Recipe: 3 Easy Seasoned Pumpkin Seed Recipes

Every Fall our family likes to pick up a couple pumpkins to carve.  One of our favorite parts about carving and enjoying some time together as a family is making toasted pumpkin seeds.  This year was even more special because Grandma Penny and Great Grandma Willa were here to join in the festivities with the girls.

We did 3 different seasoned pumpkin seed recipes this year.  The two that we did last year were such a huge hit that we did them again plus added one more.  To make it easier on you I have all three recipes in this post.

Seasoned Salt Pumpkin Seeds

• 2 c pumpkin seeds
• 2 T butter
• Sprinkle Seasoned Salt (or substitute a 1/2 package ranch package mix)

Rinse the pumpkin seeds.  Saute pumpkin seeds in the butter for about 5 minutes (until they start to turn brown).  Sprinkle the Seasoned Salt on the  seeds.  Spread seeds into a shallow baking pan and baked at 250 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until crispy.  Stirring every 10 minutes.

Dill Ranch Pumpkin Seeds

• 2 c pumpkin seeds
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 package Hidden Valley Dill Ranch Mix

Rinse the pumpkin seeds.  Saute pumpkin seeds in the butter for about 5 minutes (until they start to turn brown).  Sprinkle half the pack of Hidden Valley Dill Ranch Mix (or any flavor of Ranch mix) on the  seeds.  Spread seeds into a shallow baking pan and baked at 250 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until crispy.  Stirring every 10 minutes.

Cinnamon Apple Cider Pumpkin Seeds

The cinnamon apple cider pumpkin seed recipe was adapted from the recipe My Retro Kitchen shared on her blog.  I removed the nutmeg from the recipe but otherwise it is the same.  These seeds came out with a perfect mix of sweetness.  The other two recipes were more the salty flavors so adding this sweet one was awesome compliment to the three.  I want to make them again because mine came out a little oily (maybe they needed to cook longer or I had too much butter?).  These were a hit with family and friends, perfect for the Fall festivities!

• 2 cups pumpkin seeds, cleaned and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider
• 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter OR olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Pour the apple cider in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Add the pumpkin seeds and boil on medium heat for 10 minutes. Drain the seeds and pour them in a large mixing bowl.
Pour the melted butter or olive oil into the bowl, along with the salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Mix well to coat and spread pumpkin seed in a single layer onto jelly roll pan or a baking sheet.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring them them every 10 minutes, until butter topping has dried and the pumpkin seeds are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool and dry-out the rest of the way on the cookie sheet on top of the stove.  Store in an air-tight container.

After cleaning out our pumpkins we had a little over 6 cups of pumpkin seeds so we decided it up three ways and made three different recipes.  These seeds were a hit with our family and friends.  The girls had a blast cleaning and carving their pumpkins!