Halloween is here and that means pumpkin carving among other fall activities. Personally, making pumpkin seeds after carving your perfect spooky face has always been a favorite of mine, but this year I decided to spice things up.. literally! I found this recipe for sweet/spicy caramelized pumpkin seeds, tweeked it a bit and it is fantastic.
Gather:
3 tablespoons white sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 pinch cayenne pepper, 2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds, washed and dried, cooking spray, 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons white sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons of sugar, the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper, and set aside.
Place the pumpkin seeds on the prepared baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt to taste. Bake the seeds in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and stir in the toasted pumpkin seeds along with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook and stir the seeds until the sugar forms a coating on the seeds, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the caramelized seeds into the bowl of sugar-spice mixture, toss to coat, and let cool.
*What I changed
I substituted 1tbs of brown sugar in place of the white sugar while caramelizing. I also used 1tbs of butter instead of olive oil (not as healthy, but adds a lot more flavor). Also, instead of plopping everything into the pan together, I melted the butter, added both sugars and heated on medium-high until the sugars barely started to caramelize. Then, I added the seeds and toasted, stirring regularly until the seeds began to brown slightly and pop. This takes about 5 minutes depending on the temperature under the pan. I also added the coated seeds to a pan with the sugar/spice mixture and voila!
So if you find yourself carving pumpkins sometime in the near future, I definitely suggest this recipe to put those seeds to a tastey use. Enjoy!