These roasted pumpkin seeds are a yummy, healthy, totally easy treat that makes jack-o-lantern carving even more fun! Instead of tossing out seeds from your gourds, scoop them out to prepare a divine snack. Pumpkin seeds are not only tasty, they also pack quite a nutritional punch!
If you’re making Butternut Squash soup, or using other gourds for baking, those seeds can be baked exactly the same way, but the smaller the seeds, the less bake time needed.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- 2 cups cleaned pumpkin or other gourd/squash seeds
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 tsp. brown sugar + 1 tsp. cinnamon (if making sweet)
- 2 tsp. olive oil (if making salty) OR canola oil (if making sweet)
Instructions
Scoop pumpkin seeds and strings from inside the of your pumpkin. Rinse to separate seeds and clean any remaining strings off the seeds.
Preheat oven to 325 F (*note: if you are baking your pumpkin at the same time, you may bake the seeds at 375 F on another shelf of the oven to save time and energy, just be sure to bake seeds for less time at this higher temperature).
Pour seeds into a zip-top bag, then lightly drizzle oil into the bag (add sugar and cinnamon, if using), tossing with the seeds so that all seeds have touched the oil but are not soggy. Sprinkle salt into the bag and toss again. Spread the seeds out in a single layer onto a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, then stir the seeds; bake an additional 20 minutes, and stir again. Turn oven off and leave seeds inside for 5-10 more minutes – do not let them burn though! If your seeds are getting too cooked, simply remove them from the oven at this point. If they do not seem crisp enough yet, stir and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Note: Smaller seeds like Butternut Squash seeds need less total bake time — approximately 15-25 minutes.
Enjoy once cooled and keep any extras in a zip-top bag to preserve their crispiness. These seeds make yummy additions to salads, soups, or are delicious for snacking on their own!
I add a bit 1/4 t of ground red pepper to the mix and Yumo ….sweet and spicy…
Shoot almost forgot a brine soak also works for just salty ones to dry roast…makes the salt very fine and gets inside the shell…
Clover – sounds easy and delicious — my favorite combination! Thanks for the suggestion!