The Salty Snack Addition That Takes Your Cookies To The Next Level

Potato chips and cookies. It sounds like a college student's dream breakfast, but in reality, this combo is a thang. And for those who can't get enough of slightly quirky sweet and savory combos, it's one that's difficult to beat. It's also the case that there isn't just one type of cookie that home bakers use for this concept. Most of your favorite cookie recipes — chocolate chip, sugar, butter, and even bacon chocolate chip cookies — all improve about a gazillion-fold when you add a few potato chips into the mix. It's not really the recipe that counts as much as the daring to put this combo together in the same bowl, so be bold in your cookie choices. 

As for the chips themselves, they have the potential to bring additional crunchiness (no surprise there) and more chewiness (pleasant surprise there) to any cookie recipe. Some of this does seem to depend on the type of chip you choose and your personal preference, however. If you're looking for a good overall chip to use, ruffled chips are a solid option.  

A chip that's too thin drowns in the cookie dough. Many recipes call for the chips to be crushed up and folded into the dough. While this approach allows the chips' salt to permeate the recipe, it also means that the chips can get soggy as they soak up the moisture from the cookie dough. In other words, choose crunchy potato chips that have the potential to hold their crispness, even if they do drink in a bit of the moisture from the cookie dough.

Most of the recipes you do find for potato chip cookies call for plain potato chips with plenty of salt, because it's the chips' salt that juxtaposes the sweetness of the cookie. However, brave home gourmands can take this a step further. Potato chips aren't the only chips on the shelves and sweet cookie recipes aren't the only ones in the proverbial recipe box. In those cases, you have a bit of room to play. 

For example, substituting something like Jackson's Sweet Potato Chips with sea salt for a regular potato chip might be a fun option for some recipes, like a bacon chocolate chip recipe. Or if you're working with a savory cookie recipe, such as thyme and cheddar cookies, then you might actually feel brave enough to try adding something like a barbecue-flavored chip instead of a plain potato one.

Context is key here as is a willingness to experiment. Let's face it. An unknown someone had to decide to crunch up some potato chips and toss them into their favorite cookie dough for the first time in the history of food. Why not continue on with the experiment and see where this grand culinary experiment takes you?