"Pumpkin Pie" Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The pumpkin gets a lot of love around this time of year with Halloween and Thanksgiving Day but most people just throw the seeds away. Don't throw them away!! They are so many yummy roasted pumpkin seed recipes out there from savory to sweet. I decided to try making a sweet version of roasted pumpkin seeds and they turned out great. It smelled like pumpkin pie was being cooked in my oven without all the hassle of making a pie... although it took awhile to get all the seeds away from the pumpkin pulp and cleaned. Can you buy plain pumpkin seeds at the grocery store? That would be a good shortcut to try this recipe out.

Happy Roasting!! If you have a favorite recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds, share them in the comment section below.

Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups Raw Pumpkin Seeds, dried
1/3 cup Butter, melted
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

Steps:

1. PREHEAT oven to 150C. 
2. TOSS all ingredients together until all pumpkin seeds are thoroughly coated.
3. LAY them out in a even layer on a large baking sheet and place on the center shelf of your oven.
4. ROAST for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning them every 15 minutes. They are done when the mixture is dried on the pumpkin seeds and they have a nice golden color.

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Weekend Baking: Part 1 - Cheesy Bonfire Bread

I decided to bake some bread recipes this weekend. I found two recipes on the BBC GoodFood website that I wanted to make ever since I added them to "My 100" list. We were having a chilled out evening with one of our friends and planned on snacking all night. They wanted a rustic type bread so I thought this Cheesy Bonfire Bread recipe would be great to try out. I had fun baking this one. The only other bread I have baked before was Banana Bread, which is a completely different process. I really enjoyed kneading the dough, mixing in the chargrilled peppers, cheese and pumpkin seeds.  It was very easy to make and the flavour was great. It tasted great with some onion chutney spread on it. I will be making this one again to enjoy by a bonfire or as we did last night by our chimnea. This recipe completes recipe 99 of "My 100" list.

Recipe

Courtesy of BBC GoodFood

Ingredients: 

200g wholemeal flour

200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

2tsp cream of tartar

1tsp salt

25g butter, melted

300ml milk, at room temperature

175g cheddar, coarsely grated

3tbsp pumpkin seeds

85g chargrilled peppers from a jar, drained and chopped

Steps:

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a large well in the middle. Combine the melted butter and milk, then pour into the well. Mix to a soft dough.
2. Dust the work surface with flour. Add most of the cheddar, 2 tbsp of the pumpkin seeds and the chopped peppers to the dough. Gently knead to combine on the floured surface. Divide into 8 lumps and shape into rough rounds two finger-widths deep.
3. Place the pieces side by side on a floured baking sheet, scatter the remaining cheddar and pumpkin seeds over the top and bake for 30 mins until golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. Cool on a wire rack and eat while warm. BQVN4DD8UR7G

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