Autumn Trail Mix

I had a friend visiting last week, so my cooking was limited.  LA just has so many great dining options, I had to show him what he is missing.  So instead of cooking up something involved, I chose to embrace the cooling temperatures and finally admit to myself it's no longer summer and make a snack for these shortening Fall days.

My roommates just carved their jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, which got me excited for roasted pumpkin seeds.  I made them save their pumpkin guts and give them to me since they weren't as interested in them as I was.

Now, growing up I used to make my mom make roasted pumpkin seeds for me because I thought they were so cool.  They are a tasty snack, but not all that impressive, unless you are a ten year old who thinks you look BA because you brought in pumpkin seeds to eat at school.  This year I decided to try a little variation and was surprised at how much better they are when mixed with other flavors.

To keep you snacking with Fall in mind:

Autumn Trail Mix

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Seeds
Cranberries
Almonds
Walnuts
Chocolate Chips
Butter
Salt

(there are no measurements because you can mix it however you'd like.  I had more seeds and almonds than anything else.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Rinse your pumpkin seeds and remove any of the strings and gooey stuff from them.

Melt enough butter to lightly coat your pumpkin seeds.  Mix seeds and butter in a bowl.  Spread seeds out on a baking pan and lightly sprinkle salt on them.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until golden.

Once cool, combine seeds with Cranberries, Almonds, Walnuts, Chocolate Chips.  I made them stratified for the picture and then shook them all up when I put them in their storage container.  Make sure to get a little bit of everything with each bite.

Comment below with your own trail mix recipes or variations!  And don't forget to subscribe!