I managed to get my paws on over 9 cups of pumpkin seeds after a carving party this Halloween. With such an abundance I experimented with a variety of flavors.
After rinsing the seeds, I put them on a lightly oiled sheet of aluminum foil on top of the cookie sheet. This worked well for the savory ones, but the sweet batch may have been easier directly on the cookie sheet since they stuck to the foil.
All seeds were toasted at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. I stirred them around half-way through. They have stayed crispy for two weeks (and counting) in these plastic containers.
Simply Salted. I toasted a large batch with just sea salt. I found that plenty of flavor stuck to the wet seeds without the need for more oil or butter.
Ranch. I tossed 1/2 cup of seeds with a couple teaspons of ranch dip powder until they were well-coated. Even though they looked completely covered the flavor was not overpowering. These get quite a bit darker. (Back row, middle).
Black Tea. Another 1/2 cup of seeds was tossed with a couple teaspoons of finely ground black tea. (I used a mortar and pestle to grind). I then sprinkled them with sea salt. I was excited about these but they weren't as strong as I had hoped. Next time, I would make sure the surface of the seeds was 1/3 to 1/2 covered by tea.
Sweet & Spicy. These were a big hit at work. For these I used something along the lines of this recipe:
1 TBSP Brown Sugar
5 generous dashes of cayenne pepper
5 dashes of Salt
1/2 c pumpkin seeds
I was pretty generous with the cayenne. If you make them too spicy you can always mix them with the Simply Salted seeds to tone them down. The sugar adds just a hint of sweetness to bring out the spiciness.
Pumpkin Pie Spice. These are the sticky ones so save them for last. They make great a ice cream topping! (Especially with pumpkin ice cream). The "recipe":
1 cup Pumpkin Seeds
1 Tbsp White Sugar
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Enjoy!
