Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

One of the best parts about carving pumpkins is the seeds. Pumpkin seeds are not only delicious, but also an awesome source of potassium. I've seen so many recipes for pumpkin seeds and they all look great, but I really like my own method best. Instead of salting seeds directly, I soak them in salt water before tossing in the oven for foolproof flavor each and every time. The salt water soaks into the seed creating steam as they roast which results in a tastier, lighter and crisper pumpkin seed. I like to roast mine a bit longer than usual for extra crunch, too.

Hands-On Time: 15 minutes
Ready In: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 2 cups of seeds

Ingredients
2 cups of fresh raw pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons salt
water to cover seeds

Directions

1. Place seeds in a shallow bowl and add enough water so that the top layer of seeds is floating.
2. Add salt and stir well to dissolve.
3. Let stand for half an hour. The seeds will begin to soak up the water and turn darker because of this. When that happens, they are ready to roast.
4. Pour seeds into a strainer and drain as much water as possible from them.
5. Put seeds on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and spread into a single layer.
6. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 20 - 30 minutes, depending on how done you like them.
7. Cool completely and store in an airtight container - if you don't eat them all first!

*Ingredient Tips
Getting the seeds ready to roast can be messy and time consuming. The best way I've found to harvest the seeds is to float them in water. Get as much 'gunk' off of the seeds as possible and put them in a deep bowl. Add water so that the seeds are floating free and finish the cleanup. The pumpkin solids will sink leaving the seeds atop the water.

See more recipes from Anne Coleman (aka Short Order Mom).