This Caramelized Maple Pecan Fudge has a bold maple flavor, with the perfect amount of pecan crunch. This is a great recipe for a beginning candy maker!
This Caramelized Maple Pecan Fudge was made for my Elf Family Movie Night post. If you love maple, you’ll want to try the other recipes I made for it: Maple Caramel Corn and Maple Steamers.
If this is your first time making candy, there are a few things you should know, that I didn’t when I started trying to make this fudge recipe. I didn’t realize that altitude changes the temperature you need to cook candy to, and I overcooked it. However, it was actually a happy accident, as it caramelized the maple syrup, and the result is to die for.
At sea level, water boils at 212 degrees, and candy recipes are made according to sea level. But since many of us don’t live at sea level, we have to modify the recipes. This is also why many recipes include descriptions of that temperature, such as soft ball, firm ball, hard ball, soft crack, and hard crack. That way, regardless of your altitude you can figure out how long to cook your recipe.
I would recommend that before you start making this candy, you boil a pot of water. Keep track of what temperature your water boils at. Subtract your boiling temperature from 212, and that will give you the amount you need to change recipes. So, for me, water boils at 200. This is why, when I was following a recipe that required bringing the temperature to 236, and I did that, it was actually the equivalent of bringing it to 248 at sea level. And because of this, the maple syrup caramelized.
I wrote this recipe using the standard temperature of 248 degrees, though I will only need to bring it to 236 because of my altitude. I hope that makes sense.
Caramelized Maple Pecan Fudge

Rich, flavorful Caramelized Maple Pecan Fudge is sweetened only with maple syrup.
Ingredients
- 2 cups maple syrup
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Measure maple syrup into a heavy duty saucepan with a candy thermometer on the side, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Lower temperature and simmer 5 minutes. If syrup starts to rise, lift pan and swirl contents to prevent scorching.
- Add heavy cream without stirring, and raise heat again to medium-high, and bring back to a boil.
- Simmer until temperature reaches 248 degrees, or firm ball stage.
- Remove from heat, add butter without stirring. Cool 10 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed until sheen just starts to go away (as mixture turns from shiny to dull).
- Stir in pecans.
- Pour in prepared loaf pan, and allow to cool for 2 hours, then cut into squares.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
28Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 112Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 18mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 0gSugar: 14gProtein: 0g
The nutritional information provided here is not guaranteed to be accurate and is provided for informational (and google) purposes only.
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Yum! Can I use sugar free maple syrup?
I have only made this with real maple syrup. From what I’m seeing, it looks like sugar-free maple syrups use different sweeteners, so I’m guessing they wouldn’t set up. I wouldn’t recommend it.