My niece is a very clever woman. She mentioned that she had made some cinnamon maple pumpkin seeds, and that sounded so good, I had to try some for myself. She’s really on to something here! This has been a very pumpkin-intensive month here, and with Halloween night comes a batch of pumpkin seeds out of my Grinch Pumpkin.
I decided to give this batch the maple and spice treatment, and I’m sitting here munching on a bowl full of them as I write. So delicious!
I’m usually a salt/pepper/garlic/paprika kind of girl when it comes to seasoning my pumpkin seeds, and you can see a post about that here.
A friend of mine won a competition for Bar Snacks with Pumpkin Seeds roasted with Irish Butter and Celery Salt. They were simple and perfect. This flavor combo definitely joins that one as one of my favorites.
Maple Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds, still in the shell, freshly scraped from a gourd
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Salt
Maple Syrup
Put the pumpkin seeds in a colander and rinse, pulling pumpkin chunks out to clean them.
When they are clean, pour them into a bowl. Season to taste with a generous amount of cinnamon, some freshly grated nutmeg, or other spices you like. (Your favorite pumpkin pie spice blend would work well here). Add a few shakes of salt and enough maple syrup to just coat the seeds. Toss to coat evenly.
Pour the coated seeds onto a piece of foil on a baking sheet. Place in a 350 degree oven and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and check them. Sprinkle with more cinnamon and salt, then return to the oven, turning to pan to prevent burning.
Roast until the seeds have dried and are crunchy. Let them cool and then peel the foil off of the back.
Tip: crunch up the foil to break up the caramelized spiced maple syrup into a powder. Sprinkle over the seeds for extra flavor!