Roasted Pumpkin Seeds 5 Ways

I remember as a kid, the excitement of my father bringing home a pumpkin for us to carve for Halloween. There were 3 of us kids, but we all worked together, with the help of my mom and dad to clean and carve that one pumpkin. In addition to the fun of scraping out the 'guts', planning the face, then seeing that face lit up with a small candle, pumpkin night meant we got to make roasted pumpkin seeds!

While I rarely carve a jack-o-lantern anymore, I still like to buy and gut a small pumpkin in the Fall to make myself a batch of roasted pumpkin seeds. I often leave them plain, but why not play around with a few different flavors?

Watch Me Make It

5 Flavor Ideas

1. Plain - simply toss the seeds in olive oil and add a sprinkle of salt before baking.

2. Chili - toss seeds in olive oil, then sprinkle with a little salt, a little cumin, and a bunch of chili powder.

3. Sweet - toss the seeds in olive oil, then blend in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

4. Smokey - toss seeds with olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, a good dash of garlic powder, and smoked paprika.

5. Salted Cocoa - toss with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Bake halfway and then toss with cocoa and a drizzle of honey, finish baking.

Baking Instructions

You can't take your eyes off the pumpkin seeds while they are baking. They go from raw to burnt very fast, so don't try to multi-task while these are in the oven.

• Remove seeds from the pumpkin, cleaning all the pumpkin flesh from the seeds and rinsing them well.

• Dry pumpkin seeds overnight on a tea towel or shake them in a brown paper bag. Your seeds must be dry.

• Very lightly coat the seeds in olive oil. You can also use vegetable oil, avocado oil, or baking spray.

• Add salt to taste. (also add other spices if you care to do so)

• Bake at 425F for 10-18 minutes, stirring them around every 5 minutes or so. Watch them closely at the end.

• When the seeds are done, they will be fragrant and lightly golden. However, if you add spices, the smell and color can be difficult to gauge so you may have to taste test. DON'T BURN YOUR TONGUE!!!

Variation

I already mentioned some flavor variations, but I also wanted to mention that you can roast other kinds of seeds too! Cooking up a winter squash for dinner? Go ahead and roast those seeds. Just note that smaller seeds will cook a little faster, so pay close attention.

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