These Keto Pecan Pralines are creamy and sweet with toasted pecans throughout. My Pecan Pralines Recipe cooks in about ten minutes and is ready to eat in under an hour. They are low carb, sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, keto, and a THM S.
Ever since my husband and I went to New Orleans for our first anniversary pralines have been one of my favorite treats. I was thrilled to come up with a low carb sugar-free version.
My first attempt was good, but not great. Those were too crunchy. More like Candied Pecans. Those are great for salad. One of my favorites is fresh baby spinach with strawberries, feta, and some of my chopped candied pecans.
But this creamy pecan pralines recipe is just like the ones sold in New Orleans. Ever since our 1st anniversary trip to NOLA I've occasionally ordered Aunt Sally's Pralines online. Now I don't have to. There are several types of pralines throughout the world. These are the best.
When I decided to play around with my original recipe today I had high hopes and they were fulfilled.
How to Make Pecan Pralines
To make pralines you basically make a caramel type sauce, add the pecans, and let them set. It is easier than you think and my method doesn't even require a candy thermometer.
Just cook some of the butter with sweetener and cream. Add the rest of the butter, vanilla, salt, and your toasted pecans. Drop spoonfuls onto parchment paper and let them cool. That's it!
How do I know when my keto pecan pralines are done?
The photo above is a good representation of the color you are looking for when cooking this praline recipe. You want the mixture to get thick, turn golden, and smell fragrant.
I do not use a candy thermometer because it is hard to temp such a small amount of caramel. If your caramel looks like my photos you are good!
How do I toast pecans?
I simply put a cookie sheet of pecans in a 400-degree oven for 5-8 minutes. I check them frequently. Nuts are pricey and I've burned enough to know not to forget about them.
You want to take them out with the edges get slightly darker and they smell fragrant. If you taste one the flavor should be stronger than with a raw nut.
How to store pralines:
I recommend storing these at room temp and eating them within 2 days. If you want to store them longer you can refrigerate them but they will get a little firmer and the sweetener may crystallize turning them whiteish. They are still delicious!
American cream-based pralines
French settlers brought the recipe to Louisiana, where both sugar cane and pecan trees were plentiful. During the 19th century, New Orleans chefs substituted pecans for almonds, added cream to thicken the confection, and thus created what became known throughout the American South as the praline.
Pralines have a creamy consistency, similar to fudge. They are usually made by combining sugar (often brown), butter, cream or buttermilk, and pecans in a pot over medium-high heat, and stirring constantly until most of the water has evaporated and it has reached a thick texture with a brown color. This is then usually dropped by spoonfuls onto wax paper or a sheet of aluminum foil greased with butter, and left to cool.
'Pralines and Cream' is a common ice cream flavor in the United States and Canada. In New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pralines are sometimes called "pecan candy". Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praline
If you love this Creamy Pecan Pralines Recipe make sure to also take a look these:
Pecan Praline Brownies - fudgy brownies topped with a rich praline topping
Pecan Praline Ice Cream - homemade vanilla ice cream with ribbons of praline running through
Pecan Praline Cookie Bars - just like a pecan pie, but a bar instead
Chocolate Pecan Pralines - the classic but with chocolate
Keto Toffee - layers of chocolate around a crisp nutty toffee
Did you realize yet how much I love these pecan pralines?
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Keto Pecan Pralines
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans toasted
- 5 tablespoon butter divided
- 6 tablespoon light cream (or heavy cream)
- ⅓ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Combine 4 tablespoon of the butter with the sweetener and cream over medium heat. Stir until sweetener is dissolved.
- Cook until it is a deep golden brown. As soon as it reaches that deep color (right before burning) remove from the heat and immediately add the other 1 tablespoon butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth.
- Add the salt and toasted pecans. Drop by spoonfuls onto on wax paper. Refrigerate just until firm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally Published March 9, 2016. Revised and Republished March 16, 2020.
Donna Hunt says
I love this recipe. I try to keep this on hand all the time.
Linda says
I use Splenda brn sugar…nothing short of delicious…sometimes I under cook to get a Carmel chew and dip in melted SF chocolate chips for ‘turtles’
Kathy says
Did you use the same amount of sweetener?
