It’s not officially October until you carve pumpkins, so this weekend Chad and I finally decided it was time to go pick out the perfect pumpkins. Usually we just make a trip to the nearest grocery store to pick a few out of the big bins out front, but this year we decided to do it right. We went to the Ozark Corn Maze, which also happens to be a huge pumpkin patch. We got lost in the corn maze, took tons of photos, ate a snow cone (I know, not really seasonally appropriate), and actually got to hand pick our pumpkins out of fields of options.

Although the pumpkin picking was exciting, in the back of my mind I was already imagining what the roasted pumpkin seeds would taste like. I knew I wanted to make some classic pumpkin seeds with sea salt and pepper, but in the season of earthy spices, I knew I wanted to make a sweeter option too. So, luckily the pumpkins were filled to the brim with guts and seeds, because I made a pumpkin worth of sea salt and pepper, and I also made a pumpkin worth of cinnamon brown sugar seeds. They’re super easy to make, and I absolutely recommend making a little bit of each. Nothing beats a little bit of sweet and a little bit of savory.

Ingredients:

• Two pumpkins worth of pumpkin seeds
• 2 tbs butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 2 tbs sea salt
• 1 tbs cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Carve up your pumpkins!
2. Take the guts and strain out the pumpkin seeds. We used a pasta strainer to help pick out the guts and separate the seeds.
3. Lay out seeds on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Let seeds dry out.
4. Put seeds in mixing bowl and cover in 2 tbs of melted butter.
5. Separate half of the seeds out into a second bowl. Add sea salt and black pepper to one bowl. Add cinnamon and brown sugar to the other bowl. Stir both bowls until seeds are covered.
6. Lay the seeds back on the cookie sheet. Half on one side, half on the other.
7. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Enjoy!

I hope y’all are all having a great October so far! We have a chance for snow next weekend, so good thing we went to the pumpkin patch while the weather was still mild! Have you carved your pumpkins yet?

If your weather is about to be freezing too, be sure to make some homemade turkey chili!