Crispy Cacao Kale Chips

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups torn kale leaves
• 1/2 cup coconut butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Shredded coconut, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to a low 250º Fahrenheit. In a small saucepan, combine the coconut butter (which is just the pureed flesh of a coconut, and can be found near nut butters in your grocery store) with the cocoa powder, maple syrup, a drizzle of vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Warm this over low heat and stir regularly until everything is all melted. Also, add a little bit of water here (2-4 tablespoons) until you have a consistency that is smooth but not runny. Turn off the heat.

2. Meanwhile, tear up a few kale leaves into pieces about 2 inches size until you have 20-25 of these chips. Then, once the chocolate sauce is melted and slightly cooled, add the kale pieces right into the saucepan with the chocolate sauce. Once the sauce is cool enough, spend a minute or two massaging the sauce into the leaves with your hands to get a thin and even coating.

3. Transfer the leaves onto a baking sheet and bake until crispy… which is the hardest part of this recipe. Depending on how much sauce is covering the chips and the placement in your oven, this can take anywhere between 25-50 minutes. After 25 minutes, I pull them out every 5-10 minutes and remove the ones that are crispy, leaving the others to bake further.

(Note: If any chips have big clumps of sauce, they are unlikely to ever become crispy, so ensure you shake off the excess before baking.)

4. The coconut butter gives these guys a nice subtle coconut tone underneath the chocolate, and adding a dusting of shredded coconut is the perfect way to finish these chips. Do this just when they come out of the oven for best results. Serve within 24 hours for maximum crispiness.