Cool Ranch Crunchy Chickpeas Snack

Directions

• Before We Start

  This recipe calls for quite a few things that most people may not use on a regular basis or be familiar with. So we break those down here to help you understand them, where to get them, and what alternatives you can make if needed.
  Replacing Avocado Oil: We have switched all our seed oils (canola, sunflower, corn, vegetable oils) to avocado oil because it is a healthier, less processed, neutral high smoke point oil. The results are the same, so, feel free to sub in any of those. Also, a light or regular (not extra virgin) olive oil will work since its smoke point is also above 375°F (190°C).
  Using Sugar Instead of Allulose: We love using allulose, since it is a natural alternative to sugar that doesn’t spike your glucose. You can substitute it with sugar by reducing the amount by roughly 1/3. So if you are needing 1 tbsp of allulose, use just 2/3 tbsp of sugar instead.
  Tomato Powder: This is made by freeze drying tomatoes then grinding them into a powder. We buy it on Amazon. It can also be used to add more tomato flavor to soups and sauces like you would use tomato paste.
  Nutritional Yeast: You want the dry flaky stuff (not the liquid or paste form). Most health food stores and grocery stores sell it, as well as Amazon. It adds an umami (savoriness) to it. It can be used like a spice in dressings, on veggies, pasta, even popcorn.
  MSG (Monosodium glutamate): In the US, this has been demonized to some degree, but it has been extensively studied and found to be safe in USA, EU, and throughout Asia. It bumps up the umami (savoriness). The nutritional yeast also adds this profile, just less pronounced. So the MSG is optional, but awesome. You can find it at most grocery stores or on Amazon.
  Lactic Acid: When you ferment food, you are generally creating lactic acid (lacto fermentation). So it is good for gut health. You can buy it on Amazon as well. It normally is made from beets.
  Citric Acid: This is what gives lemons and limes their sour flavor. Most health food stores sell it. You can also find it on Amazon. If you were to exclude citric acid, we recommend doubling the amount of lactic acid.

• Pre-heat oven

  Turn oven on to 375°F (190°C).

• Rinse and dry chickpeas

  Rinse your chickpeas in a fine mesh strainer, then dry them well with a towel to take off excess moisture. Rolling them slightly to ensure as much moisture is removed as possible. Transfer to a medium size bowl.

• Season & Oil

  Add the salt to a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder. Add the oil and salt to the bowl and toss the chickpeas until well incorporated. Transfer to a sheet pan and spread to ensure the chickpeas are not crowded in the pan.

• High Heat Bake

  Bake for 15 mins in a 375°F (190°C) oven. This helps swell the chickpeas so they don’t overly shrink in the drying phase so we get a crunchy but airy texture. AKA they get too hard if you just cook it at a low temp.

• Make Seasoning

  In a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, add the dried parsley, nutritional yeast, MSG (optional), onion granules/powder, garlic granules/powder, and citric acid. Grind until it is a fine powder. Then add the tomato powder, allulose/sugar, dried mustard, and lactic acid. Grind until well incorporated and set aside.
  
  Note: We do it in two stages to make it easier for the coarser ingredients to turn into a fine powder.

• Shake and Bake

  Reduce the temp to 250°F (121°C). Shake the chickpeas around and leave the oven door open for about 60 seconds to let out most of the heat. Continue baking for another 60–90 mins. For us, it was done at 75 mins. At 60 mins take about 5 out and let sit for 3–5 mins and taste a few, if all of them are crunchy throughout, they are done, if not, add another 10 mins and try again. Repeat until you have chickpeas with a crunchy interior. They will continue to get crunchier as they cool, but there should be some crunch and resistance in the interior. Once they reach the desired texture, remove from the oven and increase the temperature to 350°F (177°C).
  
  NOTE: This part is about getting them to be crunchy, unfortunately the cook time for chickpeas varies widely depending on the brand you get. Once you know how long it takes for your brand of chickpeas, you can just set it to that time, so 66% of the time you get the same results every time.
  
  Yes, that was a Talladega Nights reference.

• Season & Finish

  Transfer the chickpeas to a large bowl, and add an ⅛ tsp avocado oil. Toss to coat completely. Then transfer the chickpeas to a dry fine mesh strainer, place the strainer over the bowl. Add the seasoning on top of the chickpeas and coat using a spoon. The bowl should catch the seasoning. Use your spoon to get more seasoning from the bowl and top the chickpeas with it again. Do this this one more time for maximum seasoning. Transfer the chickpeas back to the sheet pan and bake another 2 mins. Transfer the chickpeas back to the fine mesh strainer, and top a few more times with the seasoning. Then back to the sheet pan they go. Bake for another 2 mins. Let them cool and enjoy.
  
  Note: These keep really well, so you can store in an air tight container and enjoy as a snack for months. If you notice there is a slightly moist texture to the seasoning after initially cooling, there may have been slightly too much oil. This goes away in about 2–3 days.