At the risk of horrifying some of my friends, I am not a fan of sweet potato flavor. I know! I know! They are a fabulously nutritious and beloved tuber. Sweet potatoes fit into most specific diets and can be prepared at least 793 different ways. They deserve respect.
Served this way, the family will mindlessly munch on them with no thought to how much nutrition they are getting.
Crispy Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips
You can see the step by step process for getting the best texture from your homemade chips here.
Quickly parcooking and then baking these chips at a very low temperature, just above dehydrating temperatures, gives you even cooking and crispiness without burning edges. It does takes longer, but your oven is doing the work. You can set your chips to bake and go read a book, or watch a movie.
Slice your sweet potatoes as thinly as you can. It is worth investing in a mandoline to make make quick work of this step. You can use a knife, but a mandoline will give you very thin, very even slices that will bake evenly.
The instructions below call for parcooking potato slices, but sometimes I prefer to slice them up the day before cooking and soak them in cold water in the fridge. They get all curly and pretty. Some of the starch is removed in the water, and you can skip parcooking if you want to.
Then drain, dry, sprinkle with oil, cinnamon and sugar, and bake!
And enjoy!
Crispy Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips
This tasty crunchy semi-sweet treat is good anytime, and a great way to get the family to eat and enjoy nutritious sweet potatoes!
Ingredients:
- sweet potato, preferably organic with skins on
- cooking oil
- cinnamon, as much as you like for sprinkling
- granulated sugar, as much as you like for sprinkling
- salt, to taste
Method
See step by step pictures of this method here.
Slice potatoes very thin. You can use a sharp chef’s knife, but a good mandoline will give you thin and even slices very quickly. If you will make chips frequently, it is worth investing in a mandoline. Just take safety precautions; the blade is very sharp.
Put the potato slices in a bowl and cover with cold water. Allow them to soak for about an hour, or overnight in the fridge. This will remove some of the starches. Drain off water.
Parcook slices. Fill a pot with cold water. Bring it to a boil. Pour it over potato slices (in a heat-safe bowl) and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Drain off all water. Dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. In a bowl, sprinkle potatoes with a little cooking oil; you can use whatever is your go-to oil for this. I often use extra virgin olive oil; you will not be subjecting it to high temperature. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a little bit of sugar. A tiny bit of salt will enhance the other flavors. Go easy on salt! Saltiness will be much more pronounced after baking. Use your hands to gently separate potato slices as you mix them, being sure to evenly distribute oil and seasonings.
Spread chips evenly on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Avoid piling chips on each other. You want an even layer for even cooking, but no need to be too precious. Curled crinkled chips make for a really good mouthfeel, and much like what you get in a commercial bag of chips.
Bake at 200º for about 2 hours. They get even more crispy if you slightly crack the oven door, holding it in place with a wooden utensil. After an hour, sample a chip. Then periodically sample until you like the texture. This is not a difficult step. 🙂
Serve immediately.
Storage Notes: Homemade baked chips can be a challenge to store. They are real food with no nitrogen air added to the storage container. Real food goes bad. But you can extend the life of the chips by keeping them in a salad container or another sealed container. Add a paper towel to keep them as dry as possible. When you are ready to eat them, they will still be delicious, just not as amazing as fresh from the oven. However, you can throw them bake in the oven to crisp them up.
Enjoy!
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