For quite awhile now I have been reading about soaking grains and nuts before using them (you can read about it here, and here). It has always intimidated me, and I pretty much brushed it off. I never plan that far ahead, and I just didn’t know how it could work in my recipes. I totally see the value in it though. While I have yet to really delve into that world, I did take the time to soak some raw pumpkin seed that I purchased in the bulk section at the store.

I followed the directions from the second link and improvised a little. I have some pepper steak seasoning that I love, and I used that instead of just salt and cayenne pepper. Otherwise I followed her directions.

This is what they looked like in the morning after soaking all night. They didn’t absorb as much water as I though they would have.  I drained them and took 2 cups out to roast. The rest I put in my food dehydrator.

To roast the seeds I coated them with 2 scant tablespoons of olive oil, a little salt, and spread them out on a rimmed cookie sheet. There are recipes all over the web as far as temperature and time, but I just kept an eye on them. Since they were still wet when they went in it took a little longer, about 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Stir them once or twice to make sure they don’t stick and bake evenly.

When they start to brown and puff up a bit they are done!

They are so good, and a very satisfying little snack. Plus they are good for you! If yours last long enough to need storage, you can put them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge. They can go rancid even after roasting, if not stored properly. Here, though, they won’t last long enough to even need to be stored!

The other batch of pumpkin seeds sat in the food dehydrator all day. They were in there for about 9 hours. I think that I might actually prefer these to the roasted ones, but both are so good. The only thing that I might try next time is soaking them during the day and dehydrating them overnight. The noise of the dehydrator drove me a little batty! These also go into an airtight container and in the fridge.