This Homemade Caramelized & Toasted Coconut Chips Recipe is one of the most helpful recipes I have ever come up with.
Why?
Numerous reasons.
I'm a busy mom, and I'm a frugal mom, and we have special diets in our house.
My oldest has life-threatening food allergies, plus due to the horrid presence of candida in our guts, we have moved towards the low carb end in our diets.
Not to mention, I have 2 boys. Growing Boys. Quickly Growing Boys.
And they are hungry.
Sometimes I am just amazed at the amount of food these boys can eat -- particularly my youngest. He will eat a large snack, then a big plate of dinner, and then at bedtime he is hungry.
Again.
Having enough healthy food around for them can be tough, but it's even more tough to have something around that doesn't break the food budget. Plus something EASY so I'm not constantly heating up the oven and spending oodles of time in the kitchen.
When we've got Kale coming in from our garden, Kale Chips are popular here, and I like to make these Coconut Delights, Almond Joy Bars, Homemade Protein Bars, and Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Balls to have around.
So the idea of a good snack for this household is one that is:
- allergy-friendly
- budget-friendly
- low carb (or at least has that option)
- easy to prepare
- healthy
The Perfect Frugal & Healthy Snack
These little morsels of crunchiness and sweetness are just perfect, and if you've ever bought them at the store, you know exactly what I am talking about.
YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
There's only 1 problem with these chips though -- they are addictive, but at the price they are offered at, the addiction can break the bank.
Check out this popular brand of Coconut Chips.
Now, these taste amazing, but are they "$19.99 for only 12 1.43 ounce bags" amazing?
Wowza.
And we're not even talking Organic Coconut, folks!
The Cost Savings
I buy EVERYTHING (pretty much) in bulk, and coconut (chips and shreds) is one of the things that fits in that "everything" category.
We buy Medium Coconut Shreds in 25 pound bags, and I buy Coconut Chips in 25-pound bags as well, since coconut has a pretty decent shelf life. The savings work out well for us.
At that bulk amount, I get 1 pound of coconut chips for only $2.60 a pound. I'm thinking about moving to Organic Coconut Chips and getting them in bulk for $4.44 per pound(you can probably get these cheaper as well, depending on where you shop), but even at that price you are still way ahead of the packaged coconut chip price.
Either way, you can see that the savings over the store bought option are just incredible.
They are so good that basically if you like coconut, you will like these, and if you LOVE coconut, you will LOVE these.
Recently, I took some of these to a friend's house as a treat to share and they were a huge hit. I left a bunch with her since she liked them so much and she is working hard at getting the junk out of her diet -- and I promised that I would get the recipe up on the blog asap. So here it is :).
These Toasted Coconut Chips are a fabulous way to handle a sweet craving without giving in to junk food, and if you use a low carb sweetener, you aren't feeding candida.
Oh, and if it's hard to find Coconut Chips where you live? Here's how to Easily Make Coconut Chips and Shreds.
The main thing to remember when making these chips, is to really watch the heat that you are cooking with, and really watch the coconut chips. I toast mine on the lowest heat possible on my stove -- well, just a tad over the lowest heat, and still I need to watch them like a hawk.
I've made the mistake several times of not watching them closely enough, and well, they burn very easily. If you catch them early enough in the burning phase, they are still edible, but once you hit a certain point, they're just plain horrible, and not good for you either.
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Coconut Chips: If you can't find unsweetened coconut chips where you live, here's How to Make Coconut Chips and Shreds.
- Sweetener: I LOVE using Lakanto for these coconut chips. Xylitol works well too. You could substitute erythritol, which will also work for low carb and THM, but you will want to use 1/2 cup since it's not as sweet as the others.
Special Diet Notes
- AIP: Use organic coconut sugar as a sweetener. Honey and maple syrup might work as well, but I haven't tried that.
- THM: For those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, this recipe will qualify as an "S" as long as you use the sweetener in the post, or xylitol, erythritol, or another low-carb sweetener.
Coupon Code - if you'd like to try Lakanto, use code wholenewmom to get 20% off your order! You'll love their products!
Homemade Toasted Coconut Chips
Ingredients
- 6 cups coconut chips
- 6 Tbsp low carb sweetener (or other sweetener--to taste. See Recipe Notes.)
