Pssst! Have you seen this easy, NO SUGAR Halloween party plan? Games and food included, easy to just grab it if you’re planning a classroom Halloween party!
The best part about carving pumpkins isn’t the gooey mess all over your hands (and up to your armpits, practically), it isn’t the scummy mold that forms well before you think it should on your creations, and it isn’t even the frustration of forcing a 2mm thick knife through two inches of solid rind to make detailed designs around the eyes. Oh no, friends, such as rarely happens in the real food kitchen, you’ve got an opportunity for free nutrition, better than you can buy at the store, and for far less money.
Pumpkin seeds make great snacks! If you’re in a snacks rut, you’ll love Healthy Snacks to Go, an eBook with over 30 recipes for grab and go snacks that will nourish your family’s bodies, including the famous homemade granola bars, homemade Larabar-style treats, and even kid-friendly beef jerky.
I coughed up the cash for pumpkin seeds at the health food store last
year because I happened to drag my son in there on his birthday. (Yes, I got Paul pumpkin seeds for his birthday. We’re boring like that. He got other, normal {ahem – bought at garage sale} toys, too!) I can’t remember how much they were, possibly because that part of my memory is permanently scarred. They were lots of dollars per pound. And not even soaked or sprouted!
Whether you’ve never actually captured the seeds from inside your jack-o-lantern, or you’ve been roasting them forever and wondered if you could make them “crispy” pumpkin seeds, I’m here to give you all the lazy shortcuts.
| The Basic Recipe: Crispy (Soaked) Pumpkin Seeds |
|
- The seeds from one large pumpkin
- 2-3 Tbs. olive oil or melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp. sugar, optional (unrefined is fine)
- scant tsp. salt
Pumpkin Pie Version: - 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- OR
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- 1/8 tsp. ginger
- Spicy Version:
- 1 tsp.+ chili powder
- (I often use much more than what’s called for….)
- Start by rinsing the seeds in colander and try to get the bulk of the orange pulp off. This will take slightly longer and be slightly slimier than you hope, but you’ll get through it.
- Cover the seeds with warm water and some salt, maybe 1 Tbs to 4 cups if you’re measuring (but I usually don’t). Allow them to sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Drain water off and lay out on cookie sheets to dry for 8 hours to overnight, if you have the time. It still works out if you don’t.
- NOTE: if not soaking the seeds, just start here & decrease bake time by 10-30 minutes, depending on what temperature you choose to bake.
- In a bowl, toss seeds with oil and spices listed above.
- Once the seeds are coated, you have two options: preserve the enzymes or kill them for flavor.
- *Option A: Preserve the enzymes, which help digestion and are all around good for you, by dehydrating the seeds at no higher than 150F. This may take anywhere from 12-24 hours. Sometimes more. You’ll know they’re done when you taste one and it crunches satisfyingly in your mouth.
- *Option B: Flavor, but less nutrition. In my book, the flavor of the roasted pumpkin seeds can’t be beat. I choose to roast our seeds in the oven. It takes at least an hour at 300 degrees. If you’re baking other things anyway, put a tray of seeds in, too, for about 30-40 minutes at 350F or 20-30 minutes at 400F.
- Stir every 10-20 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is. There’s great variation in seed size, so this process includes some guessing and checking…which is a delicious way to cook.
- I recommend the lower temperature, because you’re baking the soaked seeds for a longer period of time to fully dry them out, and burnt pumpkin seeds are no good at all. There’s less margin for error with a lower baking temp. If the pumpkin seeds get dry but not toasty, you can always turn the temperature up to 400F for 5-10 minutes at the end of the baking time.
FAQs
Mostly how many corners you can cut and get away with it!
- Q – Can you leave them in the fridge for a day if you’re not ready to roast them?
A – Yes. Probably even longer. I tested this one just for you guys. - Q – Can you soak the seeds before you rinse them, say, if you’re in too much of a hurry to do that part and just want to get slimy the following night?
A – Yes. Again, tested that just for you. - Q – Can you leave the seeds more than 24 hours?
