Some cookies are meant to be enjoyed with or dunked in milk and some are meant to be paired with prosecco or champagne. I would put these Potato Chip Cookies in the 'best enjoyed with some bubbly' category, although I won't tell you they couldn't be eaten with a tall glass of milk. They are a little bit sweet, a little bit salty, perfectly crunchy, and with a shortbread-like quality to them, these cookies are nothing short of being irresistibly, borderline addictive. And, if you are someone who happens to have a fondness for potato chips, you will understand when I say it's hard to just eat only one of these cookies.
Almost every recipe for Potato Chip Cookies I have looked at attributed its' origin to a teacher, an aunt, a grandmother, or a church cookbook. In other words, they all came with a story, but none of them actually identified the actual Potato Chip Cookie creator. There are only two things for certain I learned with regard to this cookie. First, it was created long after 1853, the year George Crum invented the potato chip. And second, it wasn't until the 1940s or 1950s when potato chip cookie recipes started appearing in magazines and newspapers.
Not unlike all of the other Potato Chip Cookie recipes I found out there, this one too has a story. As a rule, I am not a big fan of cookie exchanges. But had I decided not to go the running group's cookie exchange night a few weeks back, I may have never gotten the recipe for 'this' Potato Chip cookie. One coming from the aunt of my very good friend Rose. If I told you that both of these women grew up in Ireland, you might be wondering why or how the place of birth has anything to do with this cookie recipe. Well let me tell you.
If you were lucky enough to grow up eating Irish butter, you learned very early on what a game changer it was in cookies, cakes, and all things baked. Some of us (like me) didn't learn how Irish butter takes almost any cookie recipe from ordinary to extraordinary until it became readily available here on this side of the pond. But Rose and her aunt discovered the 'butter secret' growing up in Ireland. So, of course, the cookies I had tasted at the cookie exchange, the cookie I couldn't wait to get the recipe for, were made with Irish Butter. So it wasn't only the tablespoon of vanilla (yes, a tablespoon!) that took these Potato Chip Cookies to a whole new level of deliciousness, it was the cup of Irish unsalted butter. And I'm told using Irish potato chips instead of Lay's Classic Potato Chips creates an even more epic cookie!
The recipe for making the cookies is pretty straightforward. With only six ingredients, it's an easy, unfussy cookie to make. In spite of the fact it called for chilling the dough for an hour before forming into 1' balls and baking in a preheated 350 degree (F) oven.
However, instead of forming the balls of dough from chilled dough, I formed and then chilled the balls of dough. Which I have to say worked out perfectly.
The recommended baking time for the cookies ranges from 15 to 20 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned on the edges but still a bit soft in center. My baking time was about 18 minutes.
Dusting the cookies with some confectionary sugar while they are still slightly warm turned out to be the perfect finishing touch of sweetness.
If there was ever an ultimate cookie to bring in, to ring in the new year, it would be these Potato Chip Cookies!
But I am guessing once you taste how irresistible they are, you will be making them again and again in the year(s) ahead. Because once you know, you know how such an unlikely ingredient can create the most scrumptious rustic shortbread-like, sweet-salty cookie.
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy, filled with an abundance of sweetness new year! Looking forward to continuing to share new recipes and yes, even updated recipes with you in 2022!
Recipe
Potato Chip Cookies
Makes 24-26 cookies
Ingredients
1 cup (75g) crushed Lay's Potato Chips (see notes)
1 cup (226g) Irish or European-style unsalted butter, room temperature (recommend Kerrygold Unsalted Butter)
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 Tablespoon good quality vanilla
2 cups (258g) all-purpose flour
Confectionary sugar, for finishing
Directions
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter for about 1 minute.
2. Add in the granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
3. Beat in the egg yolk until incorporated.
4. Beat in the vanilla just until mixed in.
5. Add in the all-purpose flour in three (3) additions. Mix just until flour is absorbed into the dough.
6. Using a spatula, mix in the crushed potato chips.
7. Using an ice cream scoop, form the dough into 1 to 1 1/4" balls and place on a sheetpan. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 55-60 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
9. Place twelve of the balls of dough on one cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes (rotating the baking sheet midway through the baking process) or until lightly golden around the edges (and still slightly soft in the center). Remove from the oven and let sit on making sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and generously sifting confectionary sugar over the top of each cookie.
10. Place the remaining 12 balls of dough on the other baking sheet. Bake accordingly.
11. Let the cookies cool completely before packaging or plating. Store cookies in a tightly sealed (tin) container. The cookies will be good for up to 5 days, if they last that long
Notes: (1) I found it was easier to weigh out the potato chips before crushing them in a bowl or in ziplock bag. (2) This recipe, like most other Potato Chip Cookie recipes, called for the use of Lay's Potato Chips. So, unless you have a bag of Irish Potato Chips in your cupboard, only use Lay's Classic Potato Chips when you make these cookies. (3) And, last but not least, use only unsalted Irish Butter when you make them. I promise it makes a difference. I used Kerrygold.