I am loving fresh coconut flesh in my smoothies, coconut milk and cream in my curries and desserts, coconut oil in my baking and flaked coconut on just about everything!  Yes, I am a little loco for coco! 

I particularly love the versatility of this one ingredient.

You can use flaked coconut to top your homemade cakes and slices to make them look super special, add them to a trail mix for some sweet crunchiness, mix it through your cereal or porridge in the morning for some added texture and taste or even eat it on its own, it's that good!

One of the easiest things you can do with flaked coconut to make it really shine is to lightly toast it covered with a trickle of rice malt syrup (or honey) and then break it into shards to serve as a snack with your cuppa or as a lovely sweet accompaniment to your homemade desserts.

It can escalate that plain old pudding or cake to Masterchef presentation by just placing a shard vertically in whatever you are serving up.

A simple trick to make you seem like a dessert king or queen. 

This recipe is not complicated. In fact it is so simple it seems ridiculous to be writing it down, however I have had many a visitor and workshop participant ask for this recipe after sampling some of these delicious “chips” so I figure I may as well share it with the wider community so all readers can experience this delicious treat for themselves.

Ingredients:

2 cups flaked coconut (go for organic coconut if possible so you are sure there are no nasty preservatives added)

1 tablespoon of rice malt syrup or honey 

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Spread the toasted coconut in a single, even layer across the baking paper.

Using a teaspoon, trickle syrup over the coconut flakes from a height of about 30cm, so you just lightly cover the flakes in a criss-cross manner, moving from one side of the tray to the other continuously so the syrup does not pool. 

Place in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until flakes are golden brown on the edges.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely before breaking into shards. 

Note: You can pick up organic toasted coconut from Flame Tree Community Food Co-op, 1/374 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul for cheap as chips! (pardon the pun).

Stephanie Meades is a certified health and wellness coach, and nutritionist.