How Long Does It Take To Cook Pumpkin Seeds?

For many people, fall beats out winter, spring, and summer as the best time of the year. Who doesn't love sweaters, apple picking, cider, Halloween, and pumpkins? And with the carving of pumpkins comes lots of pumpkin seeds. According to Healthline, pumpkin seeds may improve heart, prostate, and bladder health, reduce your risk for cancer, and confer other benefits. Not to mention, roasted pumpkin seeds make a tasty snack.

Recipe developer and wellness coach Miriam Hahn shared an easy five-ingredient roasted pumpkin seeds recipe with Mashed that will have you snacking on the crunchy seeds within an hour. After placing them into a clean towel to dry them as much as possible, add the ingredients and toss them to cover all the seeds. It takes 45 minutes to cook the pumpkin seeds at 325 degrees. "They are simple to make, and you don't even need to mess with scraping them out of a pumpkin if you don't want," Hahn said. "It is a really fun thing to make with kids!"

While Hahn's recipe takes a little less than an hour, if you're in a hurry you could raise the temperature and cook the seeds for a shorter period of time, but you don't want to raise the temperature too high. For evenly roasted seeds and to prevent them from burning, a lower temperature is usually preferred. 

Roasted pumpkin seeds with pumpkin spice fit perfectly with the pumpkin-flavored foods of fall, and they're sweet, but not overly so. There are many different flavors that are perfect for roasted pumpkin seeds, but before you put your seeds in the oven, it's important to make sure they're thoroughly dry. If they're not, it will take longer for them to cook, and they won't get as crispy.

According to Erin Johnson, who created a recipe for cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds for Mashed, if you have the time, you can try baking them at 200 degrees for three to four hours, stirring them often. Unlike Miriam Hahn's recipe, Johnson's cooks the seeds for 25 minutes at a warmer temperature of 350 degrees. While some recipes say that boiling the pumpkin seeds is optional, the Lemon Bowl says it is a must to boil them in salt water for five to ten minutes before drying them out. This guarantees uniform crispiness and makes sure you don't end up with burnt seeds, since the inside will take longer to cook.

Sweet spices like cinnamon and pumpkin pie are favorites for roasting pumpkin seeds, but many people prefer savory or spicy seeds. Garlic powder, cayenne, Worcestershire, or soy sauce are all excellent options for a salty snack. If you're carving several pumpkins, you could make several varieties. Roasted pumpkins aren't just for snacking as-is, but can be tossed onto salads, soup, vegetables, or added to a homemade trail mix.