A – I know none of you would forget your seeds or get too busy to finish the job, but yet, more than 24 hours won’t hurt anything. You could also drain the seeds and allow them to stay wet in the colander. Shucks, leave them there a few days, keep them moist, and see if they’ll sprout! I wouldn’t recommend combining #2 and #3 though. - Q – What if you forget to allow the seeds to dry out a bit overnight?
A – Turns out that’s no problem! You might do that if you’re going by memory from last year… - Q – Can you overbake the seeds?
A – Try really hard not to. They burn and taste pretty badly. - Q – Can you overdehydrate the seeds?
A – I don’t think it’s possible. They’ll just get crispier, but not burnt. If you’re going to forget about them, use the dehydrator!
- Q – Does this method work for other seeds that remind me of pumpkin seeds, like squash and cantaloupe?
A – Absolutely! I roasted some buttercup squash seeds last week, and they turned out quite nice. A little chewy and dense, but definitely a success. Spaghetti squash seeds are perfect and butternut are also good, although I wouldn’t recommend melon seeds, as we found them so tough as to be almost inedible, and certainly not fun to eat at all.
Kitchen Tip: Need help cutting a tough pumpkin or squash? Put it in the oven whole for about 10 minutes while the oven heats up (or even at full temperature for dinner). It will soften just enough to get your knife through it.
Organizational tip: (I don’t give many organizing tips, so cherish these!) Keep the recipe in your “October” or “fall” file, or with the pumpkin carving equipment with your holiday decorations. I organize recipes by season sometimes.
Other Pumpkin Recipes:
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffin Recipe
- Pumpkin (or any orange vegetable) Pancakes (grain-free option)
- Soaked Pumpkin Muffins
- Easy, Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
- Cabbage Soup with Secret Super Food
- 6 Ways to Use Leftover Pumpkin
Other Halloween posts:
- Decorating for Halloween: Keeping it Holy and Cheap
- Sweetless Trick-or-Treats: Alternatives to the Sugar Fest
———————————————
I’d love to see more of you! Sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed. You can also follow me on Twitter, get KS for Kindle, or see my Facebook Fan Page.
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
See my full disclosure statement here.
I’m entered in:
- Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy’s Recipes
- Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
- Wheatless Wednesday at Naturally Knocked Up
- Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet
- Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade
I tried soaking and dehydrating mine a couple weeks ago and they did not end up very tasty and I threw them out. I am thinking I will have to roast them instead to make them edible.
[Reply to this comment]
Great tips, Katie!
We love roasted pumpkin seeds.
The skin on pumpkin seeds is so thick… I am surprised that soaking for 24 hours like that even does anything to them. I mean… does it really? Can you tell a difference after that time?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Tammy,
Katie
The phytic acid that you’re trying to combat with soaking is IN the hull/skin itself. That said, I’m not one whose system notices a difference between soaked and unsoaked seeds. I wonder if people who are aggravated by unsoaked nuts would be able to tell you if it “works”. I suppose sprouted pumpkin seeds would be the ultimate best in nutrition, actually. Hmmm…might try that next week when we carve!
[Reply to this comment]
Can the crispy pumpkin seeds be frozen, and if so, for how long?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Samantha,
Katie
They’re a pretty hot commodity at our house, so I’ve never tried, but all my other nuts and seeds can (at least 6 months?), so I would think these would be fine, too.
[Reply to this comment]
I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE pumpkin seeds roasted from our pumpkins, but somewhere done the line I developed an allergy, and not just a normal allergy, an anaphalatic reaction to them…so someone enjoy some for me I hope!
[Reply to this comment]
Hi there, this looks yummy! Doesn’t roasting also reduce the anti-nutrients? I can’t remember and I may be confused…
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
October 23rd, 2010 at 3:47 am
Winni,
Conflicting research on that one, but most say “not much,” at least for phytic acid.
Katie
[Reply to this comment]
Thank you for such great info! Love your site.
Kimberle @ Nurturedpath.com
[Reply to this comment]
You don’t actually have to wash off all the pumpkin strings. My mom always used to leave them on for a bit of pumpkin taste. I tried mine that way yesterday and they’re just fine!
