The Paisley Texan Creates: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Howdy! The Paisley Texan is back with another creation. Today, I've got 2 recipes for some amazing pumpkin seeds. If you read my last post, it was all about carving pumpkins. Well, I saved the gooey mess Mr. Texan dug out of those suckers, determined to roast some good seeds.

I picked apart the strings and chunks of pumpkin, leaving me with the seeds. There were still some strings left, so I soaked them in water and let them sit while we carved our pumpkins. When we finished carving, I went back to cleaning the seeds. A tip from the website that I found the recipes at, said that if you rub the seeds between your hands under the water, that helps to wash off the excess strings. When finished cleaning them, I spread them out on cookie sheets to dry out. Another tip said you can dry them with a blow dryer, or in a low heat oven. I opted to just let them air dry over a few days.

Seeds Drying

After a few days, when the seeds were nice and dry, I decided on the 2 recipes I wanted to try. I found them here. I opted for a savory recipe {which, by the way, tastes EXACTLY like homemade chex mix!!!} I also went for a sweet recipe. The savory was definitely my favorite, but they are both delicious!

Ingredients for the savory recipe: 4 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt, and 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce.

Savory Seeds Ingredients

Ingredients for the sweet recipe: 4 tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice. {I used in place of the allspice and ginger, Chinese 5 Spice (next time I'll stick to the recipe, I wasn't impressed with the 5 Spice), and I added Nutmeg. Next time I will also add some sugar for a little added sweetness.}

Sweet Seeds Ingredients

Set your oven to 275 degrees. Divide your seeds into two separate bowls if you are choosing to do both recipes.

Yep, I love pink!

Savory Recipe: Add the melted butter to the seeds and mix thoroughly.

Paula Deen would be proud.

Then add 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce.

2 t of Worcestershire Sauce

When you've mixed in the Worcestershire sauce, add 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt.

1/2 t of Garlic Salt

After mixing in the garlic salt, mix very well. Then pour onto a cookie sheet {if using a metal cookie sheet cover it with foil, easy clean up!}, I used one of my Pampered Chef stones. Spread them out as evenly as you can, to make sure you have enough room for all of your seeds.

Savory seeds ready to roast.

Bake them in your preheated 275 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Depending on how hot your oven gets, it might take a shorter or longer amount of time. Stir the seeds around every 5 minutes. You will want to keep an eye on them so they don't burn. For my oven, they took 20 minutes to roast.

Set your oven to 275 degrees, stir every 5 minutes.

At the 20 minute mark, I tasted one to see if it was crunchy enough for my taste. I could have let it cook another 5 minutes, but I jumped the gun and pulled them out. They smelled delicious, looked delicious, and tasted {you guessed it} delicious!

If only we had smell-a-vision capabilities!

Savory Pumpkin Seeds

Sweet Recipe: Add the melted butter to the seeds and mix thoroughly.

Butter!

Then add a teaspoon of cinnamon.

1 t of Cinnamon

Next, if you are following the original recipe, you would add the ginger and allspice. Since I changed it up a bit, I added 1/2 a teaspoon of Chinese 5 Spice. {Next time, I won't use Chinese 5 Spice. I wasn't impressed by it. I'll stick to the original recipe and add some sugar.}

1/2 t Chinese 5 Spice

Here is a picture of the Chinese 5 Spice, with the ingredient list. Just in case you're curious...

Chinese 5 Spice: Ginger, Cloves, Allspice, Star Anise, and others

Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I think, if you add sugar, the salt will be a nice balance. If you choose to leave out the sugar, like I did this recipe round, the salt was a little too prevalent. If you don't add sugar, I'd lower the salt to a 1/4 teaspoon.

1/2 t of Salt

The last ingredient is the 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg I added for a little more fallish addition.

1/2 t of Nutmeg

When you've added all of your ingredients, mix well. Since this recipe is a sweet one, I decided to coat the pan with cooking spray {especially if you use sugar, so it doesn't stick}.

Coat the pan.

Spread the seeds out as evenly as possible, just like you did with the savory recipe.

Sweet seeds are ready to roast!

Stir the seeds around every 5 minutes, especially watch this recipe, it can burn faster. This recipe was cooked perfectly after 15 minutes.

Roasted, yummy goodness!

Sweet Pumpkin Seeds

Now, you are all set to carve your pumpkins and save that slimy mess and make something totally yummylicious from it. Let me know if you give one of the recipes a try. There are a few other ideas on the website. I think when I make these again, I'll do a savory batch with an addition of Tony Cachere's spice! Savory with a little spice, yummmm. Y'all enjoy!