Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

It's Halloween time again!! I was in full force pumpkin mode today. I made these amazing seeds (thought up the recipe as I went along), carved 2 pumpkins, and also made a pumpkin cheesecake. I was really happy with my "old man with a mustache" pumpkin then I made the mistake of going fast with the little carving knife and I cut the swirl off one side of his mustache. I was so sad... there was no going back!!

Shhhh heeheee, I'm eating the seeds as I blog! Oh, also this recipe is for the pumpkin seeds of two regular sized carving pumpkins. I know each pumpkin is different, but just go by what you think is the right taste for your family. And from what I've learned, bigger pumpkins don't have more seeds, they just have bigger seeds!

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Once you have all the seeds out of your pumpkin, place in a large bowl. Fill bowl with warm water. All the pumpkin guts and stringy stuff will sink to the bottom, and all the seeds will float to the top. Take out seeds with hands or a slotted spoon place into another clean bowl. If there is a little bit of the guts still on the seeds, it's ok.

Boil a pot of water. You want about 2 cups of water for each 1/2 cup of seeds. Once boiling, add about 1/8th cup of salt. Add seeds and boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Watch, or they will boil over. Very important to keep stirring. Preheat oven to 350.

Once 10 minutes is up, pour seeds and water into a colander and shake all excess water off. Put your clean, boiled seeds back into the bowl without the pumpkin gunk. Add the following to the bowl, and mix well with a large spoon:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce (mix, then add spices)

1 tablespoon cajun seasoning

few dashes cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasonings

Mix well. Coat a large cookie sheet with foil. Spread pumpkins out as much as possible. Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes. Stir. Bake another 20 minutes. Stir. Bake another 10 minutes and eat one. If they are done, great! If not, bake another 10 minutes. Seeds should be perfectly crunchy (you eat the shell and all) at about 50-60 minutes total baking time.

Store in an air tight container or zip lock bag. Yum!