It’s the week before Halloween! That means it’s finally time to carve pumpkins. Part of the fun of making jack-o-lanterns is roasting pumpkin seeds afterward. It does take a bit of effort. You have to shovel out all the guts and then dislodge the seeds. But you have to do one of those steps regardless, so you might as well enjoy a tasty treat at the end! Not to mention using as much of the pumpkin as possible is a great way to decrease waste. It’s a win win. For this recipe, I opted for sweet and spicy. The base is pumpkin spice, but I added a bit of cayenne for a nice little kick. And as soon as I pulled the pumpkin seeds out of the oven, I tossed them in brown sugar. I think it rounds them out nicely.
Pumpkin prepping tips
There are all sorts of pumpkin carving tips floating around social media right now. I saw a great video by Brunch with Babs that was loaded with tips and tricks. She recommends using an electric hand mixer to clean out your pumpkins. I thought that was brilliant but didn’t feel like buying another appliance, so I used a serrated serving spoon. It worked great. When it comes time to prepare the seeds themselves, I would recommend picking out all the large chunks of pumpkin guts and then soaking the seeds in a bowl of water for a few minutes. Doing this made it way easier to remove the rest of the stringy guts. After that, I simply let them fully dry on a kitchen towel and then seasoned them!
Does it matter what kind of pumpkin I use?
No, not really! I used a jack-o-lantern pumpkin because I know that’s what most people use when carving. It yielded about 2 cups of seeds. That’s the main thing here – the amount of seeds. Many people cook with pumpkin pie pumpkins, as they’re sweet and delicious. They’re a lot smaller than the jack-o-lantern variety, though, so just be aware that you’ll get far fewer seeds from a single pumpkin if you use one of these.
How do I store these?
To store these roasted pumpkin seeds, simply put them in an airtight container. They’ll keep at room temperature for about a week.
Easy Sweet and Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- 2 cups Pumpkin seeds Cleaned and dried
- 2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Maple syrup
- 2 tbsp Light brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Prep a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat if using.
- Add pumpkin pie spice, cayenne, salt, olive oil and maple syrup for a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine. Then add your cleaned and dried pumpkin seeds and toss until thoroughly coated.
- Transfer to baking sheet and put in oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and toasted.
- After removing them from the oven, sprinkle seeds with 2 tbsp light brown sugar and toss. Then transfer to a bowl or airtight container.
Notes
Happy carving! If you make these, I hope you love them. Let me know what you think in the comments or on Instagram.
Looking for more Halloween treats? Try my black sesame and candy corn marshmallow bars or my chocolate skull cakelets with pomegranate glaze!