Here is how you make these epic kale chips:

Set oven to convection roast @ 150 degrees OR use your dehumidifier. Clean & dry kale, remove stalks, and tear into apx 3 inch sections

 Time to make the awesome sauce! Gather up your ingredients…

In vitamix or food processor add: (in this order) red bell peppers,garlic (I use 2 whole bulbs!

Add oil, water, and lemon juice

Add cashews & sunflower seeds & Parmesan cheese. Process until smooth

Lay the coated chips on baking cooling racks. They can be close together but shouldn’t overlap. Place on foil lined oven racks to catch any awesome sauce.

Put one oven rack at the the highest spot and the other on the lowest. Making these kale chips has inspired me to order another couple of racks for my oven! These take a while- depending on the moisture content of your kale. I usually put these in the oven before bed and they are ready by the time I wake up. They won’t burn because your setting is so low. Important- You want all of the moisture out of these. Top and bottom. Otherwise they get chewy and won’t stay crisp. One “almost done” piece in the bunch will zap all the others of their crispness when stored so check them well! Taste test is the best way!! You practically can’t over cook these IF you cook them this way.

Tips

• I noticed that the kale needed to be slightly wilted. Not soggy but not super crisp. The fresher the kale, the more quickly it cooked.
• When it cooks too quickly they are brittle and have the slight flavor of charcoal. If that’s your thing then great. If not, let your kale age in the fridge some so that it is a little soft around the edges.
• They also seem to come out better when they have a lot (like drenched!) of the awesome sauce on them. I’m not sure if this is a personal preference because the sauce is so dang good, or if they need the extra moisture of the awesome sauce.
• You can sub the red bell peppers for yellow. I’ve used both and find the red bells make the sauce a little more zesty and savory.One other thing- The first few times I made these kale chips, I used grated Parmesan cheese because … honestly I was afraid of nutritional yeast. I was like “a substitute for CHEESE?!? Um, no thank you!” I felt that I couldn’t recommend this recipe to you without giving this “yeast stuff” a fair shot, so the last time I made these I used nutritional yeast. I have to admit, I was VERY wrong. I am quite shocked that I actually like these chips MORE made with nutritional yeast than Parmesan cheese. Go figure!?! I plan to use nutritional yeast in this recipe from now on. I suppose I should try out this new find with my other recipes that call for Parmesan cheese.
  My quest for the perfect kale chip…Ever realize that you are starving while you are at the grocery store? Being out & hungry at the same time is usually a dangerous combination for me. For once, it worked to my benefit!!

  A couple of weeks ago, I found myself in that impending hangry mode with another 30 mins before I even started to put away groceries and 45 before I would begin cooking. I’ve been in this place before and I knew I was setting myself up for an agro kind of night. This is not ok!

  I was determined to find something quick to eat that I wouldn’t regret later and so I circled through the produce section. I found some kale chips that had all clean ingredients so I decided to give them a shot. I have had kale chips before and they have always been rather unremarkable, so knocking off $4.98 for 2 oz of kale chips was a tough one to swallow. But I REALLY didn’t want to have a bad night and I was desperate. 5 bucks not to drive myself crazy with my crankiness? Deal!

  I soon realized that these kale chips were different. They were crunchy and tasted awesome and all the ingredients were clean foods that I knew wouldn’t haunt me for days. But that price though?!? I’m starting to think I need to go into the kale chip business! 5 bucks for 2.2oz?!? These did the trick and in my short drive home I had gobbled down half of them. Honestly, if they were not so expensive I would have eaten the whole container. Turned out, I SHOULD HAVE eaten the whole thing…

  As I was getting out of the car, I dropped them! Not gonna lie. I actually was looking at them considering to just pick them up and eat them. Dirt and all. I didn’t. Well not all of them anyway….

  The dogs were happy and I was determined to figure out how to make these bad boys myself. Game on kale chips!

  So I started playing around in the kitchen. It took 5 or 6 tries but I finally cracked the kale chip secret!! My problem was my cooking method. I was cooking them too fast and too hot. Time and time again I had a chip that had that hint of charcoal. NOT what I was going for…

  FAIL! This is NOT what you want them to look like. My chips were losing the greenness of kale and turning brown. But I kept at it…

  Getting closer but still they were not right. These chips were a little better but they were actually TOO crispy and brittle. They fell apart almost as soon as I packed them up.

  I put them on cookie racks to get them off the hot pan and cooked them longer and at a lower temp and I was ALMOST there. But they were still not right. But their topping is starting to taste better with each try. Better but not epic. So I went to the store and cleared out the kale shelf and was back at it the next day.

  Now we are going backwards! Ok… This means war! I will not be beaten by kale!

  After a little more research, I found recipes using a dehydrator. I have a lot of kitchen toys,but that is something I haven’t added to the armory. I was about to buy one when I realized I already had one! I set my convection oven to its lowest setting of 150, (convection roast option) loaded up the oven, and BOOM!!! Y’all gotta try this recipe!!

  

   

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