Happy Halloween! Here are two recipes for toasted pumpkin seeds. One with kosher salt and one with spices. Both are tasty so it just depends on how spicy you like them. And the picture of the masked duo (below) is my boys from Halloween 2002. The Spiderman movie was very popular back then, and rather than have two Spidermen, my younger one opted to balance out the representation. What a guy!
When my kids were growing up, Halloween was a two week celebration. My younger son has been all kinds of scary creatures, participating in the Nightmare at Beaver Lake. It's a wonderful way to get scared, the kids get community service credits, and the proceeds go to worthy causes around the community and the world.
Tip If you don't like the white hull, you can buy pepitas, which are sold without the hulls on them. Check out my favorite recipe for toasted pepitas, chili lime pepitas. The recipe is posted below as well. Enjoy!
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- 2 cups pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or other oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika Optional; or cayenne pepper for hot seeds, or use a bit of both
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 ℉.
- If you're using fresh pumpkin seeds (from a pumpkin or other kind of squash), rinse the seeds, remove all squash debris, and place in a pot with water and some salt, and set to a low boil for about 15 minutes. You want to have about twice as much water as seeds in the pot. If you're using pepitas, there's no need to boil them.
- Drain the seeds and lightly mix them with the olive oil and also oil the baking sheets. Alternatively, line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the seeds across the baking sheets.
- Sprinkle the salt lightly across all the seeds. Optionally, sprinkle cayenne pepper and smoked paprika across all the seeds as well.
- Bake the seeds for about 15 minutes (about 10 minutes for the pepitas), or until they are as browned as you like them. I like to let them brown. If you're baking pepitas, bake them for 8 to 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Chili Lime Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds)
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw pepitas hulled pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C.
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick mat, or grease your baking sheet with oil.
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and blend well.
- Bake the seeds for 15 minutes, or until they begin to turn golden brown and puff up. You'll also hear them pop.
- Cool and enjoy! Store in a sealed container for a week or so.
Erica says
I just saw that somewhere recently - that would only work with real sugar and cinnamon together. Yum.
Hänni says
The best part of carving a pumpkin is harvesting the seeds! I recently made a batch sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. It was delish!