Caramelized Pumpkin & Squash Seeds

One of my favorite parts about carving pumpkins is getting to eat all the wonderfully nutty seeds! Usually I just roast them with a little olive oil and salt, but this year I wanted to do something different. Then I came across this recipe from Cooking with My Kid. that caramelized them and I knew that I had to try it. I made a delicious a mix of pumpkin and squash seeds. I saved the seeds from my spaghetti squash and butternut squash in the freezer and then just thawed them overnight in the fridge before I made this.

These are ridiculously good. Crunchy, sweet and salt all at once. They kind of remind me of the kettle corn that I tried at the Queen West Art Crawl. Give them a try this Halloween!
What you'll need:
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh Pumpkin or Squash Seeds
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
2-3 tbsp Brown Sugar
pinch of Kosher Salt

Clean and pat dry seeds. You want to get rid of all the orange gunk.

Put seeds in a dry non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Toast them in the pan, constantly shifting them around so that they roast evenly and don’t stick to the pan.

When they start to pop and peel, take one out and taste it (make sure it’s cool enough first). If it’s crunchy it’s done.

Turn the heat down to low and spray the seeds with olive oil cooking spray.

Sprinkle sugar into pan.

Stir seeds while sugar melts and sticks to the seeds. Turn heat off and sprinkle with salt. Let cool and serve!

These are extremely addictive!

Let me know if you try them and tell me what you think! I know I'll be making more this weekend :)

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