Salted Maple Bacon Pecans

These salted maple bacon pecans are the ultimate paleo snack. With only four ingredients and ready in less than 20 minutes, they're perfect for your next party or gathering, or as an anytime treat!

These salted maple bacon pecans were really born on accident.

I tend to get bored with regular roasted nuts, and I want them to have a bit more flavor. I'm a huge fan of the Maple Spiced Walnuts from Nom Nom Paleo (recipe is in this cookbook), as well as Mel Joulwan's Spiced Nut recipe.

We also always seem to have a lot of bacon grease on hand, and like to cook vegetables in it from time to time. So why not nuts?

A little sweet, a little salty, and BAM - Maple Bacon Pecans came to be.

These pecans are so versatile. You can keep them on hand as an everyday snack when you need some healthy fats. You can give them as gifts at the holidays. You can chop them up and put them on a salad. The sky's the limit!

Where do you get bacon grease?

Most of the bacon grease we cook with comes from my husband's homemade bacon. By curing our own bacon, we know what goes into the cure, and can keep it nitrate free.

We've even made some Whole30 compliant bacon! And can I just tell you how much cheaper it is to buy pork belly in large quantities, rather than bacon cured with sugar and chemicals? Well, I don't know how much, exactly, but it's a lot.

How do you cook pecans?

Pecans and other nuts tend to burn or scorch easily. Because of this, you want to keep the temperature relatively low, the cook times short, and the tossing frequent.

Whether you're making your own bacon, or buying it at the store, save the grease. Once you're done cooking the bacon, put it in a container (can or jar - nothing plastic that it will melt!) and put it in the fridge. It will harden, and you can re-heat it when needed. It will turn back into liquid form when it heats up.

Do you have to use bacon grease?

No, but I highly recommend it!

It stands up to a bit of a higher heat. Plus, who doesn't want their pecans to taste like bacon and maple?

Ok, some people don't. Fair. You can use any healthy fat of choice here. Some great options include coconut oil, avocado oil and ghee. If you're looking to keep the recipe vegan, any of those 3 will do it!

I may earn a small commission off purchases made through affiliate links in this post from Amazon and other sellers. This helps me continue to run the blog and keep providing you fresh content. Thank you for your support!