Name: Crispy Baked Carrot Chips with Spicy Harissa Yogurt Dip
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 carrot or parsnip (peeled into strips); 1/2 tablespoon olive oil; 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin; salt & pepper; 1/2 cup greek yogurt (any type of yogurt is fine); 1/4 cup mayonaise; 1 teaspoon lemon zest; 1/2 teaspoon harissa paste; 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

These crispy baked carrot chips (and parsnip chips) make a delicious snack for your kids! Served with spicy harissa yogurt dip for the adults.

I am continuing onwards and upwards in my quest to make more snacks & side dish recipes for le blog. I realized that I had probably somewhere in the ballpark of 30 dessert recipes, and...5 snacks & sides? Clearly this area needed a little attention.

This week's baked carrot chips recipe is so simple. I like simplicity. I don't have time for candy thermometers or brulee torches.

I must sound like a broken record about my kid's naps. They barely exist. Today we had a 16-minuter. I wish I was joking. So...I had 16 minutes to spring into action and get these babies into the oven. Not a problem. I actually had time to spare!

Reasons you'll ♡ these crispy carrot chips (and parsnip chips!)

you can make them quickly (under 20 minutes!)
they would make a great after school snack
they can help squeeze some extra veggies into your child's day

I don't know about you but I've had my issues in getting crispy oven-baked anything...french fries, sweet potato fries...and we've tried just about every recipe and method out there. The closest we seem to get to crispy is chewy. Yum. Chewy fries that actually got stuck in my teeth. So I was pretty pessimistic when I tried this recipe.

But low and behold...crispy baked carrot chips! Ohmygosh.

Not only were they crispy. They were tasty. Both the carrots and the parsnips had a mildly sweet flavor that came out when they were baked, and with the subtle cumin spice and salt and pepper...mmm...

The best part about this recipe: no frying. The next best thing about this recipe: no fussy mandoline that is inevitably going to decapitate one of your fingers {a simple vegetable peeler is all you need}.

Wait! I have more....these baked carrot chips take less than 10 minutes to bake, and they're veggies, so you can feel perfectly guilt-free about your chippy snack.

Edit: I realized after hitting "publish" that I really didn't write anything about the dip! The dip actually turned out really nicely...it is tangy from the mayo, spicy from the harissa {holy harissa, that stuff is spicy}, and cool from the greek yogurt and lemon. I really like that the spice kicks in, but then the lemon and yogurt cool you back down. So, there you go. Dip away!

Tips for crispy carrot & parsnip chips:

use a rack positioned over a cookie sheet so the air can get to all sides of the fries {do not place directly on the cookie sheet!}
use the convection setting on your oven {if possible; if not, increase the bake time}
don't abandon the oven; you're going to want to keep an eye on the first batch since they can overcook quite quickly
make sure your chips get nice and brown before removing from the oven {see photos above}. My first batch I thought they were burning but they were just right

More Healthy Snacks:

Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!