These pumpkin seeds are NOT from your grandmother! Sweet, smoky, and utterly fantastic.
| Prep Time: | 5 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups fresh pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup whiskey (such as Jack Daniel’s®)
- 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
- Stir pumpkin seeds, whiskey, bacon drippings, brown sugar, and 2 teaspoons salt together in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until the seeds begin to turn gray in the middle, 15 to 20 minutes; drain.
- Spread the drained seeds onto a baking sheet in a single layer; season with salt.
- Roast the pumpkin seeds in preheated oven until crisp and golden brown, 60 to 90 minutes.
- Homemade bacon bits can be added as well as a light sprinkle of cayenne pepper if you like a bit of heat.
- If you hate the idea of getting rid of 1/2 cup of whiskey as much as I do, drain the liquid mixture into a small sauce pan and reduce to about half. Then when the seeds have roasted about 1/4 of the way, drizzle the sauce over them.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the whiskey sauce. The actual amount of the sauce consumed will vary.
Reviews
So very good!!!
Best pumpkin seed recipe ever. Adjusted the salt and sugar slightly to accommodate our personal taste, but otherwise definitely my favourite.
I made these over the weekend and they came out pretty good.
Oh my gosh! I was so happy to find this recipe! I could not stop eating them! Since I make my own vanilla with whiskey and did not have whiskey on the shelf, I used my vanilla. Delicious!
I used Seagram’s 7 as my whiskey, not expecting much. I wasn’t disappointed, there was no whiskey flavor. For my taste I’d cut the bacon grease in half, reduce the salt, and use a more flavorful whiskey.
A-amazing!!! Omg !! Of course I added like double the amount of bacon fat and I kept in oven for the full 90 mins (gas oven) and they are the most tasty, savory, delicious pumpkin seeds I’ve ever made!!!!!!!!!!!
This was FABULOUS! We didn’t have a blended whiskey on hand, but we did have some single- malt scotch … whiskey. While I’m sure it is better with a blended whiskey, we certainly loved it. I added lots of cayenne, as we like spicy food, and they disappeared in no time.
I didn’t change anything in the recipe, just doubled it and they’re DELISH!
These turned out absolutely fantastic. Brought them into the office next day and people were coming back for seconds and thirds. Flavor is great. Will def make again
This is my favorite pumpkin seed recipe! I highly recommend using hulless pumpkin seeds from Kakai pumpkins! My family looks forward to these every year- delicious!
I made a batch and followed the recipe. While it was well received, it didn’t have a bourbon flavor. I made a second batch but placed all ingredients (used Maple Bacon-a must) in a ziplock bag and marinated for 24 hours. Wow! Intense flavor!
Oh my gosh! This was perfect exactly how it was written! I made a batch and it was demolished as soon as they came out of the oven. The ONLY thing I did was cook the glaze a little longer to make it more like a syrup and holy poo it was amazing this is goin down in my book as epic.
I had no brown sugar, but I had that Evan Williams Apple Cider Bourbon. So I followed the recipe just using that and omitting the brown sugar. I took the added step of reducing the liquid into a syrup. About 1/3 of the way through the baking process, I drizzled the syrup over the seeds, dusted them lightly with cayenne pepper and then mixed them up with a spoon while they were still on the baking sheet. Back in the oven and WOW! My kids gobbled them up, and the wife who was highly skeptical, could not keep from grabbing handfuls.
I had no brown sugar, but I had that Evan Williams Apple Cider Bourbon. So I followed the recipe just using that and omitting the brown sugar. I took the added step of reducing the liquid into a syrup. About 1/3 of the way through the baking process, I drizzled the syrup over the seeds, dusted them lightly with cayenne pepper and then mixed them up with a spoon while they were still on the baking sheet. Back in the oven and WOW! My kids gobbled them up, and the wife who was highly skeptical, could not keep from grabbing handfuls.
I make these every year for my son. He has to hide them from his kids! I’ve always just followed the recipe as written, but this year I think I’ll jazz them up a bit with garlic! Yummy snacking!
Yum. My friends didn’t get to try these…they never escaped my house! I was hesitant that the booze would overpower the seed flavor, but instead it added a wonderful smokey-savory highlight. Because of the brown sugar, I lined the baking sheet with parchment paper to make cleanup a snap.
I just finished making this and went off of some of the reviews adding a pinch of garlic salt I also decided to go ahead and cook the seeds with the bacon but removed it after all seeds had turned the grey color. Overall these seeds are alright not bad next time I would add more whiskey and maybe even let the seeds sit in it for a good 10 minutes before cooking.
My family looks forward to these every fall! I pour all the seeds and juice on the pan for the oven and stir every 15 min or so for an hour.
Loved them!
i dont like pumkin seeds usually but i love these! I sprinkled more brown sugar on after baking them. Delicious
I had seeds from a butternut squash, so I decided to try these because I’m not quite ready to chop up my pumpkins yet. I added a splash of liquid smoke, and salted them with Tony Chachere’s More spice when I popped them in the oven. I will have to hide these from myself so my DH can try them, and I cannot wait to cut open my pumpkins!!!! YUMMO!