I’m not even going to be bashful about this one – I am awesome at roasting pumpkin seeds. I learned how to make them from my mom years ago, and now I’m always that drill sergeant during pumpkin carving barking at everyone to “save your seeds!” It’s well worth it though, because no one seems to complain much when we have a huge amount of roasted seeds on the counter for the week around Halloween.
Making seeds is super easy. This is all you will need:
- Freshly scooped out pumpkin seeds
- Olive oil
- Johnny’s Seasoning (or sea salt)
- Parchment or wax paper
When you’re carving your pumpkins, keep two bowls out: one for guts, and one for seeds. Sorting them as you go is a lot simpler. After you’ve completely finished your lovely pumpkins (one thing at a time here) take the seeds into the kitchen and pick out any remaining bits of pumpkin guts. This step is obnoxious, but pretty important.
Next, dump your seeds in a strainer and run them under cold water. This will help make them less slimy and should separate any pumpkin that you might not have caught. Once they’re as clean as you can get them, pat them dry with a paper towel and prepare your baking pan.
I lined a pan with parchment paper, as see above. Then drizzle olive oil on the paper before dumping your seeds on top, making a single layer covering the entire sheet. Add a bit more olive oil on top, then sprinkle the entire sheet with Johnny’s seasoning (or your favorite substitute – you may also use sea salt, garlic salt; anything!)
The whole tray goes into the oven at 325 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes, or when they seeds get nice and crunchy. Remove them from the tray and enjoy! They’re particularly good while warm.
How do you cook your pumpkin seeds? Or are you one of those people who (gasp) throws them away? Let me know in the comments!
Jessica 
Janna 
