Sweet Potato Chips - it's National Potato Chip Day

Sweet Potato Chips - made March 9, 2014 from The Recipe Diva

I was going to put up a different post for today until I saw earlier on facebook that it was National Potato Chip Day. Pi(e) Day I get because it's 3.14 (pi, get it??) but it turns out the potato chip has to share the glory with its more famous counterpart. You know pie, that spotlight hog. I didn't have a pie in the baking rotation (I ate a piece of one but didn't bake it myself - does that count?) but I had made these sweet potato chips last week so I'm throwing them in there just in the nick of time.

I actually don't like potato chips. Not the thin, greasy kind. I'll mow through a bag of Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos and/or Sun Chips whenever I want salt but the straightforward, simple, humble potato chip? I don't think so. However, I saw nothing wrong with switching my allegiance to sweet potato chips. The sweet potato has ousted the white potato in my affections so I figured I would like sweet potato chips just fine.

And so I did. I didn't bake these long enough so they weren't all crunchy, just a few pieces that started to think about burning before I took them out of the oven. But I liked the spices sprinkled over them and they still tasted better than a bag of potato chips. If you want them crunchy like "real" chips, slice them thinly and evenly then leave them in the oven as long as you can stand. You don't even need to sprinkle additional salt on these since the spice mixture already makes them good eating. Move over Ruffles; the homemade sweet potato chip has you beat.

2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean and sliced into 1/8" slices (I also peeled mine)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon paprika

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place sweet potato slices and oil in a re-sealable bag and shake to coat.
3. In a small dish, combine the seasonings and add to the sweet potatoes. Shake again to evenly coat.
4. Lay potato slices on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the oven and flip. Cook for an additional 10 minutes until crisp.
5. Place potatoes on a wire cooling rack to cool - they crisp up more as they cool.