Protein Chips

One of my favorite things is chips. I just love that type of crunch. Chips are something that keto dieters often miss, though there are some storebought options available these days. These chips are inspired by a similar chickpea flour chip (or cracker) that popped up in one of my feeds. Unfortunately, I'm not sure who the creator was because when I went to look for the saved recipe as a reference, it wasn't there. This recipe has a small amount of chickpea flour, but the main ingredient here is lupin flour. Lupin flour behaves similarly to chickpea flour in some ways, but is denser and stickier. Nutritionally, it's much higher in protein and much lower in net carbs.

​These protein-rich chips are thin and crunchy. They are good and sturdy for dipping and pretty neutral in flavor. The recipe contains a few spices to help obscure the flavor of the lupin flour, but these can be omitted or replaced with preferred options. The thinness and baking time if these chips may vary a bit with your ingredients and the exactness of your measurements. I use a scale for all but the baking powder, salt, and spices. If you prefer to make something more like a dense cracker, you can reduce the amount of water slightly and extend the baking time. Happy crunching!
Yield: 3 servings of 8 chips (27g) each, totaling 24 chips (80g)
Macros (per serving): 105 calories | 10g protein | 4.5g fat | 4g net carbs ​✎
Prep: 15 minutes | Bake: 45 minutes | Cool: 15 minutes ✎
Storage: once completely cool, in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to a month. It is essential that the chips are fully dehydrated and fully cooled for them to keep this long.
Ingredients:​​
  • ⅓ ​cup (40g) lupin flour ✎
  • 2 Tbsp (15g) chickpea flour​
  • 2 Tbsp (14g) plain pea or soy protein powder ✎
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
  • ½ tsp ground cumin (optional)
  • ½ tsp onion powder (optional)
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder (optional)
  • ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ​¾ cup (180ml) water
Directions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
  2. Cover 1 large or 2 small baking sheet with silicone mat(s) or parchment paper. I'm using 2 quarter-sized sheets with silicone mats. Spray or brush these well with oil.
  3. Whisk together the dry ingredients, including the spices and salt, in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
  4. Add the water and whisk to smooth. The result should be a thin batter. See video below for reference.
  5. Spoon 24 puddles of batter onto the baking sheet(s). This is about ½ Tbsp (8ml) per puddle. For placement, they need to be about 3½ inches (9cm) apart from centre to centre not to meet each other. So, you can place the next puddle about 2 inches (5cm) from the edge of its neighbor.
  6. To spread the puddles thin, gently bump the sheet(s) on the counter a couple times to promote spread. For reference, before tapping, mine were about 3/8-inch (0.5cm) thick in the centre. After tapping, they were about 1/4-inch (3mm) thick. See pictures below for reference. 
  7. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes, or until edges are brown (but not burnt).
  8. Remove the chips from the oven and reduce the heat to 280°F (140°C).
  9. Flip the chips. Use a very sharp-edged flipper and be intentional. The centres are likely to stick to the pan if you are not being careful to avoid this.
  10. Bake the chips for an additional 30 minutes, or until fully dehydrated and crisp.
  11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Optionally, spray with additional oil and sprinkle with salt and seasonings when just removed from the oven.
Picture
Before Tapping
Picture
After Tapping
✎ Notes:
  • The macros include 2 teaspoons of oil (full recipe - not per serving) to account for oil sprayed on the pan.
  • Chips must be cooled completely before being sealed in a container. This may require more than 15 minutes.
  • Lupin flour is a very high fiber bean flour and may cause digestive upset in people who are not used to this ingredient or have a high bean consumption. If you're new to this ingredient, I suggest enjoying a single serving only and see how your body responds. Also note that those allergic to peanuts may also have a lupin allergy. This is rare, but please exercise caution if you have a peanut allergy.
  • I have not tried this recipe with any other protein powders. Please let us know how it goes if you try other types.
  • Macros for this recipes are calculated with American national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the lupin flour (Lupina), nutritional yeast flakes (blend of Bob's Redmill and Foods Alive unfortified), and protein powder (Now Foods plain pea).
  • Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.