Looking for something to offset all the Halloween candy you’ve been eating, or a way to get rid of the pumpkin guts from your pumpkin-carving party? Well, you’re in luck!
Here’s a recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds. These are healthy, delicious seeds that you can pack up and take with you anywhere, or even mix into trail mix, eat plain, sprinkle on your breakfast yogurt or snack on:
1. Carve and gut a pumpkin, reserving the pulp. (Don’t forget to make a cool jack-o’-lantern; extra points for a Nittany Lion logo or paw.)
2. Remove the seeds from the pumpkin flesh, making sure you’ve scooped all the extra seeds from the inside of the pumpkin.
3. Soak the seeds in a bowl of water, swishing them around to ensure you get all the strands of the pumpkin pulp out.
4. Empty the pumpkin seeds onto a plate and dry them thoroughly with a dishcloth or paper towel. Allow the seeds to sit for a while you clean up the pumpkin guts and post photos of your jack-o’-lantern on Instagram.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Get out sheet pans, lining them with aluminum foil so the pumpkin seeds don’t stick to the pans.
6. Now that the pumpkin seeds have dried, mix them with two tablespoons of canola oil and coarse flakes of kosher salt. (You can also sprinkle other seasonings on the seeds, such as Old Bay seasoning or ranch dressing mix.)
7. Dump them onto the sheet pans, spreading them out evenly on the pans.
8. Bake the pumpkin seeds for about 20 minutes until they’re crispy, and shake them about halfway through.
9. Take the seeds out of the oven and let them cool, removing them from the pan with a spatula.
10. Astonish your roommates with your amazing new snack and how you’ve recycled something gross into something super cool.
Now you can make your friends jealous with your cooking skills every Halloween. Happy cooking, collegiettes!