Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seed Brittle

1 Cup Pumpkin Seeds-freshly scooped from a pumpkin or bought
¼ tsp. Baking Soda
1-2 pinch Cayenne Pepper (less than 1/8 tsp>) optional
½ tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Water
1 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup

To toast your own pumpkin seeds preheat oven to 250ºf. Scoop seeds from the pumpkin, rinse off any stringy bits, drain well and lay out on paper towels and pat dry. Place seeds on a cookie sheet spreading out in a single layer. Bake in oven stirring every 15 minutes for about an hour or until dry and crisp. Reserve 1 cup of the toasted seeds for the brittle. If using store bought pumpkin seeds, simply measure 1 cup.

Lightly grease or vegetable spray a 9” pie pan. Toss the pumpkin seeds, baking soda ,cayenne pepper, and salt in a bowl. Place the butter on top. Place the pie pan and bowl of seeds near the stove .

Combine the water and sugar and corn syrup in a heavy bottomed 2 quart saucepan. (Be sure the pan is 2 quart capacity since the candy will bubble up when the baking soda is added later). Stir with a small spoon just to make into a thick syrup taking care to keep the sugar off the sides of the pan. Heat over medium heat carefully stirring occasionally with a clean metal spoon or heatproof silicone spatula. When the sugar mixture turns a light golden brown or reaches 310 degrees farenheit, remove from the heat and carefully add the mixture of pumpkin seeds, baking soda, cayenne pepper, and butter. The mixture will foam up so carefully stir to coat the pumpkin seeds with the candy. Immediately pour the candy into the greased pie pan and let it spread out to fill the bottom. Let the pan cool for at least 30 minutes and you can break the brittle into desired size pieces. Enjoy!

Contact Us