Keto Maple Roasted Nuts with Bacon

If you are looking for a new low carb snack, try these maple roasted nuts with bacon. A variety of healthy nuts flavored with sweet maple syrup combined with salty bits of bacon make for a tasty snack or even homemade holiday gift. So if you like salty, sweet snacks on a low carb diet this is an easy recipe with only 2.3g net carbs per serving.

You might also like this low carb, slow cooker Thai curry nut mix!

When fall arrives I always think of maple flavors as well as pumpkin of course. And one of my families favorite snacks are nuts, especially me since I like to keep it low carb and nuts are perfect for that.

Once I made a low carb maple bacon no bake cheesecake and thought how good bacon was with maple flavor and that is how this low carb maple roasted nuts with bacon recipe was born.

This simple recipe has a bit of sweetness from the keto maple syrup, crunch from the variety of nuts and some rich, saltiness from the bacon. It’s the perfect combination of flavors for a keto snack and it would also make a great homemade gift for the holiday season!

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients for this low carb snack are raw nuts, bacon, keto maple syrup and brown sugar sweetener. I also used some salt at the end.

Raw Nuts
You need raw nuts because we are roasting them in the sweet and salty mixture so don’t buy already roasted ones. I bought mine from Aldi and they have a combination of raw pecans, almonds and pistachios. They also have combination with cashews.

You can use whatever nuts you want. If you are making your own pick from raw almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachio kernels, cashews, macadamias, etc. You can even add in some raw seeds like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.

Thick Cut Bacon
I like thick cut bacon because it’s nice to have chunks of bacon in a snack mix. However you can use thinner cut if you want. You might even prefer tiny bits instead of bigger pieces.

If you use a thinner cut you might want to use more pieces in this recipe to create enough bacon grease which I used to roast the nuts. Just keep that in mind.

If you are not using bacon you can substitute the grease with melted butter. Try using 2 tablespoons of butter and mix with the maple syrup and sweetener. Place the butter mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds or so and then mix with the nuts. 

Lakanto Maple Syrup
I really like this sugar free maple syrup and use for my keto pancakes. However it is a bit thin and not as sweet as regular maple syrup. That is why I use the added sweetener. If you don’t care about carbs you can use regular maple syrup preferable real maple syrup but you don’t need the added sweetener.

Swerve Brown Sugar Sweetener
As I mentioned above I used this because my keto syrup is not overly sweet so I add this for more sweetness. Lakanto also has a golden blend that is very good and there are other keto sweeteners available so you can use your favorite sweetener of choice.

Other things to try or mix with a little spice. Try some cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice or even some hot pepper flakes or black pepper for heat. Think warming spices if you want to add a bit more flavor. But to me it doesn’t need it. 

Low carb maple syrups to try.

I have 3 different brands of sugar free maple syrup and felt Lakanto is the best tasting one. However here are 4 low carb maple flavored items you can use:

• Lakanto maple syrup (pictured above): This is very tasty but it is not a concentrated maple taste. It would be perfect for pancakes but for recipes like this you need to use a bit more than regular syrup. However it uses erythritol and monk fruit extract which are two natural sweeteners I love together.
• Walden Farms sugar free syrup: This one was very sweet and thick however it has all kinds of stuff in it so I didn’t want to try it in this recipe. However it is very easy to find in grocery stores.
• Nature’s Hollow maple syrup:  This brand is also very good and it uses xylitol which is fine but I liked the Lakanto better. 
• maple syrup extracts: I really like using extracts lately as they give a lot of flavor but they are not sweet so you have to add a sweetener to the recipe. However you can find maple extract just about anywhere. 
• You can find all of these products in my Amazon shop if you are interested.

How to make sugar free maple roasted nuts with bacon.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Get out a baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add 4 slices of thick bacon in an even layer and place in the oven when it’s up to temperature.

Note if you are using thinner cut bacon you might want to add another slice or two. I used 4 thick cut slices.

Step 2: Bake the bacon for 15-20 or until it cooked through and browned like the picture below. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn. Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the bacon.

When done take it out and set the cooked bacon strips on a piece of paper towel to cool. Dice the cooked bacon or crumble to be used later.

Step 3: Using the grease that is in the cookie sheet from the bacon also pour the maple syrup and sweetener in the pan and mix around to combine with a spoon. Then add the raw nuts and mix well to coat the nuts with the maple syrup mixture. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over top.

Step 4: Spread the nuts out in an even layer and place back into the oven. Turn down the heat to 325°F. Roast the nuts for 15-20 minutes more until they are roasted and have browned a bit. Watch that they don’t burn.

Note if your bacon is a little chewy and you want it more crispy you can add back the bacon about 5 minutes before the nuts are done. Otherwise add them bacon at the end.

Step 5: When the nuts are to your liking you can take them out and mix in the bacon bits from earlier. Let cool completely then store in an airtight container.

Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

Because this has the cooked bacon in it, I would suggest you store this in the refrigerator or freezer if you are not going to eat it right away. I also used a good sealed jar for the container. But to be honest we ate this whole batch in a week. 🙂

Ways you can use this keto maple roasted nuts.

You can use this roasted maple nuts in other ways they just snacking on them.

• fall salads: Sprinkle some of this mix on fall salads to add texture and flavor. They would go great with slices of pears or apples and various cheeses like goat cheese, blue cheese, etc.
• mix with veggies: These would definitely go with roasted Brussel sprouts but you can also try green beans, broccoli, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, or asparagus. You might want to hop them up into bite size pieces though.
• add to pancakes and waffles: Chop up and add to pancake or waffle batter. Or sprinkle on top and add more syrup!

To me these keto maple nuts with bacon makes a delicious low carb snack. They are also the perfect snack to place in a bowl and serve as an appetizer with drinks at a holiday party.

Also you can add these to pretty jar with ribbon and give as a hostess gift for holiday parties. I hope you like it as much as we did.

The nutritional information for ¼ cup: 204 cals / 17.7g fat / 7.3g carbs / 5g fiber / 7.5g protein = 2.3g net carbs