Coconut Chips
These little coconut chips are quite simply, addictive. I actually made them by accident one Sunday morning when I was toasting some shredded coconut for a pancake topping – and then ended up eating half the jar before it even got to the breakfast table.
On a recent trip to the USA I was a little surprised to see coconut chips on sale in the shops. I seriously was a bit chuffed at my little home invention, and hadn’t realised someone had got there before me, and that it wasn’t my invention at all.
I was equally stunned to see the price of a little bag of chips though – considering how easy they are to make at home by just adding a little flavouring.
We’ve experimented and come up with two great versions:
- Tangy lime and sea salt
- Sweet cinnamon and maple syrup
We can’t choose between them – although I think the kids are slightly favouring the sweet version.
We use coconut at Eat Drink Live Well so much, that I’m not going to go into detail on its health benefits here. Suffice to say it’s a healthy source of fats called MCFAs, that have antimicrobial properties, are easy to digest, and are not stored as body fat – they go to the liver for energy! If you’re interested in more detail take a look at our coconut milk blog.
Both recipes here use coconut sugar as well as coconut oil – just to keep the coconut theme consistent! You’ll find coconut sugar in the health shop; a little goes a long, long way, and unlike most other sweeteners, it doesn’t significantly impact blood sugar levels (you could obviously substitute another sugar if needed).
Keep an eye on the chips in the oven – using the coloured deep brown coconut sugar gives the chips a darker look, but there’s a fine line between tasty and burnt chips. We’ve found anywhere between seven and ten minutes seems to be the right time.
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- 1 cup coconut shredded
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Melt coconut oil and stir in the sugar until melted
- Stir toppings into the oil and sugar mixture – either lime and seasalt or cinnamon and maple syrup
- Pour over the shredded coconut and mix well – we find it easier (but messier) to do this with our hands
- Spread coconut on a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking tray in the oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 7-10 minutes, turning once half way through
- Leave to cool on the parchment paper; during the cooling process the coconut will crisp up
