Now I bring you one of my newest and favourite ‘why-didn’t-I-think-of-that?’ recipes: Coconut chips. I can tell you right now why I didn’t think of this. It’s because coconuts don’t grow on trees where I come from and so we don’t use this super-powered food as filler in everything as they do down in the Caribbean. The coconut chips may not be quite as easy to make as the beloved and ever popular kale chips, but these are seriously amazing.
I imagine the toughest part would be actually tracking down a coconut in your local South Asian or Caribbean neighbourhood, but this will be well worth the hunt. I have also discovered an amazingly easy way to open them.
Remember these shenanigans?
I have since learned the error in my ways. Rather than spending oodles of time trying to save every last drop of coconut water, I have taken to this method.
Now in the event that you don’t have a deserted tropical beach and a stray tree stump to huck your coconut against, you are more likely to have cement nearby. So go on- give it a good one, two, whammo and you are great to go.
These chips are so satisfying, sweet and coconutty with just a hint of sea salt. It’s like a day at the beach for your taste buds. Once you have your coconut cracked open, you will likely want to break it into a few smaller pieces. This can easily be achieved by wrapping the whole shebangle up in a dish towel and hitting it to the ground a few more times. Does this sound totally ridiculous to you?
Good! The odder this sounds, the more you need to give it a whirl (or a smack-down as the case may be). We need a little sillyness once in a while.
These coconut chips make an amazing afternoon snack and are great sprinkled on salads, in soups, over your fave chicken or fish or mixed in to a trail mix. Now I am off to the store to pick up my supply- though I much preferred where I was last week when these knockers were literally falling from the sky (or the tall palm trees they grow on).
Coconut Chips
1 Coconut (get the older, furry variety), cracked and shelled.
Sea salt to taste
- Crack that coconut open (and please send me photos of your efforts! hello at meghantelpner dot com I would love to compile some of these together.
- Remove from hard outer husk. A fork or knife can be useful to pry it away from the shell.
- Preheat oven to 350
- Grate the coconut down either using a large grater or even better would be a mandolin.
- Sprinke on the sea salt
- Bake for about 20 mins or until coconut begins to look brown at the edges and is dry to the touch.
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Hey Meghan,
How do you recommend we eat these coconut chips?
Ohhhh, this looks way too wonderful!
Thanks for the great idea — seriously going to be my new favourite treat… now to find a beach with an old tree stump…
Ha! I love this idea! I also like thinking of all the ways to crack a coconut….. Maybe I’ll drop one off my 6th floor balcony…. or maybe I’ll just buy one already halved (so safe and boring, I know!). Either way, these chips look delicious!
This is perfect! I’ve been wanting coconut chips, but couldn’t find any in stores. Can’t believe I didn’t think about grating them with the large part on my grater! This is inspiring me to make some trail mix with it…. need to go buy a coconut asap
I just came home with three! I am making my own coconut milk tonight
Hahahaha, just discovered your site, looks great!
AND i LOVED your video, i was laughing soo hard!!!
Great job!!!
this was my favorite snack during afternoon tea at Balenbouche — sooo yummy! Having St. Lucia withdrawal now…
I am SO with you. Doing a corporate presentation tomorrow. Bye bye flip flops, hello heals and flat iron
Hmm. This sounds interesting. Coconut chips? Diggin’ it.
I love fresh coconut. They were serving chips like this on our trip in Antigua late last year. I had them every morning. I need to attempt busting one open myself.
How would you store the extra coconut chips? Thanks for the great idea!
A jar would work well.
Fridge or no fridge?
I’d go with no.. I feel like the fridge might take away the crispyness.
And you won’t have them for long anyway…. these get eaten really fast!
I am just making this now. I’m a huge fan of cracking a fresh coconut. Helps get the aggression out!! I’m super excited for it to be done!
[...] Health Benefits of coconut [...]
[...] don’t call them superfoods for nothing. They really are amazing. The coconuts and the aloe, the goji and the spirulina. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I am not ready [...]
wonder if you could make these RAW? in a dehydrator, or do you need the high temp to make them chippy?
Meghan,
What a great idea to bake the coconut pieces into chips. My husband is becoming a pro at cracking a coconut with a huge butcher knife so I can have the water inside. So great for smoothies!
Have you shoved a whole coconut (minus the hard coating) into a powerful blender. It’s lots of fun to see it turn into mush. A great entertainer after watching ‘daddy’ crack the coconut. The things we do for fun for our children.
**only try with a high powered blender such as Vita Mix or Blendtec**
Anyway, we love fresh coconut and am looking forward to trying the chips. Thanks for the recipe.
[...] Coconut [...]
They make a great CLT (coconut, lettuce and tomato) sandwich!
Such a great idea!
Another EASY way of cracking a coconut – put it in a 350 oven for a few minutes, it will crack all by itself and the shell will be that much easier to remove…no prying the flesh off with sharp and dangerous implements.
Such a good idea!
made these amazing coconut chips, they were extremely tasty. Better than crisps. Opening up the coconut wasnt as hard as id thought. I think its all to do with the correct tools and holding of the coconut. Managed to get whole of the coconut water out as well. Yum yum. Anyway, i wanted ask after i baked these yummy coconut chips do i store them in the fridge or can they be stored outside? and how long do you think they’d last? At the moment ive got them in an air tight container in the fridge but i think that will probably take away the crunchiness…. what do you think?