"Everything" vs "Vanilla Nutmeg" Pumpkin Seeds

- vs -

So we had our first pumpkin carving as a married couple, or even just as a couple.

It's hard for me to believe I didn't even know Ryan last year at this time.

Well, Ryan LOVES the holidays. He bugged and bugged and bugged me to get a pumpkin, so last Saturday night, we picked out two beauties and headed to our friend's house to carve.

Now, I started trying to carve Marcy, but when that turned into an epic fail, I carved a heart with r + k inside.

Ryan, chose a much simpler design - but something very typical in our household:

I think they turned out pretty well!

Come to find out, the REAL reason Ryan wanted to carve pumpkins so badly was for the seeds. Everyone thought he was a crazy person when he went around and collected every last seed and placed them in a Ziploc to take home.

Well those seeds have been staring me in the face for 3 days now (not to mention Ryan brings it up every time he opens the fridge), so I decided to just cook them up today.

I can't ever bake or cook things "normally", so I decided to make up new recipes for our seeds.

Ryan wanted savory and I wanted sweet.

What resulted were the BEST pumpkin seeds I have ever had. I don't even like them normally, but one they were cooked, I couldn't stop putting them in my mouth!

First up: "Everything" Pumpkin Seeds

Ryan's favorite bagel is an Everything bagel - so I thought, 'why not on pumpkin seeds?'

Salty, garlic-y, perfection. Sooooo much better than typical salted seeds.

Next up: "Vanilla Nutmeg" Pumpkin Seeds

These are like dessert. I cannot tell you how much of an improvement these are from normal toasted pumpkin seeds.

See all that sugar-y goodness and nutmeg? Sinful.

So, I'm going to have to cast my vote for the Vanilla Nutmeg ones...but I guarantee Ryan will devour the Everything ones in the next day or so.

Are you more savory or sweet?

Pick your poison.

I made these seeds from approximately 3 cups of pumpkin seeds, spilt in half. Wash your seeds in water and pick off as much of the extra pumpkin pulp as you can. Lay the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet covered in foil and place paper towels over the top. Let them dry out overnight.

Everything Pumpkin Seeds

- 1 1/2 cups dried pumpkin seeds

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1// Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

2// Melt the butter in a dish. Mix in the olive oil.

3// Pour the butter and oil into a bowl containing the seeds and mix well.

4// Add in the salt, pepper, onion & garlic powder.

5// Spread seeds onto a foil covered cookie sheet.

6// Bake for 10 minutes, remove seeds, stir, & place back in oven.

7// Repeat this until the seeds are brown and crispy (about 40 minutes).

Vanilla Nutmeg Pumpkin Seeds

- 1 1/2 cups dried pumpkin seeds

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar

- 1 1/2 teaspoons light brown sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

1// Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

2// Melt the butter in a dish. Mix in the vanilla.

3// Pour the butter and vanilla into a bowl containing the seeds and mix well.

4// Add in 1 teaspoon white sugar, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, the nutmeg, & the salt.

5// Spread seeds onto a foil covered cookie sheet.

6// Bake for 10 minutes, remove seeds, stir, & place back in oven.

7// Mix the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of each sugar together in a bowl.

8// After the seeds have baked for 20 minutes, remove from the oven, stir, and sprinkle the extra sugar over the seeds.

9// Bake for 10 more minutes or until seeds are brown and crispy (about 30 minutes total).

What I found out was that the sugar cause the second batch to toast faster than the Everything ones. Each oven is different, so just keep an eye on them!