Pumpkin Spiced Pepitas Recipe

What Makes These Guys So Great

Unlike candying pumpkin seeds on the stove top, you don’t really have to worry about burning these guys, so that’s a definite bonus.

Using an egg white as a binder is a sneaky way to get crispy seeds as well as to make all the deliciousness stick to your pepitas.

You can vary the sweetness and saltiness to suit your taste, and of course you can use whatever kind of spice you want.

The lovely balance of salt and sweet make these punkin seeds equally at home sprinkled over an autumn salad or mixed into muffins or cookie dough.

The Difference Between Pepitas and Pumpkin Seeds

In a word: hulls.

Pumpkin seeds that many Americans are used to seeing when they cut a pie pumpkin or carve a Jack O’Lantern have hulls, or fibrous coverings that protect the seeds inside.

Pepitas come from pumpkins that produce seeds without these hulls or “shells.”

For me, there’s no contest. Pepitas are always the way to go.

But if you like the tough outer shells of regular pumpkin seeds, you can cook those the same way as you do these pepitas.

How to Make

If you have 5 minutes to mix some ingredients and then about 40 to hang out near the kitchen so you can stir these bad boys every once in awhile, you too can have delicious, crunchy “candied” pumpkin seeds for pretty minimal effort.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need:

• pepitas: I find these either in the produce section with crunchy salad toppings or with Bob’s Red Mill products. You could also use regular pumpkin seeds if you’d rather
• egg white: this is the magical ingredient that makes the spices and sugar stick to the seeds and bakes up nice and crispy
• brown sugar: provides the sweetness. You can use light or dark, or you could even go with regular granulated sugar
• pumpkin spice: just one of an endless array of spicing possibilities, but always delicious. And what makes more sence than pumpkin spice with pumpkin seeds?
• salt: brings out the flavor in the seeds and spices and provides a nice balance to the sweetness. I use kosher salt
• vanilla (not pictured): The vanilla is technically optional, but it adds some lovely mellow, floral notes to the baked pepitas. Plus it smells marvelous in the oven!

Procedure

These are so easy to make, friends. Here’s the rundown.

1. mix egg white with sugar, salt, pumpkin spice and optional vanilla. Whisk together really well.
2. Add pepitas and stir to coat.
3. Spread evenly onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet.
4. Bake at 325F for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
5. At the end of 40 minutes, remove the pan to a cooling rack. Break the pepitas apart into small “nuggets” as they cool

Tips and Tricks for Success

If you have a convection oven, you can speed up the process by about 10 minutes.

You’ll have to watch them during the last 10 minutes of baking to make sure they aren’t browning too much.

As your pepitas bake, the egg white mixture will become pretty thick and stodgy. Make sure to scrape all of it off your pan and keep it mixed in with the seeds where it belongs.

PRO TIP: For non-stick goodness and ease of clean up, line your sheet pan with a Silpat or other non-stick baking mat.

While parchment works great for cookies, the sugary egg white mixture can still stick, so Silpat is definitely the answer.

Your pepitas will definitely want to clump together, so keep them as spread out as you can and then break the clumps up into smaller nuggets as they cool.

Q & A

If you have any questions about this or any other recipe or post on the site, there are a few ways to get in touch.

You can leave a comment on the post, and I’ll be back in touch within 24 hours.

If your question is more pressing, don’t hesitate to email me, and I should be back in touch within 4 hours (unless I’m asleep) or often much more quickly than that.

Serving Suggestions

Aside from eating out of hand, here are some ways to incorporate this spiced pepitas recipe into your life:

• Mix them into streusel and top pumpkin muffins before baking
• Sprinkle them on top of your morning cereal or oatmeal
• Garnish pumpkin pancakes with them (or mix them into the batter)
• Top your yogurt or pumpkin ice cream with these crunchy little nuggets
• Press on top of pumpkin quick bread–loosely tent with foil if they brown too quickly
• Top caramel pumpkin mousse or maple pumpkin pudding
• Add them to your favorite granola mix
• And, of course, use them in my caramel corn recipe. You must!

A Note About Measurements

This is the kitchen scale that I recommend for home cooks and bakers. Using a scale will help you be more accurate and consistent in your measurements.

It is lightweight, easy to store, accurate, and very easy to use.

I hope you’ve learned something from this post or that you’ve decided to make the recipe.

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