★★
Kathy V says
Loved these! Made them per the recipe and they turned out great.
I only put dark chocolate on half, I only had enough for half! The only problem was waiting the 5 minutes for them in the freezer. ????
★★★★★
Margie says
Just made these this afternoon. Recipe was spot on! I’ve been doing Keto 6 months & this was really my first dessert attempt. I was really missing Pecan Pie! At one carb this was absolutely Devine and satisfying ❤️ My husband tried 2 &R REALLY liked giving it a ????????
★★★★★
Christy says
Can you use stevia?
Sam says
sure!
Amanda says
Do you think you can use the same amount of stevia drops? 2 tbsp, or would that be too sweet?
Britt says
Would liquid sweetener work or does it need to be powder?
Sam says
I haven’t tried liquid but I think the powder helps the consistency. Let me know if you try it out
Stephanie says
I used yacon syrup and it worked like a charm! It gave it a little more of a maple flavor too.
Danah says
These are delicious and satisfy by craving for pecan pie – my favorite! Because I’m a southern pecan pie purest I left off the chocolate.
April says
OMG!! I just made these for Memoral Day, so that I could have something sweet too …. o wow. Amazing!!
Elizabeth Mayes says
These are fantastic! Without the chocolate they taste like pralines. I NEVER leave reviews, but these are so good I had to!
★★★★★
Roberta says
Made these tonight…so good. Thanks!
JOAN C CONNELLY says
Co-worker made and brought these in….delicious! Then she told me she forgot to add the required amount of sweetner, she made the recipe by 3….still very good and I like the fact not overly sweet!!
★★★★★
Claudette says
These are wonderful!
Crissy says
Flavor was delish. I think I had too many pecans and not enough Carmel cause they didn’t stick together good enough pick up the whole piece and eat, but still got scarfed up, we just grabbed a spoon. Ha! I think i’ll Do a cup of pecans and then chop, I chopped first and then measured. Boyfriend asked if these were really keto. He called them decadent and I had to take the plate away before he ate them all. Thx for the recipe!!
★★★★★
Pam S says
My first attempt with a fat bomb recipe (basic coconut oil fat bomb) was extremely disappointing however I decided to give fat bombs another try. Besides cutting this recipe in half (I didn’t want to waste any ingredients in the case this recipe was a flop) I followed it to a TEE. OMG… this was AMAZING! Thank you so much for taking the time experimenting and posting this recipe. I’m printing this recipe and sharing it with my fellow keto-ers!!
★★★★★
Becca says
I needed a keto dessert to bring to a work potluck and I didn’t have the energy to do something super elaborate. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did!!! They’re delicious! My teenaged daughter stole one off the cookie sheet and gave it two thumbs up!
★★★★★
Lisa says
I’ve made these twice now and they are delicious!! My husband loves pecan pie, but hasn’t had any since being diagnosed with diabetes. He says it’s like he’s eating the filling. We absolutely love them! Thank you for posting it!
Lisa says
These came out perfect!!!! So delicious!! Could not even tell they were keto. So Yummy, Will make these again and again!
★★★★★
Seth says
These took awhile – watching and stirring the butter then the caramel – but No Probs Will Do It Again.
They were delicious. Made them in parchment muffin cups for individual servings and stored in the freezer for great texture.
If I had made these before Thanksgiving I’m wouldn’t have carbed out on regular desserts lol.
Thanks.
Bridget Hobbs says
My sauce was not thick enough to hold the pecans together after the freezer time. What did I do wrong? Should I have hooked the sauce longer?
Tasted delicious in bits.
Gina says
The first time I made these the sauce didn’t thicken but they were still delicious. I just made these again and they came out perfect. They are so good! I put mine in the freezer and am hoping they don’t become too hard. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Sarah says
I made these twice before Christmas and they turned out wonderfully! All four Keto people in my family loved them. I’ve tried four times over the last two days and the sauce WILL NOT thicken. What is it, on a good science level, that causes the thickening? It is darkening but not thickening.
Alison says
Delicious!! Just made these and they were perfect to fill my sweet craving! Didn’t have chocolate so I just left off and they were still great! Thank you!
Melanie Mietus says
These are one of my GO TO Keto desserts!!! So absolutely delicious 🙂 I double the recipe usually because if Im making it, I might as well make a good amount hehe. The only thing I add to this which brings it to another level…is a Teaspoon of Caramel extract! Ramps up that caramel flavour. So glad you had that happy accident and shared it with the Keto world!! Thank you VERY much.
★★★★★
Shauna says
Hmm. Doesn’t seem to have nearly enough candy co coat the bits and hold them together. Mine don’t look anything like the picture – just big mounds of loose nuts with a little bit of “sauce”. Your pic looks more like candy. Weird.
Also I find that two tables of granulated stevia is very bitter – will try it cutting back. Will keep trying to see why my candy isn’t setting up!
★★★
Shauna says
I think there’s a step missing from the recipe. The first five minutes in the freezer are to cool them a bit before frizzing the melted chocolate. If you try to eat them at this stage they will fall apart. You need to put them BACK in the freezer for at least an hour and they will firm up great.
I also replaced the stevia with granulated swerve and the taste is SO much better!
🤗
★★★★
Deena says
OH – MY – G-D!!! These are absolutely delicious! I’ve been on a keto diet for four weeks now and have never felt better. However, the past day or so I’ve needed something dessert-ish, but not chocolate. In the town that I live in, there is an amazing bakery that makes “Pecan Diamonds.” They’re like a bite of a pecan pie (which is all that I need). These taste exactly like them! Not sort of…not almost, but with a weird after-taste…EXACTLY!! I’ve been so afraid that I was going to give in and eat something not keto or even low carb. You saved me! Thank you! I do have one question – how many should clusters should this recipe make? (I could’ve eaten it right out of the pan, they’re that good! 🙂
★★★★★
Tim says
I made these and they were great. I used liquid stevia, about ten drops. I found the sauce was not thickening so I put a tad bit of xanthan gum in and that did the trick. They turned out amazing for me.
Laura says
These came out great, however we did double up the sweetener (Swerve) and had to increase the temperature and let it cook about 4x the recommended time before it thickened. Next time I plan to use muffin cups and put the sugar down first followed by pecans, instead of mixing it all together. Don’t think it needs the dark chocolate. Perfect for Thanksgiving or praline craving!
★★★★★
Brette says
Whoa. Plot twist for thanksgiving!! I tried the original recipe and it was very good, but I didn’t love the chocolate on top. So, I decided to make another batch sans chocolate. Halfway through I realized I had some leftover pumpkin purée in the fridge, so I added 1tbsp plus pumpkin pie spice when the caramel was almost thickened, let it thicken, then sprinkled maldon sea salt on it and HOLY SHHEEEEET!! Omg so good. I can’t wait to bring it to thanksgiving dinner tomorrow for my family to try!