Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

If you ever tried making pumpkin seeds you may have a love/hate relationship with them. I have a few people tell me that me they didn’t like separating and cleaning the pumpkin inards from the seeds because it was a mess.  Then they tried baking them only to have them turn out hard, chewy, not crunchy or if they were crunchy and looked great they tasted burnt.  Here are a few tips to make cleaning the seeds from the pumpkins a little easier and how to end up with delicious, flavourful and crunchy pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients & Materials:

• Pumpkins (I’m using the seeds from my pie pumpkins as I was making puree, but the seeds from your carving pumpkins work best)
• Scoop
• Colander
• Bowl
• Small pot
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Ingredients from below of the recipe of your choice

• Since I was making puree first hand, just scooped out all the seeds and inards (pumpkin guts for lack of a better way to describe) and set aside, starting by pulling out the seeds first and placing in a colander,  you will have less pumpkin guts this way, unlike my large pile.  Most of the time if you are dealing with pumpkin carving you may have little hands that are  helping scrape out the insides and your pile will look like mine.

• I then run my seeds under water and pick out the large pieces of pumpkin.
• After the large chunks are removed place into a medium sized bowl and fill with water.  You can see that the seeds float on top of everything else.
• Skim off the seeds and place back into the colander as you are skimming off.

Boiling the seeds helps soften the seeds for baking.  Making the shell cooked enough to make that perfect crunch.  Pre-boiling the seeds also helps ensure that the outside roasts perfectly before the delicate inside seed burns.

• Give the seeds one last rinse so any small bits remaining rinse off.
• Place the seeds in a small pot and add enough water that the seeds float and will not boil dry.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium high and boil for 15 min.

• Remove from heat and drain
• Use paper towel to remove any excess moisture from the seeds
• If you are baking plain then drizzle your seeds with olive oil, toss to spread the oil evenly, bake in oven heated to 275° for 50-55 min stirring every 10-15 min.
• If using a flavour follow recipes below.

Pumpkin seed seasonings:

I used my morter and pestle to grind the Saffron with the salt

Savoury Saffron Cardamom Seasoning

• 1 tsp Cardamom
• 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
• 1 tsp saffron
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp almond milk

Sugar and Spice

• 2 Tbsp almond milk
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp sugar

You could add 1/2 tsp of Cardamom to this as well.

Kickin’ Cajun & Lime

• 1 Tbsp almond milk
• 2 tsp Chili powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
• juice of half of a lime

Curry 

• 2 Tbsp coconut milk
• 2 tsp Curry powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper

Holiday Seasoning

• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp cloves

• Mix all ingredients together
• Toss seeds to coat evenly in olive oil
• Spread thin, and evenly on the parchment paper
• Sprinkle with seasonings
• Place in oven heated to 275° and bake for 50-55min tossing every 10-15 minutes
• Remove from heat and let cool
• Enjoy!

Use your imagination and try these with seasoning of your choice.  Ready made popcorn seasoning would work well for a quick toss on for flavour. Store in a covered container