This past weekend we shuffled off to the local pick-your-own place and braved the rather frigid morning to get some pink lady apples, beets and swiss chard. While we were there we also bought two pie pumpkins. I love to cook them up during the fall and make some of the best tasting GFCF crustless pumpkin pie around. But of course you can’t ignore all those amazing pumpkin seeds that come out of the pie pumpkins. I swear they have more seeds than the giant jack-o-lanters. Usually I simply roast them with a little salt, but during said trip to the farm we got 4 free Halloween pumpkins, so I’d had my fill of plain pumpkin seeds.
I decided I wanted to make some cinnamon spice pumpkins and of course I did a quick Google search to see what kind of recipes were out there. Not a single one I looked at included salt in the sugar and cinnamon blend. I thought that was really odd since, I thought everyone knows salt makes sugar taste sweeter. If you ever make a dessert and it tastes sweet but flat you can almost guarantee you forgot the salt.
So as I was measuring out the sugar I made sure to add a little salt for balance. I decided to taste the mixture to make sure it was an appropriate blend and it reminded me of Kettlecorn. I decided to stop right there and forego the cinnamon. My husband has cursed me already saying these are just too addictive! I hope you enjoy too.
Kettlecorn Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup of cleaned and air dried raw pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin, or seeds from 2 pie pumpkins
2 tablespoons organic sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (taste after mixing in 1/2 and determine if it fits your taste)
olive oil to coat
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl mix pumpkin seeds with oil to coat. In another bowl mix sugar and salt, taste to make sure it suits your taste. Sprinkle sugar mixture over pumpkin seeds and stir to coat. Spread pumpkin seeds evenly on a cookie sheet taking care to try to keep them in a single layer. Roast for approximately 40 minutes, but stir every 15 minutes to prevent burning. Allow to cool, stir while cooling to prevent sticking. Enjoy!
