One of my husband’s favourite holidays is Halloween: the decorations, our family traditions and especially the food. I’m not just talking about the mini-chocolate bars and candy, but fall food with a Halloween twist. Making food fun, especially during a holiday like Halloween, is a clever way to sneak nutritious snacks and meals into your spooky celebrations. Here is a great recipe that is so much fun to make your little monsters will have no idea that these tasty treats are good for them!
Ingredients
Pumpkin seeds saved from carving your pumpkin
4 tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter
Various seasoning
When carving your pumpkin separate the seeds from pumpkin flesh – a great job for those too small to carve their own pumpkin! Wash seeds in a sink or big bowl of water, making sure you remove the pumpkin flesh by rubbing them between your hands. Drain in a strainer and dry with paper towel.
Preheat your oven to 275 degrees.
Spread the dry seeds out on a cookie tray and lightly baste with vegetable oil or melted butter, just enough so that seeds are coated but are not swimming in oil.
Time to season your seeds! There are so many ways to do it – here are just a few. Mix flavourings together in a bowl and sprinkle or drizzle over oiled seeds.
Fall flavours: 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp ground allspice
Spicy: 1 tsp cayenne pepper, ½ tsp thyme, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper
Savoury: ½ tsp garlic salt and 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Natural: 1 tsp salt
Lemony: 2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
Cook seeds in a 275 degree oven for 10 – 20 minutes until golden brown. Oven temperatures will vary and they burn quickly, so keep an eye on them and give them a stir every 5 minutes or so. Allow seeds to cool when they come out of the oven for 10 minutes. These are delish served warm or cold.
