It’s that time of year again! No, not the time of gift giving and snow days, but the time of struggling to seed your tricky winter squash. This might not be what immediately comes to mind when this chilly season comes around, but for the chefs among us, it definitely is.

Winter squash is one of the only veggies that are best in this season of cold; typically most our favorite fruits and vegetables are long out of season by the time the holidays come into view. But not our trusty squash. These gourd veggies taste great roasted and make for one amazing winter soup!

However, trying to skin and seed your winter squash is a big challenge. The skin to these vegetables is extremely thick (I suppose it has to be if it can thrive in the winter) and it has many internal seeds barring your from consuming the inside flesh.

Usually we would take a regular spoon and go to town on the inside of this gourd, trying to take out the seeds little by little. But anyone who’s ever attempted this knows how painfully time consuming it can be to prep your squash this way.

Luckily, the geniuses at America’s Test Kitchen came up with a brilliant little hack that will take this annoying chore and turn it into a breeze! All you need to do is reconsider what tool you use to do the scooping.

Rather than go for a little tablespoon, use an ice cream scoop instead. The sharper edge of the scoop will allow you to effortless cut into the flesh of the veggie and the wider girth of the scoop will get out far more seeds than a normal spoon.

In two or three scoops, you can easily clear out an average sized winter squash! And you’ll be left with a much cleaner squash than you were with your less effective tool.

But once you get those seeds out, don’t toss them away! Seeds from pumpkins and squashes are great for roasting; they make a perfect holiday snack with a little salt and pepper! Your guests won’t be able to get enough.

All you have to do is lightly grease a piece of tin foil and place it on a baking sheet. Clean off your seeds (as they’ll be covered in yucky squash guts) and then scatter them on the sheet.

Bake them at 350 until they look golden brown, then take them out and season them with salt and pepper while they’re still hot. This was one of my favorites things my mother would do after we carved pumpkins on Halloween! It’s a delicious fall/winter treat that’s healthy for you, too.

America’s Test Kitchen suggests trying this little recipe with pumpkin and acorn squash seeds for the best flavor. They found that butternut squash seeds had too much of a grassy flavor for their liking. Make sure you try this out with any type of squash you try this season, and share with us which seeds were best!

What do you think of this clever food hack and recipe? Will this make your winter cooking a whole lot easier? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.