Pumpkin-everything season is in full swing. Although most adults are capitalizing on their pumpkin spice lattes, there is something incredibly nostalgic about carving pumpkins. Your imagination is the limit on the creation of a pumpkin masterpiece. But while carving pumpkins this year, I was reminded that many people throw away the precious seeds inside. We love pumpkin seeds at our house because they are dense with so much nutrition. They are high in healthy fats, iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium, and folate just to name of a few. So I thought I would share how we made use of this nutritional powerhouse this year!

First, you have to start by collecting your seeds from the pumpkin. I like to separate my seeds as I pull them out of my pumpkin and store them in a bowl for later.

When I’m ready to make my pumpkin seeds, I rinse all of the seeds off in water to clean them. Then you have to dry them. Definitely do not skip this step. Drying them out thoroughly allows them to bake better and get more crispy.

Once the seeds are dry, you can toss them in a bowl with some olive oil and seasonings. The seasonings I used were salt, pepper, paprika, dill, parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder. These seasonings gave it more of a ranch-flavor. There are so many varieties of flavoring though, you can really get creative. You could try cinnamon sugar, salt-and-vinegar, or even chili-lime.

Once the seasonings are tossed on the seeds, spread them out in an even layer on your lined baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F until golden brown, tossing over 10 minutes. I usually let my seeds cook for 25-30 minutes because I love them crispy but be sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t burn!

I hope this inspired you to try some new flavors of pumpkin seeds instead of throwing them out!