A Sweeter Pumpkin Seed Recipe

As the autumn holidays of Thanksgiving and Halloween quickly approach, many people are on the look out to avoid the wastefulness that could coincide with these holidays. One major waste of the Halloween season is pumpkin waste. Here is a recipe that will allow you to make use of the pumpkin seeds that are more often than not simply discarded. Many pumpkin seed recipes emphasize the sharp taste of the pumpkin seed, but those of us with young children like to seek out recipes that create a slightly sweeter final product.

After removing the pumpkin seeds and pulp from the pumpkin, rinse the seeds and remove any excess pulp. By picking the seeds out as best as you can as you remove the inside from the pumpkin, you can cut down on time spent at this step, or you can enlist a young family member to start picking through to find the seeds. Make sure that the seeds are rinsed completely.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a cookie sheet. You can also use stoneware for this step, but should not grease your stoneware for this or any other recipe if you can avoid it.

Place pumpkin seeds on the sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and cinnamon to taste. To start, you can try a 1:2 salt to cinnamon ratio, with no more than a teaspoon at first. After baking for about five minutes, open up the oven and add some more salt and cinnamon in the same ratio. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring the seeds every so often to assure that all surfaces have been covered.

This pumpkin seed recipe is one that our daughter particularly enjoys.