Yes!

No.

Maybe so?

The question was originally posed by a friend a few months ago, when I was giving a tour of the pumpkins in my hallway. My response at the time was, “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out!” The time for finding out finally came a few weeks ago, as one of my original three Munchkins had gone bad (the floor life on that one was apparently only 5 months) and another one was starting to show a little mold ring around the collar. Or you know, MRATC as they say in the business. Or as I just made up right now.

MRATC, here visible with the Munchkin now right-side up. Its lack of a middle piece stemmed from my little niece having a good time moving it one day from the hallway to the kitchen, and back, on repeat 🙂

I figured the best way to answer the question would be to bake the Munchkins as if they were regular pumpkins. So I cut them in half, then cut them in half again, scooped out the seeds, and popped them in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.

After cutting away the MRATC, I wound up with six pieces to bake. I also baked them face down, as shown in the last picture above (the one with the pumpkin disco effect, #nofilter). When I took them out of the oven, they looked, felt, and……….drumroll…………tasted pretty much like regular-sized pumpkins.

So, Munchkins: Can you eat them??? Yes!!

They’re not just for decoration anymore.

Munchkins with Maple Syrup, Mmmmmmm.

If you’re feeling the fiber, you can even eat the skin, which is fairly thin. I baked the mini seeds too, and they also turned out well. I added a little olive oil and salt, and put them in the oven until crispy. I actually liked the Munchkin seeds better than the regular pumpkin seeds that I had made recently – the mini ones were less woody, more crispy, and easy to chew. I’ll try this again in the fall come pumpkin time, but I think we’ve found a keeper, in particular for the seeds. Good and crunchy. Has anyone else ever cooked with Munchkins? If you have some great uses or ideas, let me know!