Autumn Favorites: Baked Sweet & Spicy Pumkin Seeds

 

 

 The cool air has returned and the trees are getting ready for winter. This is a sign for my children to go to our local pumpkin patch to get their pumpkins. They look forward to eating the seeds and making tons of pies. Our house smells so yummy all the day long. These are memories that will last a life time for them and me :)

This year, I didn't want to make the same old salted pumpkin seeds. Since my family has started to live our lives a bit different by eating better, I wanted to come up with a twist on these. I was not sure how it would taste but I tried it anyway since I had several more pumpkins to go through. I'm glad I did, they were awesome. Everyone loved them. My kids say to never go back to the old way again. Now that is a compliment.






Ingredients:

Seeds from a pumpkin
Paprika                               
Chili pepper
Brown sugar (not to much to keep it healthy:)
Olive Oil








Directions:

 

Remove all the seeds from the pumpkin. Wash really well to remove the stringy pumpkin from the seeds. Lay out on a baking pan to dry. You can try to dry them with a paper towel but it might stick. I left mine for several hours and they dried up nicely. Once they are dried you can place them in the oven on 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove, drizzle a little bit of Olive oil over them, then sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the top of them. Use spices according to your taste. I just sprinkled them as I would salt and pepper. No measurement was necessary.  Mix well and place back into the oven for another 20 minutes. They will come out golden brown, crunch and delicious.