Baked Kale Chips

Baked Kale Chips are kind of a hit right now on the internet if you haven't noticed.  

Niky made a batch of baked kale chips that looked delicious and Ashley was surprised when I had told her I had never made them before.  So when I saw a good looking bunch of kale at the Fort Mason Farmers' Market, I knew I needed to give kale chips a shot.

I poked around on the internet a bit and learned that everyone had a different way of making kale chips.  Some recipes called to bake the chips at a low temperature (250˚F) for a long time (40 - 45 minutes) and other recipes called to bake the chips at a high temperature (375˚F) for a short time (10 - 15 minutes).  Some recipes called for spices, other just salt, sometimes olive oil, sometimes not.

So I just decided to make it my own way and see how they turned out.

I cut out the stem from each stalk and tore the kale into chip size pieces.  I tossed the kale in about 1 tsp or so of Kosher salt and about 1 Tbsp of olive oil.  Then I spread the chips out as evenly as possible on a baking sheet and baked them at 325˚F for 17 minutes or until they were crunchy and browning at the edges.  

What I discovered:

• Next time I am going to use 2 baking sheets to make sure there is not much overlap between the kale chips.  Overlap causes undercooking in some spots, but overcooking in others.  Basically, a mixture of crunchy and chewy spots.

• I think I might use some spice next time like cumin or curry powder.  Or perhaps I will use sesame oil instead of olive oil.  Maybe I will even make salt and vinegar chips next time.  I'm definitely going to play around with this base recipe since kale chips are so easy to make.

• I probably should have cooked the kale just a tad longer at 325˚F.  I was very worried they would burn, however they probably could have held their own.  Be careful though because they will go from browning to burnt in a jiffy.

• These are best right out of the oven when they are warm and crunchy.  

I think this is a perfect healthy snack for football season.  Enjoy!