Pumpkin Seed Recipe

Whether you are carving pumpkins or eating them, you always end up with a sloppy mess of pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas). Don't dump them in the compost (or worse yet, the garbage), though- that would be a huge waste of these fiber and zinc-rich goodies that are perfect for topping salads and side dishes, and eaten on their own as healthy snacks.

Instead, cook them up with this great pumpkin seed recipe.

To increase their nutrient value (and to make cleaning off the "pulpy stuff" easier), you can soak your seeds in salted water before baking them.

Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1 1/2-2 cups pumpkin seeds (I love using local “cheese pumpkin” seeds) rinsed clean of all pulp, and then patted dry (soak them in salted water for 4-8 hours first, if possible)
8 Tb. pure maple syrup
4 Tb. organic butter
2 tsp. Himalayan or sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss pumpkin seeds with the other ingredients and spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until crispy, tossing every 10-15 minutes.

Recipe options:
If you don't want a sweet pumpkin seed recipe, omit the maple syrup and use savory seasonings, such as garlic and/or onion powder, cayenne powder, or the seasoning blend of your choice instead. You could also make these with coconut oil and salt- super simple and super good! The same directions can be used for other nuts and seeds, too, by the way. Pecans and walnuts, in particular, are great when roasted with maple syrup and butter!

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