Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

If you think kale is a boring vegetable, think again.  This recipe will change your mind.

And it’s easy.  No dehydrator required.  Just a love of chocolate.  

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Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale, washed and big stems removed

1/2 c cashews, soaked

1/2 c agave/honey/maple syrup (combo of one or any)

1/3 c cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Optional and omit if you don’t like coconut flavored items:

1/4 c coconut flakes (unsweetened or sweetened)

2 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

Soak cashews in water for at least an hour (4-6 hours ideal).  Remove the soaked cashews and add all the other ingredients (except the kale) to a Vita-Mix or blender.  Blend until mixture is smooth to make the chocolate coconut coating.  Pour this mixture over a bowl of washed, de-stemmed kale leaves and toss to coat.

Transfer coated kale to a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 300F for about 20 minutes.  Flip, and bake for another 10 minutes, give or take.  Watch them closely because the honey/agave/maple mixture can burn quickly and it’s hard to tell with the dark chocolate color if they are burning or not.  Let your nose and common sense be your guide.  Remove crispy chips one by one if necessary.  

You could dehydrate these chips, too, but because many people don’t have dehydrators, I purposefully made these in the oven.

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A Visual Guide

Gather your ingredients

Add soaked cashews and all other ingredients (except kale) to Vita or blender and blend until smooth.

First time trying Tropical Traditions Shredded Coconut Flakes.  They worked perfectly in this recipe but if you don’t have them any shredded coconut will do, sweetened or unsweetened, It won’t matter much after all that agave. I have been a fan of their Virgin Coconut Oil for years.  Not sure what took me so long to try the flakes.  And now I have 2 pounds of them.  Not a bad “problem” to have.

Combine chocolate mixture + washed and de-stemmed kale leaves and toss leaves to coat.

If you are ever want something decadent, just eat this coating. It’s essentially chocolate coconut cashew butter.   Crazy good.

Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets, flipping as indicated in the recipe.

Spread the kale out for optimal results.

Then enjoy the fruits vegetables of your labor.

These were so good.  You forget that you’re eating a vegetable.

Crisp, coconut-infused, chocolate kale chips.

I hesitate to call these “healthy” because I doubt a vat of chocolate-coconut sauce on top of anything is really “healthy”, but the kale is healthy.  I’ll go with that.

You can’t even really “taste” the kale.  They’re not Pringles or anything, but they don’t taste like “health food”, either.

In fact, they make a great dessert because they are crunchy and sweet.

They are going to become a staple for me.  They already have, actually.

How could the coating mixture, which is essentially chocolate-coconut-cashew-butter not make anything, kale included, taste amazing?

Skylar loves my other kale chip recipe for Cheezy Kale Chips, and she loved the chocolate coconut chips just as much.  And so did non-kale loving Scott.  He actually asked me to make more.  More kale?  Really?  Sure!

Store extras in an airtight container.

I purposefully “forgot” about a second batch of these for 3 days just to see how well they would store and hold up.

Three days later, the storage verdict?  Just fine!

Still crisp, crunchy, and chocolaty, three days later.

From my last post about Bunny Crafts, thanks for the compliments on the pictures of Skylar.  Yes, she’s my little lovebug love bunny.   And the Easter Bunny is on his way.  She’s so excited!

If you need another snack idea that goes with the chips theme, try my homemade “Mary’s Crackers” (Vegan, GF, can oven bake or dehydrate)

They are seed-based (no nuts) and you can take them sweet or savory.  Just adjust the spices to your liking and palate.

Questions:

1. Do you like kale chips?

Yes, I love them!  However, I do need to watch myself and not eat an entire batch, or half batch (which is very easy to do!) of kale chips in one sitting.  <— Fiber much?

2. When did you first try kale chips and if you haven’t yet, do you plan to?

It’s another one of those blogosphere influenced foods for me.  Something I tried a few years ago because of the ‘sphere and reading about them on blogs.

I’ve tried both my homemade and store bought varieties of kale chips.  Honestly, I prefer making them at home.  Easy, fresher, and way cheaper!

3. Favorite way to make kale chips?

Share your technique.

Everyone seems to have a slightly different method, i.e. spraying with cooking spray, what seasonings/spices/nooch/etc that you use, oven temp, broiler or not, flipping or not, high heat low time duration/low heat longer time duration, oven door ajar or not, dehydrator or not.

As an aside, I do like my dehydrator but as I explained in my Favorite Kitchen Appliances post, buy other gadgets and appliance first.

Can’t wait to hear your kale chip cooking methods.  And also your reviews on this recipe if you try it.  I’m 99.9% sure you’re going to love it!

Happy Easter to all those celebrating!