Homemade Pumpkin Seeds Snack

If you made pumpkin puree' from my last post, you should have a bowl of pumpkin seeds left. If you are carving a jack-o-lantern, you can save the seeds that you scoop out of the pumpkin and make a yummy treat. If you are in this area, you can get pumpkins like mine at Wieck's (Wieck's Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch)
1. So, the first thing to do is to cut open your pumpkin. If you are going to bake your pumpkin, just cut it in half. If you are going to make a jack-o-lantern, you will probably only cut the top off to make a lid on your pumpkin.

2. Scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin and into a bowl. Try not to include the other slimy pumpkin strings and gooey center with your seeds. That part goes in the trash. It's OK if a little of the pumpkin goo is stuck on the seeds to start with as you can clean it off when washing.

3. Next, wash your bowl of seeds. I put some water in my bowl of seeds and swished it round with my hand. I pulled out any large pieces of pumpkin that were still mixed in the seeds. Do Not soak the seeds, just rinse. They will puff up and start to come apart if you let them soak. I poured the seeds and water into a strainer to get rid of the water. Then I swirled the seeds around looking for any orange pumpkin bits still stuck on the seeds. If you find any, take it out. This is the time to get the seeds clean. If you need to, you can wash and strain the seeds a few times to get them clean. The seeds in the picture below are not clean enough; there is still orange pumpkin on these seeds. They need to be washed some more.

4. Next dump the seeds out on a cookie sheet with sides. Sort through the seeds a little bit. Some of the seeds may be hollow, not have any seed inside the shell. Take those seeds out. Here is a picture of an empty seed and a good seed. You can almost see through the empty seed when it's wet. It will be flat. The good seed will be slightly puffed.

5. Sprinkle the seeds with salt at this point if you would like salted seeds. You don't have to salt them, but it adds flavor to the outside.

6. Place in middle of a warm oven, about 250 degrees for an hour. The seeds may stick together as they dry. After the first 30 minutes, stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula, separating any seeds that may have stuck together. After an hour, remove from oven and cool on the pan to room temperature. Now you can eat and enjoy! Store left overs in a sealed container or bag.
You can eat the seeds whole with the salted shell or crack them out of the shell and eat them. If they are out of the shell, the seed inside won't have the salt flavor you put on the outside of the shell. Here is what the pumpkin seed looks like in the shell, while removing the shell, and out of the shell.