Vegan Bacon Chips

Even if you are not vegetarian, I think you will thank me for this. The chips can be added to sandwiches and salads, or eaten as a snack. I first saw a recipe on the back of a bag of Bob’s Red Mill coconut chips about ten years ago, and have since simplified it. I also discovered that Trader Joe’s brand of chips are larger (and thus better). Basically, you need soy sauce (do not use low sodium), Liquid Smoke, and an invert sugar like maple syrup, agave, date syrup, molasses, golden syrup, corn syrup, and so on (that’s date molasses above)–and a bag of the widest unsweetened raw coconut chips you can find. Liquid Smoke is a shelf stable product composed of water (and a little vinegar and molasses) flavored by smoked wood, for example hickory. Colgin’s is the most common brand–and the least expensive.

Stir together (approximately)1/8 cup each of soy sauce, liquid smoke, and invert sweetener in a bowl. Add 8 ounces of chips and stir occasionally until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the coconut. You can taste it at this point to see if you like the flavor, adjusting if necessary. The chips can sit in the liquid as long as you want, but at least 20 minutes.

Then spread the chips on sheet pan, using a silicone liner or parchment for easy cleanup.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the chips are crisp and darker than they were.

The baked chips keep a long time (if you forget you have them).

The chips will become more crisp as they cool, and you can always put them back in the oven for more baking, so it’s best to be conservative when baking. They can go from perfect to burnt very quickly. You might like them with a bit of chew, too.