Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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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

ingredients on counter: honey, agave nectar, cocoa powder, walnuts, and kale

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

Jar of coconut oil and coconut flakes

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.

chocolate mixed with kale leaves

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

chocolate mixed with kale leaves

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

chocolate mixed with kale leaves on pan

Spread the kale out for optimal results.

chocolate mixed with kale leaves on pan

Then enjoy the fruits vegetables of your labor.

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

Crisp, coconut-infused, chocolate kale chips.

Chocolate Coconut 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.

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips
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!

Cheezy Kale Chips
Cheezy Kale Chips

Store extras in an airtight container.

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

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

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

Three days later, the storage verdict?  Just fine!

Chocolate Coconut Kale ChipsStill 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)

homemade "Mary's Crackers"

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

homemade "Mary's Crackers"

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!

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Comments

  1. wow! a must try these chocolate Kale chips.

    btw,I made your no bake chocolate cake balls…whoa! good but CRAZY SWEET! 1-2 is all ya need. :)
    Happy Easter

  2. I’m in love with kale chips I could eat it all day! So crazy, I had a dream a couple of nights ago about kale and chocolate because I was thinking of blog names and that came up but wondered if anyone has tried making it. At the movies I brought raw chocolate and kale chips but had them together and it was so good. I love kale, chocolate, and coconut! My 3 must haves! So glad you made them so now I have to try it out. Happy easter!

  3. These look so good Averie! I have to make these!

    So Im thinking about getting a vitamix blender. I know you have one and am wondering if you would recommend it? Is it worth the money?

  4. Yay–you’re trying out your shredded coco bucket!

    I’m looking forward to trying kale chips. I’ve pretty much decided I need a dehydrator, so maybe I’ll wait till I’ve gotten one–Phil adores crackers and they’re so much harder to make in our little toaster oven than they would be in a dehy…

    Demand for “More kale” from Scott? So cool. I’ll have to try them on Phil, that’ll be the day when he asks for more kale…
    Happy Easter!
    love
    Ela

  5. I was totally planning on making up my own recipe for chocolate covered kale chips but you beat me to it! Obviously, though, because you’re like the queen of kale chips and balls (that sounds weird. Sorry. HA!).
    Also, since when is kale a boring vegetable? I LOVE KALE! I also love chocolate. I’m going to make these for my friend who loves kale and is intrigued by the idea of kale chips. And maybe even some for me. Bah, who am I kidding, I’ll probably eat them all before I see her (or even talk to her) again, and it will probably be in one sitting. There are worse things.

  6. Happy Easter!! This is an awesome idea…I love chocolate, and I love kale. Though I feel like the chocolate coating would make the post-kale chip teeth even less attractive. Wish it didn’t get stuck in every crevice!!

    My kale chip method is simple: just tear it up, spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, then bake till crispy. I haven’t made them in forever though…not sure why!!

    Hope Skylar’s enjoying her basket today :)

  7. I haven’t tried kale chips yet but this recipe may change my mind! ;) Actually I think I did try making them once a while ago but I cooked them til they were burnt and that has turned me off I guess. I really wanna make some soon though! This recipe looks so yummy!

  8. The first time I tried Kale chips was your Cheezy kale chip recipe. They are so good and I am now a kale lover for life! So thanks :)

  9. These kale chips look awesome, great job! And beautiful pictures! So funny that I’m working on a chocolate kale chip recipe too – but different of course. :-)

    1. Love them and I love the idea that they can be mostly veggie based and still taste like a less-healthy snack food.
    2. At a Whole Foods raw food fair almost 2 years ago.
    3. Using lots of a gooey, rich sauce.

  10. I tried kale chips a few months ago and I love them! Straight-up cheesy is my favorite, but these might change my mind.

  11. My husband and I tried kale chips once, but they were awful! I just can’t figure out how to cover up the bitter kale taste. The seasonings tasted amazing, but as we kept chewing the seasonings went away and the kale was left. Blech. But the chocolate version looks delicious!!!!

    1. This happened to me the first time I made them — I thought they were done but they weren’t. Kath (katheats.com) has a tutorial video up that saved kale chips for me!!

      1. Kath’s video, a good one.

        And the problem w/ most kale chips is that they are under seasoned/under coasted IMO so yes, if you dont like kale, the taste is very strong. This choc coating of mine masks all that!

  12. Happy Easter!

    My first time trying kale chips was with your Cheezy Kale Chips recipe and they were delicious!!! I used the oven for those first few batches and they turned out fabulous. I bought a dehydrator and can’t wait to try them in that as well. I may have to try the chocolate recipe above.

    Thanks for sharing all the recipes and good advice. Glad I stumbled onto your blog.

  13. now I have seen it all, that is clever! :)

    I do like Kale chips, I love roasting them simply with olive oil salt and garlic powder :)