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
September 7, 2017 at 10:57 amCan I use coconut milk instead of cream?
Sam says
September 13, 2017 at 4:06 pmI’ve never worked with coconut milk before, but let me know if it does!
Tiffany says
September 24, 2017 at 9:44 pmI 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!
Tammy says
October 23, 2017 at 5:08 pmI 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
May 18, 2018 at 6:15 pmMine 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
December 29, 2018 at 6:36 pmYes for me too!!!
Amanda says
December 29, 2018 at 6:58 pmI just redid mine with the granulated stevia and it worked great.
Sylvia says
October 31, 2017 at 11:09 pmDelicious! 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
November 22, 2017 at 9:31 pmI 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
November 22, 2017 at 11:29 pmI’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Melinda says
November 29, 2017 at 2:34 pmDo these need to be kept in the freezer or the refrigerator.
Sam says
November 29, 2017 at 9:13 pmThey work great in the fridge for me!
Nicole says
August 15, 2018 at 10:34 amHow long do you think they should be good for in the fridge?
★★★★★
Diane Battaglino says
December 19, 2017 at 4:43 pmSuper easy and so good.
★★★★★
Kris says
January 3, 2018 at 9:54 pmThis recipe was easy to follow and was a success.
Stacey says
January 18, 2018 at 8:48 pmMy “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
January 19, 2018 at 4:58 pmIt’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
September 12, 2018 at 8:48 pmI 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
February 5, 2018 at 1:04 pmHave 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
June 25, 2018 at 11:08 amMine was kind of thin too so I brought it to a boil then simmered and it seemed to help
Kathy V says
February 8, 2018 at 7:02 pmLoved 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
April 7, 2018 at 2:55 pmJust 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
April 13, 2018 at 10:01 amCan you use stevia?
Sam says
April 13, 2018 at 6:33 pmsure!
Amanda says
April 22, 2018 at 6:25 pmDo you think you can use the same amount of stevia drops? 2 tbsp, or would that be too sweet?
Britt says
April 26, 2018 at 12:33 pmWould liquid sweetener work or does it need to be powder?
Sam says
April 27, 2018 at 9:53 amI haven’t tried liquid but I think the powder helps the consistency. Let me know if you try it out
Stephanie says
June 16, 2018 at 4:13 pmI used yacon syrup and it worked like a charm! It gave it a little more of a maple flavor too.
Danah says
May 21, 2018 at 10:51 amThese 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
May 28, 2018 at 11:47 amOMG!! I just made these for Memoral Day, so that I could have something sweet too …. o wow. Amazing!!
Elizabeth Mayes says
June 26, 2018 at 9:26 pmThese are fantastic! Without the chocolate they taste like pralines. I NEVER leave reviews, but these are so good I had to!
★★★★★
Roberta says
July 1, 2018 at 9:38 pmMade these tonight…so good. Thanks!
JOAN C CONNELLY says
August 15, 2018 at 12:27 pmCo-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
August 17, 2018 at 12:14 pmThese are wonderful!
Crissy says
September 21, 2018 at 1:47 amFlavor 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
October 4, 2018 at 8:33 amMy 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
November 12, 2018 at 8:00 pmI 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
November 19, 2018 at 5:57 pmI’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
November 23, 2018 at 6:13 amThese came out perfect!!!! So delicious!! Could not even tell they were keto. So Yummy, Will make these again and again!
★★★★★
Seth says
November 30, 2018 at 5:07 amThese 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
December 1, 2018 at 3:15 pmMy 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
January 6, 2019 at 5:23 pmThe 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
January 27, 2019 at 5:04 pmI 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
April 23, 2019 at 6:12 pmDelicious!! 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!