Halloween Fun: How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

Reader Contribution by Staff
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Happy Halloween!

I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years, so last night, I decided to get into the holiday spirit and carve my freshly ripe, bright orange pumpkin. I picked it from the local pumpkin patch in Lawrence, Kansas, a few weeks ago!

At a loss for what to do with the gooey insides, I chatted with my colleague Tabitha Alterman at Mother Earth News. She suggested I roast the pumpkin seeds after talking about what fun she was having making her spicy pumpkin seeds. Though I love spicy and hot foods, I really love sweet food. Here’s my easy recipe for cinnamon-sugar roasted pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

Step 1: Rinse the pumpkin seeds with warm water. Be sure to get off any remaining pulp from the seeds.

Step 2: Dry the seeds. I don’t use paper towels anymore, so I spread my seeds out on a cloth napkin to dry.

Step 3: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Step 4: Lightly grease a baking dish with canola oil. Toss the dry seeds in there to get a little oily coating. Now your seeds will be ready for the sweetness to come!

Step 5: Sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar. There’s no real measurement to this–just cover the seeds with as much of the stuff as you like…and I like a lot!

Step 6: Place the dish in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes to start. Listen for popping noises (bad!) to make sure that your seeds aren’t exploding in the oven. I turned and shuffled my seeds after five minutes for even roasting.

Step 7: After 10 minutes, check your seeds. If they are not golden brown, let them roast for five more minutes. Check again after that time–it’s OK to sample a few, too, to see if the texture is to your liking.

Step 8: Remove the seeds from the oven and let them cool in a new container. Pumpkin seeds are loaded with fiber and rich with protein, so they make a great mid-day, healthy snack. Enjoy!

  • Published on Oct 31, 2008
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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