Over the weekend we carved our pumpkins (pictures to follow- I forgot to buy candles!) and these babies were BIG. After spending what felt like hours sorting through the pumpkin innards I walked away with over 6 cups of nothing but seeds- crazy!
After checking the internet for a basic outline of how to roast seeds (temperature, time, etc.) I was ready to dive in. Given that there were so many seeds I knew I wanted to make a few different batches, I settled on some classic categories: salty, sweet, & spicy.
I preheated the oven to about 325 degrees and sorted my (already washed!) seeds into 2 cup batches. A few of the recipes I came across suggesting soaking the seeds in salt water to make them easier to eat/digest/something like that but honestly I was just too lazy to do that so I didn't (maybe I should have?). For each batch I added all the ingredients into the bowls of seeds and tossed well to coat. I then spread the seeds into a thin layer on a cookie sheet and baked them for 30-40 minutes, stirring frequently.
My variations (rough estimations of ingredients, I started with measurements and then just added more to taste):
Spicy
~1 tsp olive oil
~1 heaping tsp of chili powder
~1/4 tsp cayenne
~1/2 tsp salt
~1/2 tsp sriracha
~1 T brown sugar
Sweet
~1/2 tsp olive oil
~1 tsp agave
~2 T brown sugar
~1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
~1/2 tsp salt
Salty
~1 tsp olive oil
~1 1/2 tsp salt
~1 tsp pepper
~1 1/2 tsp paprika
~1 tsp cumin
The sweet were DEFINITELY my favorite. The spicy were good, but they were my very first batch and I think I could have been more heavy handed with the seasoning. Keeping that in mind I added a lot more to the salty and I was pleased with those as well. Overall I'm very pleased with my first attempt at pumpkin seed roasting- I just don't really know what we are going to do with SIX cups of seeds! I already plan to add the sweet into some granola/yogurt, but any suggestions for the savory?
Send them to me?
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