Baked Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds. So many times we throw them out! How sad. 

These little guys make a delicious snack, add texture to your salad, and are quite healthy. 

Also, the most difficult part of baking pumpkin seeds is separating them from the rest of the pulp. 

Here's my step-by-step directions for an awesome snack:

Ok, so this is most likely what you start with. Grossness. But bite the bullet and get to separating. (Or, better yet, hand two bowls to your husband who has been sitting on the couch all night and tell him to get to work. :))

These are some seeds I had left over from my spaghetti squash. You can use these too!

So then they look like this. 

Use a colander and wash your seeds off the best you can. Get rid of some of that stickiness. 

Lay your seeds out on a baking pan. Leave them out overnight if you'd like, this will help them to dry out some more. 

Now to get baking! Set your oven to 275 degrees. I wanted a more tangy, spicy seed, so I am doing mine with worcesterhire sauce, garlic salt, and a bit of cayenne pepper. You could do just salt and pepper, or sweeten them up with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, or even sweetened cocoa powder. I also used butter, but you could use olive oil to be a bit healthier.

I melted 2 tbls of butter in the microwave, then added 2 tbls of worch, 1 tsp of garlic salt, a pinch of reg salt, and a couple pinches of cayenne. Stir together. 

Place two cups of pumpkin seeds in a medium large bowl. Pour mixture over them, and stir until well coated. 

Spread seeds out over baking pan. I used parchment because I didn't want a sticky mess. 

After 1 hour, they should be all baked! Try one and see if it suits your crunch level. If not, bake for a bit more. These were perfect!

We were planning on taking these as a snack to our friend's house tomorrow night, but I'm not sure if they are going to make it there. Chips have nothing on these guys! Their crunch and tanginess are insane!