I dreamt about pecan pie last night (I've had these types of carby/sugary food nightmares about twice a week since I started keto in March). Since I had a bag of pecans on hand, I thought I'd try my hand at making a little sweet snack that would still be keto. I combined 2 recipes from the internet (toasted butter pecans from a user named Rita + the caramel recipe from Craig on Ruled.me) so all credit goes to them, I just brought them together! :)

This recipe makes 280g (or ~9.9 ounces) of caramel pecans, and a 30g serving size (or ~1 ounce) has 195 calories, 20.7g fat, 2.1g protein, and 1.1g net carbs (3.1g carbs minus 2g fiber). You can use it as a sort of fat bomb too, I suppose. If you want less fat and fewer calories, adjust the amount of butter and cream in the glaze, and/or decrease (or eliminate) the butter for roasting the pecans.

Recipe & nutritional information:

FOR THE BUTTER PECANS

INGREDIENTS

• 200 grams (or ~2 cups) Pecans
• 20 grams (or ~1.5 tablespoons) Unsalted butter
• 1 gram (or ~1/8 teaspoon, or 2 dashes of salt) Salt

(Note: You can use salted butter if you like. I wouldn't add more salt though :) )

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 150 Celsius (or ~300 Fahrenheit). Melt the 20 grams of butter in a small bowl, then add in the salt.
2. Drop your pecans into the butter mixture and coat thoroughly before placing the pecans onto some foil in a single layer.
3. Put the pecans into the oven for 15-20 minutes. (Halfway through, you can stir/flip the pecans to allow equal heating on all sides.)
4. Take the pecans out of the oven and put them aside while you make the caramel glaze.

FOR THE CARAMEL GLAZE:

INGREDIENTS

• 30 grams (or ~2 tablespoons) Unsalted butter
• 30 grams (or ~ 2 tablespoons) Heavy cream / whipping cream
• 3 grams Erythritol or other sweetener you have on hand. (I didn't make it very sweet; add more erythritol if you want it sweeter. Also, to serve as a measuring stick with regards to sweetness if you have another type of sweetener: my erythritol comes in packets of 1 gram each, and each packet is apparently equivalent to the sweetness of 2 teaspoons of normal sugar)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a pan, heat the butter until it's browned and nutty. Be careful, as there's a fine line between browned butter and burned butter!
2. Take the pan off the heat for a moment so you can add in your cream and sweetener. Stir.
3. Put the pan bac on the heat and keep stirring until the caramel glaze is browned to your liking.
4. Turn the heat off, drop all your pecans into the pan and coat the nuts thoroughly. Layer the pecans back onto the foil before putting it into the freezer for about 15 minutes, so that the nuts cool down and the glaze sets. Afterwards: YUM :)

NUTRITION INFORMATION

SERVING SIZE: 30g (or ~1 ounce) of caramel-glazed butter pecans Calories: 195 Fat: 20.7g Protein: 2.1g Carbs: 3.1g Fiber: 2g NET CARBS: 1.1g

ENTIRE BATCH: 280g (or ~9.9 ounces) of caramel-glazed butter pecans Calories: 1828 Fat: 193.8g Protein: 19.4g Carbs: 28.6g Fiber: 19.2g NET CARBS: 9.4g