- 2 Tbsp water (if using coconut sugar)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a large pan.
- Cook on the stovetop over very low heat until lightly toasted / browned.
- Cool before eating.
Nutrition
What is your favorite Healthy Snack?
I literally JUST made this. O.M.G is all I can say! It's AMAZING! I used coconut sugar but mine was brown so it was a little hard to tell when it was toasted and so I burned a couple of pieces.
Just a quick question as I was confused on your instructions which is why I used the coconut sugar: if I were to use swerve or monkfruit I need to use 1/2 cup of the sweetener?
I'm sooo glad you like them! I'm trying out a little tweak myself right now :). I just updated the post--does that make it more clear? Thanks for alerting me to the issue!
You say to only use water if using coconut sugar, but then how does the erythritol stick to the coconut?
It just does - it's like magic. I would have to look up why but it caramelizes pretty well for some reason.
For sweetener can I use honey or maple suryp? If so, how much? Thanks
Yes, it should work. I would just maybe use the same amount since you aren't using that much of it. Maybe a bit less since they are both sweeter than sugar. Hope it works!
If I decided to use sugar as a sweetener instead of the ones listed, should I conventional granulated sugar or cane sugar? Or does it not really matter?
It shouldn't matter. I would go with the healthiest option that you can use. Hope you like it!
Can't wait to try these! Do you think espresso powder could be added as a variation?
Yes, of course - sounds like a great idea!!
Where do you get 25 lb bags of coconut?
Hi Deb! Sorry for the delay. I have gotten them from Country Life Natural Foods and also from Azure Standard. (that's an affiliate link)
Would regular sugar work as well?
You can try it. I got the best results from xylitol but others have said regular sugar works as well.
Can you use stevia? I don't use any of those sweeteners mentioned.
You could try it. They will toast more than caramelize, however. Nice to hear from you!
Hello! How do you store these? And do they stay crunchy?
I store mine in a food safe bag or a plastic or glass container. They do. I have had a few batches not turn out crunchy and still not sure why. But they tend to stay crunchy.
Do you store them in the refrigerated?
No, I store them in a cabinet in the kitchen. They should be fine if eaten within a reasonable amt of time. Dang coconut chips aren't refrigerated.
what types coconut it?
young or mature coconut?
It's dried coconut.
This sounds so good! I was just saying that I need to get some good, healthy snacks on hand. I happen to live on an island with no packaged coconut chips available but we do have lots of coconuts! Would I just thinly cut fresh coconut and let it dry? Any ideas?
Hi Mary - I think you will love it! Here is how to do it: https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/homemade-shredded-coconut-homemade-coconut-chips/
I should have added that to the post - will now :).
Thank you for such a quick response! I was actually walking with my 2 year old today and he found a good coconut that had fallen from a tree and I promised him that tomorrow we will crack it open. He's so excited and now I'm excited too =)
You are so welcome! I wish I lived near you and we could share fresh coconut! My boys LOVE it. So hope you enjoy them. I personally prefer the xylitol version- they get really caramelley :).
where you did you get it for only $2.60 a pound? thanks
I get mine from Country Life Natural Foods. They are local but they have a fairly big delivery area and they do use UPS as well -- I used to order from them to be shipped when I lived outside of their delivery area.
I agree, this DANG brand is amazing. The only flavor I've tried and am addicted to is the caramel sea salt and had limited success replicating them at home. You really do have to start with good coconut it seems like to get the full experience of the original. Mine were ok, but not as smooth as the original, unfortunately. I'm going to keep my eye on your blog for a recipe of that flavor soon, hopefully. 😉
I bet if you use the coconut sugar you will get that flavor. Those are the same ingredients as my recipe :).
Please how can one get coconut sugar?
Hi there - there is a link just above the recipe card. Does that help or would you like another option? Health food stores typically carry it as well.
Can you define what temperature "low heat" would be? My oven goes down to 170 degrees. Is this too high a temperature? Thanks for the help.
Sarah Webber
Hi Sarah! You cook them on the stove top. I'm going back to make that more clear. Hope you like them!
like you just put the pan right on the element? A cookie sheet??
I would try putting the pan in the oven on the oven rack and have the temperature very low and keep an eye on them!