[Reply to this comment]
I have a “dumb” question: Can the hulls of the pumpkin seeds be eaten, or are they supposed to be “shelled” first?
I have seeds drying right now and will roast them with that pumpkin pie seasoning you shared!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
November 7th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Miranda,
Katie
We just eat the whole thing!
[Reply to this comment]
Miranda-you can actually do both. I believe the little seed inside is called a pepita. We just eat the whole thing, though.
[Reply to this comment]
Ten Ways to Make Fall Special // Sep 30, 2011 at 12:36 am
[...] If you are really on top of things, find a farm before they harvest all the pumpkins and get kids pictures in the pumpkin patch. Go pick out pumpkins for carving–I found some great prolife pumpkins on the web last year. After you carve your pumpkin, try your hand at making pumpkin seeds. [...]
Fantastic! I will be doing this this week. Yay!
[Reply to this comment]
Is there any reason, nutritionally, you rinse off the goop? I have a book on carving pumpkins that suggests that the goop helps the seasonings stay on and gives it more flavor, which I’ve found to be true. It’s not the sort of resource that would be concerned with the digestability of the gunk on the seeds (phytic acid, etc).
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
October 24th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Michelle,
Katie
Huh, I always just did it b/c it was…well…goopy and gross. Now I want to try it this way this year (we haven’t carved yet). How interesting…
[Reply to this comment]
This was the best recipe ever
Thanks
McKenzie
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
October 30th, 2011 at 10:00 pm
Awesome, thanks!
[Reply to this comment]
Oops…forgot to add salt when I soaked my pumpkin and sunflower seeds yesterday! Do I still get the benefit of breaking down the enzyme inhibitor? Also, I frequently forget the seeds and soak them for more than 24hours, is that ok?
Thanks,
Holly
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 11:19 pm
Holly,
I think you’re okay on both…the soaking with seeds should have as much to do with starting the sprouting process as the salt content. ???
So sorry it took me so long to respond…I got absolutely behind on comments when I released the second edition of the snacks book and truly have never caught up.
[Reply to this comment]
Make pumpkin puree and recycle a jack o lantern // Oct 1, 2012 at 8:58 am
[...] the seeds, if you haven’t already. Save them and make some crispy pumpkin seeds. Mmm, free pepitos! Bestill my frugal heart. An ice cream scoop or large metal spoon works best [...]
Soaking makes a huge difference for me. My belly kills me if I eat them raw, but soaked… awesome!
[Reply to this comment]
8 Ways to Have a Greener Halloween | Green Your Way // Oct 10, 2012 at 12:30 pm
[...] not, want not. If you carve pumpkins, make sure you know how to make pumpkin seeds. Did you know “pepitas” (aka pumpkin seeds) are over $5/lb. in stores? No need to let those go [...]
The seeds from three pie pumpkins lasted a weekend here. Can I use raw seeds from the store or do they need to be fresher than that to soak?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
October 28th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Cheryl,
Katie
Any raw seed is good to go for the soaking process! Enjoy!
[Reply to this comment]
Question: I usually stick the whole pumpkin in the oven and roast it (no jack-o-lanterns here; I can’t bear to waste a perfectly good local farm pumpkin!). Anyway, can I soak and dehydrate the seeds if they’ve been roasted (steamed, I suppose) in the pumpkin first?
[Reply to this comment]
I have the same question as Alice.
[Reply to this comment]
Alice Benham and Pamela Gosnell – people keep telling me about the bake-the-whole pumpkin thing, but I do think that would make it so that we can’t soak, since the seeds would be dead. ??? I’d just roast ‘em and say like Modern Alternative Mama – “we don’t eat enough of them to worry about it!”
[Reply to this comment]
You article is well written. I enjoy reading your blog.
[Reply to this comment]
Soo happy to find this! Wasn’t sure if I should soak and dehydrate pumpking seeds. Just started eating them to get more magnesium in my diet.
[Reply to this comment]