Salt-Soaked Crispy Pumpkin Seeds for Full GAPS

These plain pumpkin seeds soak in salt water before a long, low oven dry. The finished seeds should be crisp after cooling, ready to measure into a recipe or scatter over a cooked dish. Make the batch ahead: soaking and drying take most of a day, even though the preparation is simple.

Use raw, shelled pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas. This is a preparation for the green seeds inside the hull, rather than the whole white-hulled seeds just scooped from a pumpkin. There is no maple syrup, honey or other sweet coating in this batch.

The salt and seed measures come from Carrie Korem’s crispy-nut method. In her acorn-squash recipe she uses that method for pumpkin seeds and leaves out the maple syrup. Here the soak lasts twelve hours, within the GAPS guidance for preparing pumpkin seeds.

Jump to the Recipe

What You Need

• 2 cups raw shelled pumpkin seeds: Choose plain seeds without a roasted, salted or sweetened coating.
• 1½ teaspoons natural sea salt: This goes into the soaking water. The water is drained away before drying.
• Filtered water to cover: Use enough to keep the seeds submerged in your bowl. There is no fixed water volume for this method.

You will need a glass bowl with room for the seeds and water, a cover, a strainer and a large baking sheet lined with parchment. Use an oven that can hold 170°F. The oven method below does not require a separate dehydrator.

Soak, Drain and Dry

1. Start the soak. Put the measured seeds and sea salt in the glass bowl. Add filtered water to cover and stir to dissolve the salt. Cover the bowl and leave it at room temperature for twelve hours.
2. Drain thoroughly. Pour off and discard the soaking water. Let the seeds drain well in a strainer. Heat the oven to 170°F and line the baking sheet with parchment.
3. Spread in one layer. Put the drained seeds on the sheet and spread them out. Break up wet clumps so the seeds can dry evenly.
4. Dry slowly. Dry for about eight to ten hours, until the seeds are crisp. Start checking near eight hours. Plan this long drying period for a time when you can monitor the oven. A thicker layer or wetter batch can need more time.
5. Check a cooled sample. Let a few seeds cool before judging the texture. They should be crisp, rather than soft or chewy in the center. If they are still soft, continue drying the batch and check again.
6. Cool and store. Let the finished seeds cool completely before putting them in a clean, dry glass jar with a lid. Keep them dry, and refrigerate or freeze extra portions for longer storage. Use a freezer-safe container for freezing. Cooling first keeps steam from collecting inside the jar.

Plan the Batch Before Cooking Day

The twelve-hour soak and eight-to-ten-hour drying period put this at roughly twenty to twenty-two hours, plus preparation and cooling. The card uses five minutes of preparation, twelve hours soaking and the upper ten-hour drying estimate. Extra drying or cooling adds time.

One batch starts with two cups of raw seeds. Measure the finished seeds when you use them, rather than assuming that every batch finishes at exactly the same volume. A recipe calling for ¼ cup of prepared pumpkin seeds means ¼ cup after soaking, drying and cooling.

At 2×, use four cups of seeds and three teaspoons of sea salt, with enough water to cover. Use enough bowl and tray space to keep the seeds submerged during soaking and in a single layer during drying. Two crowded trays do not automatically dry in the same time as one.

Using Prepared Seeds on Full GAPS

GAPS calls for preparing nuts and seeds before using them. Pumpkin seeds belong after diarrhea and abdominal pain have settled and you have introduced the prepared seeds successfully.

This method soaks and dries whole seeds. It does not include a separate sprouting step or a cultured starter. A recipe that calls for sprouted seeds or fermented seed flour needs that specified preparation.

Sprinkle a measured portion over a ready-made dish when your recipe calls for prepared pumpkin seeds. Keep seeds intended for leftovers separate until serving if you want them to stay crisp. The roasted acorn squash with dates and goat cheese uses a quarter cup of the finished seeds.

For another prepared ingredient, the salt-soaked crispy walnuts use their own measured nut preparation. My planned Full GAPS Cookbook belongs to the WFLI catalog; check the shop for its release.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I start with roasted or seasoned seeds?

Start with the raw, plain shelled seeds named in the ingredients. A salted or flavored bag is a different starting ingredient and may contain extra oil, sugar or additives.

Can I skip soaking and just roast them?

Keep the twelve-hour soak for this preparation. A quick roast of dry seeds is a different method.

Why are the seeds still chewy?

They need more drying, or you may be judging them while they are warm. Check a cooled sample. Spread wet clumps apart and continue at the same low temperature until the cooled seeds are crisp.

Is there a sweetener in the recipe?

No. The batch uses seeds, sea salt and water. It is the plain preparation for recipes that add their own other ingredients.