Winnie Verona's Potato Chip Cookies (revised)

I've played in plenty of piano competitions in my day, but I have never, until now, entered a cooking/baking competition. Spurred on by a dear friend, I bit the bullet and entered the Kettle Brand Potato Chip cooking contest sponsored by Snooth.com using my mother's potato chip cookie recipe. Of course, I changed the recipe using Kettle Brand potato chips and tested them using their brand, just to make sure. In the process, however, I revised some of the directions as well as corrected the baking temperature and baking time. They were/are every bit as delicious as any I've made in the past. So, on that note, let the games begin.

Winnie's Potato Chip Cookies

This recipes makes about 130 cookies, but you can halve the recipe if you don't want to make that many cookies or use that much butter! I’ve given both amounts in the ingredients list.

1 lb. butter/1/2 lb. (4 sticks/2 sticks)

1 cup sugar/1/2 cup

3 1/2 cups flour/1 3/4 cup

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla.3/4 tsp

2 full cups/1 cup crushed KETTLE BRAND (sea salt) potato chips 

(a rolling pin works best for this, but you should make sure you have a full two 

cups of crushed potato chips)

Confectioners Sugar for sifting

Preheat oven to 375º 

Oven temperatures vary so you should definitely keep an eye on these. Rule of thumb, under baked is better than over baked.

Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale yellow. Add the vanilla and flour and mix well. Add the crushed potato chips and mix into the dough just until it is incorporated into the dough. Taking a teaspoonful at a time, drop balls onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Do not flatten but use the tines of a fork and press into the dough (like peanut butter cookies).

Bake for 8-9 minutes until lightly browned (check after 4 or 5 minutes and turn the sheet around if necessary).  I leave mine in just until they are lightly browned on the edges. They will still bake while cooling. Let cool on cookie sheet (the cookies will fall apart if you try to remove them before they're completely cooled).

Dust the cookies with powdered sugar and store in a plastic container or a metal tin lined in plastic wrap. The cookies keep in the refrigerator for two to three weeks (if they last that long!) and they freeze very well for up to one year.

Enjoy!