Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Creamy Date Caramel Dip

The recipe that follows for nutritious baked sweet potato chips with a good-for-you caramel dip, is a sample from the FREE Snackable eCookbook created by Go Dairy Free! It’s filled with 25 sweet, savory and sippable dairy-free snack recipes that all happen to be vegan, gluten-free, and mostly allergy-friendly, too. Enjoy this recipe from Hannah, and then download the whole ebook instantly to your desktop, Kindle, iPad, anywhere!

New Year’s resolutions are almost always geared towards shaping up, and food is the first target to focus on. But as we head into the second month of the year, you may be feeling a bit deprived, perhaps even considering giving up your healthy ambitions altogether. To stay the course long term, now is the time to look toward more satisfying nutritious treats.

In fact, contrary to the traditional three-square-meal approach, it may be beneficial to add more nourishing, wholesome snacks or mini-meals. Plus, some of those midday munchies can be downright decadent in flavor without taking a toll on your waistline.

Crunchy, sweet, and salty, baked sweet potato chips fit the bill – qualifying as health food while vanquishing cravings in one big bite. Naturally sweet, you’ll never miss the added sugars typically found in packaged crisps, nor the extra oils used for frying. Paired with a deceptively simple creamy dip, the duo could even pass for dessert, too. Owing its caramel flavor to nothing more than soft medjool dates, dairy-free yogurt makes up the bulk of this probiotic-packed accompaniment.

Although you can’t go wrong with the classic approach, sprinkling a bare pinch of coarse salt to heighten the existing essence of these baked sweet potato chips, the sky is the limit for creative seasonings. Rifle through your spice drawer and get creative! I’ve included a few suggestions for my favorite flavors below, but that’s only the beginning for this versatile, naturally sweet snack.

Special Diet Notes: Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Creamy Date Caramel Dip

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan / plant-based, vegetarian, optionally paleo, and generally top food allergy friendly.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Creamy Date Caramel Dip

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Recipe from Snackable: 25 Sweet, Savory & Sippable Dairy-Free Recipes, a FREE electronic cookbook. Download it instantly here: Snackable eBook

Author: Hannah Kaminsky

Serves: 3 to 4 Servings + 2 cups dip

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Chips

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, orange- or purple-fleshed, or a mixture of both
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
• Optional seasonings, see below

Creamy Date Caramel Dip

• 1 cup pitted medjool dates
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 6-ounce container vanilla vegan yogurt (Hannah uses So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Sweet Potato Chips

1. Preheat your oven to 375ºF and arrange the racks so that they're all more or less centered. Line two or three baking sheets with silpats or pieces of parchment paper; set aside.
2. Thoroughly scrub the potatoes but don't peel them. The peel contains most of the fiber which makes this snack so satisfying, not to mention additional nutrients such as potassium, iron, and folate, just for starters. Use a mandoline to slice them as thinly and evenly as possible; 1-mm is ideal. You can also use a very sharp knife, but it's much more difficult to keep the slices consistent.
3. Arrange the potato slices on your baking sheets in one even layer. Brush them lightly with the olive oil and then sprinkle them evenly with salt and your additional seasonings, if using. Bake no more than two sheets at once to ensure more uniform cooking across all the chips.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, flipping once around the 15-minute mark, until the edges are crisp and golden brown.

For the Creamy Date Caramel Dip

1. Pour hot water over the dates, just to cover, and let soak for about 30 minutes. This will soften dates a bit and help them blend more smoothly.
2. Drain the dates but save the soaking water. Toss them into your blender along with all of the remaining ingredients. Puree, pausing to scrape down the sides of the container as needed, and slowly drizzle in ¼ cup of the reserved soaking liquid. Continue blending until the mixture is perfectly smooth, adding in another tablespoon or two of the leftover water if needed.
3. Best if served chilled! Store the dip an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Notes

Choose your own flavor adventure! Try any of the following seasoning mixtures to spice things up a bit...

Simple Cinnamon Sugar: 1 Tablespooon Granulated Sugar + ½ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Gingerbread: 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar + ½ Teaspoon Ground Ginger + ¼ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon + ⅛ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
Citrus Sunshine: 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar + 1 Teaspoon Orange Zest + 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
Sweet & Spicy: 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar + ¼ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper + ¼ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

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