Gluten free parmesan cheddar chips

KETO.. This is a word I am starting to hear too often these days :). For the unitiated, KETO (ketogenic) is a low-carb, high fat diet which helps with weight loss & also claims to battle a lot of general illness (Not sure of this part). I have a few friends who try and keto mostly :). I like the idea of the go nuts on paneer/ butter/ cheese/ ghee (actually, you can’t go nuts.. you need to count macros or something but you get to have these awesome stuff much more than you would expect to include in a day :)). I hate the idea of No rice/ roti/ pasta etc. I can never do Keto ever in my life mainly because I love rice/ roti/ pasta in my every day food. I am happy to reduce the quantity but am not ready to let it vanish from my plate without it transferring to my tummy :D. Anywho, I came across this interesting keto snack while just searching on keto food & I knew I had to try it. So interesting that you can make some tangible chips (crispy/ crunchy) just using cheese. Not something I knew & I am sure it’s something that is not yet very well known to a lot of people. Literally, grated parm, grated cheddar, seasoned & baked to give you crunchy/ thin chips. How hard can that be to make right? And how can it not taste good right? So, I dutifully purchased some mild cheddar & parm block one weekend & got working. Grating, mixing everything together with the seasoning took less than 5 minutes. Baking though not the hard part was something I did not like actually & below are the reasons –

1. I knew this was going to release oil & hence was not sure if I need to use a parchment paper or not wondering if the parchment paper would soak up the oil making it hard for me to remove the chips (and this happened).
2. I went with the no parchment paper mode & was still wondering how hard it would be to remove the chips. It was not hard but it required effort (imagine a dosa slightly stuck on a tawa and you had to use some force & ofcourse a dosa flipper).
3. It released a lottttttttttt of oil & mentally, I was not so pscyhed to try out a taste on seeing that.
4. I had to bake in batches because my tray could accomodate only 8-9 chips at a time. A friend tried this recipe after I gave them a batch of this & she used a muffin tray for this & said that came out well too. With the muffin tray in picture, point 4 should be taken care of to a great extent.
5. You had to be next to it after 6-7 minutes because it burns soon after it’s done perfectly :).

All in all, will I try this recipe again? Not sure because like I said, I don’t prefer keto. Although I made this batch, I ate barely 1 or 2 chips because I literally felt wrong consuming so much fat all at once. However, the keto people loved it :). I took the whole 24 chips that came out of this recipe & I am not exaggerating when I tell you that it was consumed by 3 people in less than 10 minutes :). They loved it. They boosted my morale to post this recipe here :). And like I said above, one of those friends even tried it out last week in her house & her kid loved it as well. He even sent me a thank you video & totally made my day. So I might make this again just for all the love I received from them :D. And when I make it, I shall try out the muffin tray idea.

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Parmesan Cheddar Chips

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

 

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: International

Servings: 24 chips

Ingredients

• 150 gms parmesan cheese
• 150 gms mild cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder

Instructions

1. Preheat an oven to 200c. 

2. Meanwhile, grate parmesan & cheddar cheese. 

3. Place the cheese in a large bowl. Add chilli flakes, dried oregano & black pepper powder. Mix everything together. 

4. Scoop out 1 tablespoon measure of the cheese mixture & lay it out on the baking tray. 

5. Space out each of the scoop/ heap because they will expand/ spread while baking. 

6. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Keep a close watch after 5 minutes since they go from done to burnt in a minute. 

7. You know the chips are ready when the chips turn golden brown around the edges. 

8. Take the tray out of the oven, allow it to cool a bit & then using a spatula (preferrably a dosa flipper) remove the chips carefully & place it on a kitchen towel for it absorb the excess oil. 

9. Transfer to an airtight container & use up within a week. 

Recipe Notes

1. If you want to do a big batch, use muffin trays (you can make atleast 24 at a time). 
2. There will be a lot of oil that gets released from the chips. don't fret (I did :)).
3. You can add any seasoning as per your liking. Example - garlic powder, onion powder.
4. It was not very easy for me to remove the chips despite all the oil it exudes out. It took me 15-30 seconds per chip for removal. 

Stepwise pictures

Grate parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese & place it in a bowl. To this add red chilli flakes, freshly ground pepper & some dried oregano.

Mix everything together.

In a baking tray, place a tablespoon each of the mixture & lay it out as a heap. Leave some space between each heap since they are gonna flatten out & expand as they bake.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200c for 7-8 minutes. When the chips become golden brown around the edges & the sizzling sounds reduces, you know you are done.

Take the tray out of the oven. Let it cool for a bit. Using a flat spatula/ dosa flipper remove the chips carefully & place it in a kitchen towel for excess oil to drain.

Store in an airtight container and use it within a week.