Extra Hot Honey Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Every October someone carves a pumpkin and then stares at a bowl of slimy seeds like it’s a chore. It’s not a chore. It’s a snack, and it’s free.

These get roasted in chili oil until they’re crunchy, then tossed with Extra Hot Honey while they’re still hot so it turns into a thin, glassy coat. Salty, sweet, and they sneak up on you around the fifth handful.

I keep a jar of these out on the kitchen counter and walk past it way too many times a day. The good news is pumpkin seeds are actually good for you — they’re packed with magnesium, zinc, iron, protein and fiber. So it’s a snack habit I don’t feel bad about. Win win.

Extra Hot Honey Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Makes about 1 cup · 35 minutes

You will need:

• 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, cleaned (from one medium pumpkin)
• 1 tbsp Spice Witch Chili Oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp Spice Witch Extra Hot Honey, plus more for drizzling
• Flaky salt, to finish

What you do:

1. Oven to 325. Low and slow — higher heat browns the outside before the inside dries out.
2. Rinse the seeds and pull off the stringy pumpkin bits. You don’t have to be perfect.
3. Dry them really well. Towel, then let them sit 10 minutes if you can. Wet seeds steam instead of roast.
4. Toss with the chili oil and salt. Spread in one layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
5. Roast 20 to 25 minutes, stirring halfway, until they’re golden and you can hear them crackle when you shake the pan.
6. Straight out of the oven, drizzle the Extra Hot Honey over them and toss right on the pan. The heat loosens it so it coats every seed.
7. Back in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes to set the glaze. Watch it — honey goes from glossy to burnt fast.
8. Let them cool completely on the pan. They crisp as they cool. Flaky salt on top, and break up any clumps.

A few things I’ve figured out

Store-bought raw pepitas work too. Skip the drying and take 5 minutes off the roast.

Heat-cautious? Use regular Hot Honey and keep the Extra Hot on the side.

They keep about a week in a jar, if they last that long.

Leave the jar out where you can see it. That’s the whole strategy.

What to do with them

Snack bowl, cheese board, on top of a squash soup, or scattered over the Chili Crisp Hot Honey Squash so the Thanksgiving side gets some crunch.

Why this works

Pumpkin seeds are basically plain. They want fat, salt and something sweet. Chili oil gives them the fat and a little warmth, and Extra Hot Honey brings the sweet and the real heat in one move. It sets into a crackly shell instead of making them sticky, so they stay snackable.