Bring back some childhood glee with our free fall date night idea. Today we’re paying tribute to the treasure found inside of the pumpkin — pepitas! Yes, these little seeds are as fun to pronounce as they are to eat. So no English-accented “pay-pee-tuhs”, please — these are “peh-pee-tahs” (touch your tongue to the back of your front teeth to pronounce the soft “t”).
Start by heading off to the local farm or roadside pop-up farm (cocoa in hand) and pick your pumpkins. Bring them home, and carve away. Keep those seeds, because your date night continues in the kitchen!
RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS:
-
pepitas (raw, hulled pumpkin seeds) - olive oil, melted butter or cooking spray (preferably olive oil)
- salt
- seasonings
SEASONING IDEAS:
- salt
- garlic salt
- Tajin (our favorite)
- chili powder + lime juice
- herbs de provence (or Italian seasoning)
- smoked paprika
- cinnamon + chili powder
- cinnamon + sugar (in our picture)
- worcestershire sauce + seasoned salt
DIRECTIONS:
Start with washed & fully dried seeds. If you dump the seeds in a bowl of water, they will separate from the “gook” and float to the top. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheet or line with aluminum foil.
In a bowl, mix pumpkin seeds with a small amount of olive oil (or butter, or lightly cover with cooking spray); use just enough oil so that they are just very lightly coated. Add salt and seasoning to taste, and mix so that seeds are fairly evenly coated.
Transfer seeds to cooking sheet, and bake for about 15-25 minutes (or until seeds are cooked and begin to lightly brown). Remove trays every 10 minutes to stir the seeds and check for doneness. Let cool and serve.
If you are just wanting to make a small batch of these (which is fun for experimenting with seasonings!), a toaster oven is a fantastic option for baking! Just be sure to stir them a little more frequently, as toaster ovens tend to bake slightly more unevenly.
