These tasty pumpkin seeds are a great snack that you can make at home to reduce waste rather than opting for shop bought versions!
Now it is pumpkin season I thought it would be the perfect time to share my favourite way to jazz up the seeds, rather than throwing them away. If you have lots of plans to carve pumpkins and then eat them to reduce waste, why not take it one step further and use the seeds up too.
This recipe is a great place to start if you are interested in reducing food waste as the recipe is simple and uses just a handful of ingredients. I recently created a guide full of all my recipes using the scraps of food that are commonly thrown away, such as the leaves from cauliflowers, which you can find here if you are interested in looking at more recipes that reduce food waste.
I love the combination of sweet and salty from the maple syrup and salt in this snack and think the black pepper adds a great little kick that takes these to the next level. If you like the sound of creating these but are not overly keen on my flavour choice you could mix this up and create any flavour you want. You could omit the salt and pepper and add a pinch of cinnamon to create a sweet version of these seeds or, alternatively, omit the maple syrup and add paprika, garlic salt and nutritional yeast to create a delicious savoury version.
Pumpkin seeds are a great nutrient dense snack and you could either eat them by the handful on the go, in trail mix or sprinkled on top of soups and salads such as this Squash & Kale Autumn Salad which you can find here.
I use pumpkin seeds in this recipe but really you could make this tasty snack using seeds from any squash, I actually make them with the seeds from butternut squash more frequently than I do pumpkin. These will store well for a few days in an airtight container so why not create a big batch and enjoy by the handful over a few days?
I find soaking the seeds for at least one hour really helps to separate any sticky bits of pumpkin from the seeds, however, if you are in a rush you can do your best to remove what you can without this step. You want these seeds to have a little crunch so let them start to turn golden before removing them from the oven, I would always recommend performing a taste test to ensure the level of crispiness suits your personal preference before removing them from the oven.
If you enjoy making your own snacks from pumpkin seeds you may also like my ‘Cheesy’ Kale Crisps which you can find here.
If you like this recipe and want to show some support please leave a comment below or visit my Ko-Fi account to donate! x
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