Sweet Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

What do you do with all of those pumpkin seeds

after you carve your spooky Jack-o-Lanterns?

Make delicious roasted pumpkin seeds, of course!

I'm as big a fan as anyone of simply laying the seeds out on a pan,

sprinkling some salt on top and calling the seeds roasted.

But...

sometimes life calls for a bit more flavor.

Give these Sweet Spicy Pumpkin Seeds a try!

They are sure to get your taste buds in the spirit!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 cup raw cleaned whole pumpkin seeds

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white sugar

Dash of salt (Optional, see Step 4)

*Adjust recipe proportionally for volume of seeds.

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2.  Take bucket of pumpkin guts and remove large pumpkin pieces from your carving adventures.

 Doesn't that look yummy?

3.  Separate the Seeds.  In a colander over the sink, separate your seeds from the guts.  Simply pinch the seed off the gooey vein of the pumpkin guts.  Discard the vein into a trash bag.  I put the same bag from the Step 2 in the adjoining sink.

 Keep separating until you have separated your seeds to your liking.

When finished, give them a nice rinse.  Use cool water. 

4.  Lay out seeds on cooking tray.  You can approach this one of two ways.  

1)  Allow seeds to fully air dry - this will take extra time - and then lay out on cookie sheet.  

OR  

2) Lay out seeds on cookie sheet and pat dry with paper towels. Then lightly sprinkle with salt.

(Salt helps absorb extra moisture in oven)

I opted for #2

5.  Place in oven.  Roast until brown and crisp - about 45 minutes.

Remove from pan and set aside in bowl.

6.  In small bowl, mix together cinnamon, chili powder and 1 teaspoon of white sugar.  Set aside.

7.  In saucepan over medium heat, place olive oil and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar turns a light golden brown color.  Watch carefully - don't burn your sugar!

 8.  Pour caramelized sugar mixture over roasted pumpkin seeds and stir to thorough coat.

 9.  Pour cinnamon/chili powder mixture over the seeds and toss to coat.

And enjoy!

*I like to separate my seeds into Ziplock Snack Bags right away.  Makes them easy to grab when wanting to snack and little grab-bags for sharing at work.