Do you de-hull seeds when making pumpkin seed flour?
I was interested in finding ways to use leftover pumpkin seeds, so I thought I'd try to grind them up into flour.
Although I found a few websites (e.g., here and here) that mention doing this, none of them explicitly mention whether you should de-hull seeds before grinding them or not.
So, do you de-hull pumpkin seeds before grinding them to make flour, or do you just include the hulls in the flour, too?
Best Answer
Whether or not "you" specifically choose to de-hull pumpkin seeds before grinding them to make flour, pumpkin seed shells are certainly edible, both raw and roasted. The first source you name certainly seems to be referring to pre-shelled pumpkin seeds, not just because they mention it being green, but also because their image of finished pumpkin seed flour is comparable in color to the ground pumpkin seed flour I've made from just the kernels.
Note 1: It is green…so you might not want to use it for almond flour vanilla cake (or other such light colored dishes). I am sure even if you used sucanat for a sweetener in a baked good it would be enough to cover up the light green color.
Hulling pumpkin seeds is a chore without a hulling centrifuge, but the easiest way I've found is to roast them, chop them in a food chopper, and then separate the kernel bits from the hull bits using a bowl of water (the kernels will sink, the hulls will float).
While pumpkin seed hulls won't damage your GI tract the way other nut hulls will, they're mostly fiber and some carbs, with a little boost of zinc in the attached endosperm. Thus, the relative difference in protein/fat/simple-carb/fiber levels will affect the texture and nutrition of your final flour product, so the choice of whether to hull or not depends primarily on whether you want this to be more of a protein powder or more of a baking flour.
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Quick Answer about "Do you de-hull seeds when making pumpkin seed flour?"
While the hull is edible, some people may find it to be too tough to enjoy. You can remove pumpkin shells by cracking and then boiling the seeds. You can also remove the shells one-by-one by hand.I'll NEVER Throw Pumpkin Seeds Away Again!
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