Recipe: Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Warning:  These are even more tempting and addictive than all of that Halloween candy!  

You'll need: 

2 or 3 pumpkins (medium carving size)

4 tbsp oil (vegetable or peanut)

3/4 cup organic turbinado raw cane sugar (or other granulated sugar)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp mace (or nutmeg)

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

Hollow out pumpkins for carving and reserve the seeds.  Tip... separating seeds from sticky strands is easier if you put them in a bowl of water because the seeds will float.  Each pumpkin should yield about a cup of seeds.  Set the seeds aside on a paper towel to blot dry just a bit.  Then place them in a 9x12 dish in the oven at 250 degrees until they are dried out.  You are not roasting them, so they should not turn color.  This is just to completely dry them out.  Turn and stir them every 15 minutes.  Drying takes about an hour. Let the seeds cool.

Prepare dry rub in a heatproof bowl.  Mix salt, spices, and 1/2 cup of the sugar.  Set aside.

Then, in a nonstick pan, heat the oil on high.  Add 1/4 cup of the sugar and the pumpkin seeds stirring constantly until the sugar begins to melt and carmelize and the pumpkin seeds begin to lightly brown.  This takes about a minute or two.  Transfer seeds into the bowl with dry rub and toss.  Stir until coated completely.  Break apart any lumps as they begin to cool.

Serve immediately or cool and keep for up to a week (as if they'd last that long)...
Happy Halloween!