I ran across this recipe online about a week ago. It sounded different and easy to make, which it is. The cookies are that perfect combination of sweet and salty, and the recipe describes them as “crispy edged, slightly custardy in the center, and deeply potato-y.”
Adding the main ingredient involved the horrific act of crushing a brand new bag of potato chips. Safeway didn’t have the plain Ruffles used in the recipe, so we had to get a larger bag of chips with wider ridges. That meant we could skim off nearly five whole ounces of chips to eat as nature intended. Dorothy and I tried to save as many large chips as possible.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t save them all. I added the chips to the mixing bowl, crushing each handful with care. The goal was to leave them in large pieces rather than grind them into dust. This is where the Ruffles would have excelled. They would have broken more easily along their famous ridges, resulting in the look and feel of shredded potatoes.
The only other ingredients are sweetened condensed milk, melted butter, and an egg. All we have is unsalted butter, so that’s what I used. The recipe developer prefers to use salted butter to really showcase the contrast between salty and sweet. I’d like to make them at least once with salted butter to taste the difference.
The mix was loose, but sticky. It took a bit of work to shape the ‘batter’ into cookie form. The parchment paper sliding around didn’t help. Next time, I’ll ‘glue’ the papar down with the sticky mix. I made the mistake of eschewing the two spoon method used in the recipe in favor of using a portioning scoop. The ‘dough’ is far too chunky.
Baking time, according to the recipe, ranged from 12 to 14 minutes. I baked the first sheet of six for 12 minutes and they turned out too dark. I baked the second and third sheets for only 10 minutes. They have golden peaks and edges with a bottom that’s evenly browned and slighty caramelized. They softened a little overnight, making them less of a gum hazard, but no less tasty.