Twinkle's Kitchen | Tasty toasted pumpkin seeds

Save the seeds! That’s the advice I’m giving everyone this fall as they turn their pumpkins into Jack-o-Lanterns. Those pumpkin insides can easily be washed, rinsed and dried to become perfectly pleasant snacks.

If you’ve read a thing or two from me, then you know by now that I hate to throw anything away. I love recycling, if I can, and the fact I can scoop out the insides of a pumpkin and save the seeds for delicious, healthy treats later makes me pretty happy.

This year I made a trifecta of toasted pumpkin seeds, with plenty left over to share.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Three Ways
Spicy, Salty and Sweet

Ingredients:

Pumpkin seeds leftover from pumpkin carving, washed, rinsed and dried
(about 1 ½ - 2 cups per flavor)

Spicy:

• 1 tbs. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• And if you are adventurous:
• 1 tbs. Sriracha

Salty:

• 1 tbs. sea salt
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tbs. ground rosemary

Sweet:

• 2 tbs. brown sugar
• 2 tbs. honey
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tsp. powdered ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

First wash, rinse and pat dry your seeds, removing any pumpkin membranes. Let dry overnight on a flat surface, like a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Toss seeds with whatever spice mix you choose. Toss with the oil first and then toss the spices.

Yes, we totally added sriracha! We love it at our house.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Stir seeds around and bake for another 20 minutes and let cool.

Store in an airtight container or shared in decorative jars or bags with friends!

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Twinkle VanWinkle was born in a small town in Mississippi. A life-long lover of music, media and food, she grew up following those three things along her path. She has almost 20 years of professional cooking under her apron strings, feeding thousands of friends, family and other folks while working in restaurants and bakeries in Oxford, Miss. She baked 300 apple pies for the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and appeared on “The Best Of...” in the same year. Along with producing dynamic entertainment content for LIN Media, she is a mother, musician and social media fanatic.

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