Pumpkin seeds, meet your new best friends: rum and bourbon.
It’s that time of year we’ve all been waiting for: decorative gourd season.
Elaborate jack-o-lanterns are adding spooky flair to doorways across the country and everything from beer to coffee is spiked with pumpkin. But when kids (and, okay, many adults too) carve those pumpkins, hold on to the most valuable part of the gourd: the seeds.
The snacking potential of pumpkin seeds is endless. Roasted, salted and spiced, they are a killer companion to all kinds of cocktails—especially those made with whisk(e)y, rum or mezcal.
But the boozy fun doesn’t have to stop there: Our roasted pumpkin seeds not only capture the spiced goodness of the season, but also get a little extra zing from a short boil in dark rum and bourbon. Even after the seeds are drained, tossed in spices and roasted, they still hold on to those punchy flavors. Plus, you can save the boozy mixture for a pumpkin-infused cocktail. It’s all in the spirit of the season, after all.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1½ cups Pumpkin seeds, raw and cleaned
- ½ cup Dark rum
- ½ cup Bourbon
- 1½ tbsp Brown sugar
- ½ tsp Ground ginger
- ½ tsp Cayenne pepper (optional, though highly recommended)
- ¼ tsp Ground mace
- ¾ tsp Cinnamon
PREPARATION:
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the pumpkin seeds, dark rum, bourbon and brown sugar to a small saucepan set over low heat. Simmer until the pumpkin seeds begin to turn gray in the middle. Remove the saucepan from the heat and drain all of the liquid from the seeds. In a bowl, toss the seeds with the spices and then spread into a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to ensure the seeds don’t stick.
By: Anna Archibald
(Grabbed from: https://www.liquor.com/articles/boozy-pumpkin-seeds-recipe/#gs.kDHWMNE)