I first heard about baking my own kale chips a few years ago from my sister, the DIY chef extraordinaire. I tried it a few times but I stopped making them because it was so much easier tearing open a bag of potato chips. Now that I’ve turned Paleo, baked kale chips are making a comeback in our house.
On the interwebs, my two favorite baked kale chip recipes are on Steamy Kitchen and Gluten-free Girl and the Chef. When I made the chips this afternoon, I used both of them as a guide.
The key points Jaden and Shauna stress are:
- The kale leaves must be SUPER DRY.
- Bake the kale at 350 F.
- Cook the chips for 12 minutes.
- Salt AFTER the kale chips are out of the oven.
Here’s what I assembled to make my own chips:
- 2 bunches of red kale
- 1-2 tablespoons of avocado oil
- fleur de sel
Here’s what I did:
I preheated the oven to 350 F. Then, I removed the leaves from the stems and washed the leaves well in a few changes of water. The stuff I bought was DIRTY.
Then, in small batches, I spun the leaves dry in a salad spinner.
Er, my kid actually manned the salad spinner It helps to utilize child labor.
I tossed the dry leaves with avocado oil and I used my hands to distribute the oil evenly. I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay some of the leaves on top in a single layer.
Make sure the leaves are all flat and not folded over or they won’t crisp properly.
After 12 minutes, just like Jaden and Shauna said, the chips were finished.
Set your timer because if it burns it will be bitter. Once the kale was out of the oven, I seasoned the chips with some fleur de sel.
I ended up making 4 trays of chips but we only have a small Tupperware container left. This stuff is addictive! And my kids feel the same…SCORE!
