Roasted pumpkin seeds

Remember the pumpkin seeds that we set aside when we made pumpkin bread? You will not regret what we can turn them into!

Yes, we can roast them into a delicious snack - crunchy, flavoursome and hellishly moreish! They are perfect for grazing as well as tossing into salads or sprinkling over soups and savoury bakes for added texture and seasoning. WOW!

So, after you scoop out the seeds and the stringy fibres from the pumpkin, set them aside in a bowl and add a little water for easy separation. We do not want the fibres, so you can discard them. We want the seeds!

Preheat oven to 180dC. Coat the bottom of roasting pan with olive oil, about 2 tsp or so. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan. Add 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1 tsp of ground ginger and a pinch of salt for taste and kick. You can add other spices/flavours of our preference. Toss the seeds to coat them with the oil and spices on the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Toss the seeds every 5 minutes. You can taste the seeds every now and then but make sure you do not burn yourself because it's 180dC! The seeds are ready when they begin to brown and crunchy.

Voila!

Do not discard pumpkin seeds again next time.

Pumpkin Bread

Got out of my comfort zone and finally tried baking pumpkin bread for the first time. This bread is moist with honey-coloured finish. It's full of pumpkin flavour and its complementary spices. This recipe makes 2 loaves. Trust me, it's not a lot.

Adapted the recipe from Joyofbaking.

This recipe calls for canned pure pumpkin but I made my own pumpkin puree. It's not fun but it's satisfying!

Ingredients:

450g  all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1  1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
120g chocolate chips
4 large eggs
400g  granulated white sugar
226g  unsalted butter, melted
425g pure pumpkin puree
120ml water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise, remove all the seeds and stringy fibers, and place them on baking tray. DO NOT THROW THE SEEDS AWAY! THEY CAN BE ROASTED LATER! I did not grease the tray because I want it totally fresh. Bake at 180dC for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on size) or until easily pierced with a fork. Let it cool down until you can touch it with your bare hands. Scoop out the flesh and puree in a food processor until smooth. Add a little water if it's too dry. Then strain the puree through a piece of cheesecloth suspended over a strainer to extract all the liquid. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground spices. Then, stir in the chocolate chips.

Using an electric mixer, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten and then add in sugar and melted butter and mix to combine.

Stir in the pumpkin puree, water and vanilla extract and mix well. Do not worry if it's too liquid as we will be adding the dry mixture soon.

Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture, slowly and mix until all the ingredients are combined and mixture is smooth. Do not over mix as it will turn the bread tough.

Divide the batter evenly into the two greased pans. Bake the breads at 180dC for 45-50 minutes,  or depending on your oven performance.

It's ready when the bread turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs is fine). Set aside on wire rack to let it cool before removing the breads from pans.

Voila!

Remember the pumpkin seeds that we set aside just now? We can roast them! Recipe linked here: Roasted pumpkin seeds.