Easy Keto Roasted Pecan Chocolate Clusters

I love keeping a jar of these Keto Roasted Pecan Chocolate Clusters on hand, especially during the holiday season. They are SO good and ridiculously easy to make. They also really satisfy my craving for a sweet yet healthy quick keto snack in the afternoon.

Sugar-free Nut Clusters

Just like my Keto Chocolate Macadamia Caramel Clusters, Copycat Keto Dark Chocolate Nuggets Recipe or these 6-Ingredient Keto Clodhoppers, I love making quick keto snacks that are full of healthy ingredients.

Plus, since these keto pecan caramel clusters use collagen, they can definitely be considered on the healthier side when it comes to holiday treats!

this recipe

Ingredients for Keto Roasted Pecan Chocolate Clusters

You only need a handful of ingredients to make these quick and easy keto chocolate nut clusters!

• Nut Butter -I use Member's Mark Natural peanut butter, but any type of nut or seed butter would also be great. I just recommend tasting the "dough" to ensure that it's salted to your liking. You could also use coconut oil or palm oil. Using coconut oil, however, will require these keto pecan caramel clusters to be frozen.
• Protein Powder - I used The Fittest Butter Vanilla.  It is my favourite beef protein powder since it is sourced from pasture-raised cows in Europe. This grass-fed beef protein isolate si also packed with all 8 essential amino acids, including all 3 BCAAs and naturally occurring collagen and L-Leucine. You can use any type of beef protein or collagen powder - just remember that they all react differently and have varying amounts of levels of sweetness so you may need to adjust some of the ingredients in the recipe card if you chose a different type of protein powder.
• Sugar-Free Maple Syrup -  I used sugar-free Lakanto maple cinnamon syrup but you can use any type of sweetener, including fiber sweeteners such as Tapioca fiber syrup.
• Roasted Pecans - I recommend making your own roasted pecans using this 5-Minute Roasted Nuts and eliminating any of the flavourings. To roast nuts, simply add 1 tablespoon of butter to a saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Add the nuts and roast until they just begin to turn a light brown, about 5 minutes.
• Sea Salt - As you all know, I am in love with Maldon sea salt so I like to sprinkle just a little over the cookies to give them that added little bit of "salty-sweet" taste. You may not need or want any additional salt so feel free to omit this ingredient or use regular sea salt. Do not use table salt as it is much too salty.
• Sugar-free Chocolate Chips - I like to use Bake Believe Melting Wafers but any type of sugar-free chocolate chip, or sugar-free chocolate bar will work.

*See the recipe card for quantities.

How to roast nuts for this quick keto snack

Roasting nuts is really simple. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a medium skillet and melt it over medium heat. Add the nuts and stir frequently until the nuts just begin to turn a slight golden brown. Remove the nuts immediately from the pan as the nuts can burn quickly!

Keto Pecan Caramel Clusters Instructions

Nothing really complicated about making these keto roasted pecan chocolate clusters!

Step 1 - Roast the nuts

• Toss the nuts with a little melted butter and cook them in a skillet on medium heat for 5 minutes (Tip - you can also toss the nuts in melted butter and bake them for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.)

Step 2 - Make the caramel filling

• Add the nut butter and sugar-free maple syrup to a small saucepan and heat on low until the nut butter has melted.
• Remove from heat and add the vanilla beef or collagen protein powder
• Stir and taste - add additional sweetener or salt to taste
• Add the roasted nuts and stir everything together
• Evenly divide the mixture between 14 semi-sphere silicon molds (Tip - If you do not have semi-sphere molds, you can use a cookie scoop and place mounds of the mixture onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet)
• Place caramel nut filling in the freezer for 30 minutes

Step 3 - Melt the sugar-free chocolate

• Melt the sugar-free chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and continue to melt for 15 seconds until all the chocolate has melted.

Step 4 - Make the keto roasted pecan chocolate cluster cups

• Remove the pecan caramel clusters from their molds and place them in the fridge. Allow the molds to come to room temperature
• Place 1 tablespoon of the melted chocolate in the bottom of the room-temperature silicon mold - add the cold pecan caramel cluster to the mold, pressing the cluster down so that the chocolate is forced up the sides of the mold. Repeat with all 14 clusters
• Place in the fridge or freezer until firm.

Which types of nuts are keto-friendly?

Lucky for me (since I am obsessed with all things "nut"!), all nuts can be included in a keto diet. Each nut has its own unique characteristics and health benefits.

To save money, I buy big bags of nuts at either Costco or Sam's Club and then store them in airtight containers in my pantry.

Generally, a 1-ounce serving (a good handful) of any type of tree nut has about 160 calories, most of which come from heart-healthy unsaturated fat. Nuts are all pretty low in carbs and have about 2-4 grams of fiber. But when you look closely at their nutrient profiles, there are a few nutritional differences between different types of nuts.

Walnuts are especially high in polyunsaturated fats. In fact, they're the only tree nut that's a significant source of ALA, a plant source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fat. Eating more omega-3 fat is linked to a lower risk of heart disease and less inflammation. That's good if you have arthritis or any inflammatory conditions.

Almonds are significantly higher in calcium and vitamin E than all other tree nuts. If you're looking for non-dairy calcium foods, don't overlook almonds. They're also a bit higher in fiber than other nuts, with 4 grams per 1-ounce serving. And almonds are slightly higher in protein.

Pecans are quite high in monounsaturated fats - the same kind of fat that's in olive oil. Monounsaturated fats can help reduce your cholesterol. And speaking of cholesterol, pecans are also a source of plant sterols, which can reduce cholesterol, and antioxidants, which can prevent oxidative damage to your cells.

Cashews are highest in zinc (great for your immune system) and iron (essential for healthy red blood cells) compared to other tree nuts. They're a bit higher in carbs than other nuts, with about 9 grams per 1-ounce serving. Most other nuts have 4-6 grams of carbs, but that's still considered a low-carb snack.

Pistachios are packed with potassium. That's an important mineral for better blood pressure control. They're also a good source of antioxidants to keep your blood vessels and cells throughout your body happy and healthy. Pistachios are also higher in protein than most other nuts, with 6 grams per 1-ounce serving

Macadamias are highest in calories and fat (that's why they taste so delicious and buttery!), but they're also highest in cholesterol-lowering monounsaturated fat.

Brazil nuts are hands down the winner for selenium. This antioxidant mineral plays an essential role in thyroid health. It's especially important if you have Hashimoto's hypothyroid. Just one Brazil nut meets your daily selenium requirement.

How to make homemade sugar-free chocolate

Don't worry if you don't have any sugar-free chocolate as making homemade sugar-free chocolate is really easy!

Here are two different methods depending on whether you want to use unsweetened cocoa powder or solid unsweetened Baker's

Using cocoa powder - Melt 4 tbsp virgin coconut oil until nice and hot. Add ⅓ cup allulose and stir until the allulose has dissolved. Add ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder and stir. Taste and add additional sweetener, a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt to suit your taste.

Using an unsweetened chocolate bar - Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and ⅓ cup allulose and mix everything together. Melt in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. Stir until fully melted. Add additional sweetener, salt and vanilla to taste.

More Keto Nut and/or Seed Recipes

Looking for other easy keto cookie recipes? Try these:

And even some more!

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