Marian says
Loved your easy pralines!!! I used a different sweetner that was a blend and it worked great!! Going to double the nuts next time. Loved the creamy texture. Burned my first batch of pecans because my timer didn’t go off and when I opened the oven they were black, ugh! Rescued the next batch. The sweetner is made by Whole Earth called allulose baking blend.
Meg says
Thanks for posting this! I have the Whole Earth Allulose baking blend too so I really appreciate the review. Saves me from wasting the ingredients! 🙂
Suzanne Wynn says
These are wonderful! I had Lakanto's confectioners blend of monk fruit and erythritol and subbed it with no issues. I started with a little less than 1/3 cup but after tasting, added the rest. I also used peanuts for testing. Will drizzle with Lily's white chocolate. Reece's pralines my butt! 🤣❤
THANK YOU for doing the hard work.
Kathy says
Did you use the same amount of sweetener?
Abby says
I am expecting a baby any day and I have GD. I am SO GRATEFUL for you that you created this AMAZING recipe to help a needy emotional mama like me waiting for a sweet baby to arrive! I made it during a previous GD pregnancy and found it amazing too. I did add SF chocolate chips too.
Taryn says
Aww, congrats on the baby! I'm so glad you liked these 🙂
AD says
I just made these last night and they are soooo good! I used a different sweetener (the erythritol and monk fruit blend) and they came out fine. Thank you so much for this!
CHARMAINE JACKSON says
Hi; I’ve read coconut cream not cream of coconut is a good lactose free substitute for heavy cream. I’m planning to try that.
Joyce says
I am betting Coconut cream would be so good with this recipe.
Sue Alley says
Oh my word these are slap your momma good! I used Allulose sweetener and they came out perfect.
Leona says
Hello Pray all are well. I don’t do dairy, can I use coconut milk or cream. Many Blessings
Taryn says
I have not tried making this dairy free, sorry.
Leona says
Hello, Pray all is well. Thank you for responding. I used coconut cream, don’t know if they turned out like yours, but they were delicious, everybody loved them. Just FYI
Donna Hancock says
I made these with Splenda brown sugar, and they were perfecto mundo!! 😋
Nicky says
I haven't even let these cool yet! The caramel is just delicious!! Thank you for developing this recipe! <3
Lyssiana says
I had only erythritol and allulose...did about a 3/4 to 1/4 blend of the two (because allulose is also expensive and hard to buy in Australia). Worked out beautifully!! My family will definitely be clamouring fo more of these. Can't wait to incorporate these into the homemade ice cream. 🙂
Christa Blais says
How many servings are in this recipe?
Taryn says
It says it at the top of the recipe card. It makes 10 and they each have 1 carb.
Srg says
I have made 3 batches of this recipe. The best ever! I do prefer however not toasting the pecans. If i could this higher than 5 stars I would!
Nikki Maynard says
I just made these... only had lakanto sweetener but thought I'd go ahead and try it anyway. Other than a slight cooling effect these are delicious. Even my non keto husband liked them!
Lauren says
I used allulose and they turned out great! Love this recipe.
Taryn says
I'm glad to hear that allulose worked!
Alicia says
Loved, loved !!! Now I’m addicted. I’ve made 2 batches, one with Pyure sweetener- great tasting but grainy; second with my sweetener mix of xylitol, stevia and erythritol and these came out creamy and so yummy too.
Barb says
I made these using monk fruit sweetener and they turned out perfect. Very delicious!
Sherrie Moseley says
I just made these yesterday for the first time. They were absolutely amazing!! I did use Gentle Sweet because it’s what I had...my non-THM hubby kept coming back for more. Best no sugar sweet treat I’ve made to date! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us!!
sherry says
mine did not work and I used Splenda. My question is, what is the gram/ounce for a serving. I see the nutritional information but it doesn't say the weight etc.
Taryn says
I specifically say not to use other sweeteners in this recipe. I'm sorry it didn't work for you.
Annie says
I tried these tonight! Love the taste of these... so creamy! My husband is doing keto and he told me this is his new favorite keto dessert. Mine turned out slightly darker than yours. I will try to remove it a bit sooner net time, Cook time for me was 10 min after it started boiling on MED-HIGH. Will definitely make these time and time again. Thank you!
Donna Rogers says
I tried these tonight and cooked on med heat and butter separated when it started to brown. I stirred the whole time. Should I not stir it till it starts to change colors cause it was perfect until then.
Taryn says
Hi Donna, which sweetener did you use?