Fall Treat: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Today’s article is brought to you by one of my daughters! When Sarah and her family visited recently, they made a batch of these yummy seeds, so I asked her to share the recipe with you. ~ With love, Charlotte
Fall Treat: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
by Sarah Vera
Nothing says fall like pumpkin, right? To be honest, I’m not a big fan of pumpkin-flavored drinks and dishes. However, this is one pumpkin-based treat we make every year that I love – Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. We’ve tried several methods over the years and have come up with a simple formula that works every time.
To begin, cut open a medium to large pumpkin. Scrape the gourd and hollow it of all pulp and seeds. Then separate the pulp from the seeds.
Next rinse the seeds and lay them out on paper towels to dry.
The first secret to a crisp roast is to let them dry as much as possible. The more moisture on the seeds, the soggier your finished product will be. We tried drying them on tea towels one year, but they ended up stuck to the towel and we had to rinse them again and start over. We’ve thought about drying them in a dehydrator for this step, but have never tried since we don’t own a dehydrator. If you have success with a dehydrator I’d love to hear if it works!
After the seeds are dry, it’s time to melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat.
We used 1/4 cup of butter for three large pumpkins. We’ve found it’s best to use about 1 1/2 to 2 TBS of butter per pumpkin, just make sure there is enough butter to coat all the seeds. The second secret to perfect roasted pumpkin seeds is to use REAL butter. Sorry folks, margarine just doesn’t cut it. Margarine leaves the seeds moist and soggy while butter gives them a crisp, nutty flavor (yum!)
When the butter is melted, add the seeds and saute’ them on medium to medium-high heat until they begin to brown slightly and start to soak up the butter.
Spread them as evenly as possible on a large cookie sheet. We used two pans because we had so many seeds!
Sprinkle them lightly with salt and place them in an oven set to 350 degrees. Keep on eye on your prize because it doesn’t take long for them to get a delicious golden brown! Once they are roasted to your liking, take them out and let them cool (if you can wait until they’re cool before sneaking a couple!)
We usually do this twice every fall. The first time is during jack-o-lantern season and the second is around Thanksgiving when we’re done with the pumpkins that have been gracing our porch as fall decorations. My husband has been known to convince me to decorate the porch for Christmas a little early just so he has access to those pumpkins and can get to roasting the seeds. 🙂 I hope you enjoy this tasty autumn snack and I’m sure you’ll find out how quickly the perfectly roasted seeds will disappear and your family will be begging for more!
Try these and tell us how you like them!
