Homemade Kale Chips

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I am not vegan. I am not gluten-free. However, being omnivorous, I enjoy all these things. Back in the years I worked for Whole Foods Market, one of my favorite indulgences (as a price point, not calorie/junk indulgence) was Brad’s Kale Chips, not known as Brad’s Crunchy Kale. The product is amazing, healthy, all-natural, and most importantly, tasty. No offense to Brad, they are pretty darn easy to replicate.

I cannot take credit for the recipe I am going to share, but I will show you step by step in this video how easy they are to make and how little equipment is really needed (no need to invest in a dehydrator!)

Recipe can be found at Kitchn 

PS- the “ranch” version I made is not vegan. Please double check ingredients if you’re using a ranch dip/dressing packet. Buttermilk is one of the key ingredients in ranch dressing, and packets usually have some form of dehydrated milk solids.

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Blue Cheese Crackers

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After my debacle with the weevils, I was able to make the Bon Appetit recipe I wanted to replicate. I actually have made many variations of the Roquefort Crackers I read about, as I used to like to make cheese straws and cheese crackers for gifts around the holidays. What I love about the recipe is that it is a 1-1-1 ratio of ingredients: 1 cup flour, 1 stick butter, 1 cup cheese. You can then play around with everything else to essentially create a savory, cheese blasted shortbread.

For the blue cheese crackers, I did just that – 1 cup flour, 1 stick butter, and 1 cup blue cheese crumbles. I let the butter and blue cheese come to room temperature, and I mixed it all together with my hands, similar to kneading dough. I added some cracked pepper and Worcestershire sauce to enhance the flavors, instead of cayenne. I prefer cayenne with cheddar or Parmesan when making these. I then rolled the dough out into a log shape, similar to store-bought cookie dough, and wrapped it in plastic. The Bon Appetit recipe says to leave it in the fridge for 12 hours, but I only did for about 4. I do not see how 12 is necessary unless you want to make the dough ahead of time and let it sit overnight. When I was ready, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees, sliced the log into 1/4″ thick discs, and pressed them into a ramekin of sesame seeds to garnish and add a extra element of flavor and crunch. img_0976

Butterscotch Brownie Bites

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No secret here – I love butterscotch chips. I also had an unopened box of No Pudge! Brownie Mix that was burning a hole in my chocolate craving, so I wanted to make brownies with the mix and use up some of my three bags of chips. Since making the Curry Aioli I was out of yogurt that the box’s recipe calls for. Surprisingly, I have no applesauce in the pantry, either, but I did have pumpkin and butternut squash. I decided to improvise and make little bites. So cute! (In my opinion…)

BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIE BITES
Makes 20 bites

1 box No Pudge! Brownie Mix
1 cup canned Pumpkin
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Butterscotch Chips

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Grease mini muffin tin, set aside
  3. In a medium sized bowl, pour out brownie mix and add pumpkin. Mix with a large spoon until well incorporated
  4. Mix in vanilla extract and salt
  5. Stir in butterscotch chips
  6. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, scoop out batter into 20 of the muffin tin cups
  7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, do not over bake
  8. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Tip: Better to under bake a little than over bake, makes for an ooey-gooey treat! 🙂IMG_3872IMG_3873