After a lot of introspection, I’ve realised that there are very very very few cakes I love. I know it sounds odd, but I don’t love any and all cake. I love pies, brownies, cookies, tarts, blondies, bars, you get the drift. All that being said, I love experimenting and baking cakes, in all shapes and sizes, and worry not, I shall continue to do so! I haven’t quite mastered layering and the tapestry of it all, but I always remind myself that the joy of baking is in the baking itself, and creating a unique piece of my heart.
Most of the time, I don’t end up eating any of the cake I’ve made (exceptions include tasting the batter, frosting, etc while assembling, but rarely stretching to the end product) – but I am known to sneak cookie crumbs (cough cough whole cookies).
Wait, what?
Potato Chips? In a cookie?
With Chocolate?
So bad, it’s good!
I adore the idea of a little bit of salt in my desert, and even more my favourite additions like popcorn – so this time, it’s another all time classic – potato chips! Inspired by @smittenkitchen’s potato chip cookies, these ones are elevated for the festive season at hand, by the addition of a chocolate glaze a la jackson pollock (yes, I’m rather artistic). I tried a dozen of the cookie without the chocolate – but (shockingly) preferred it with the chocolate (yeah, like duh). There’s a fine line on these delicate cookies between too much and too little chocolate – so try and follow your gut and not that trigger happy hand while pouring the chocolate!
Another wonderful feature (which I initially thought was a mistake in the recipe) is that it contains no rising agents aka baking soda and/or baking powder. This is pure old school cookie magic of butter, sugar, vanilla and flour. Ooh yeah, and potato chips! So here it is, the recipe for Potato Chip Cookies with Chocolate Glaze a.k.a. Magic Cookies. Why Magic Cookies? Because any cookie that delivers crunchy, buttery, salty, and yet sweet, satisfying every corner of your palate perfectly has got to be called Magic Cookies!
- 225 grams butter, at room temperature (Amul butter works just fine. If you use unsalted, add 1/4-1/2 tsp salt)
- 1 cup caster sugar, divided into 1/2 cup measures
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped and toasted walnuts
- 1/2 cup finely crushed potato chips (approximately one 50gm bag of Lay's Classic Salted)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 100 grams dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa), finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon crushed potato chips
- 1 1/2 teaspoons maldon sea salt
- Preheat your oven to 175*c . Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat and set aside. In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), cream together the butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar until lightly and fluffy, which will take approximately 4-5 minutes on medium speed. Mix in the vanilla and salt, if using, until smooth, for another minute. Add the walnuts, 1/2 cup crushed potato chips and flour together and mix until just combined, hardly 30-40 seconds (make sure not to over mix at this stage.
- Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Scoop a tablespoon-sized mound of dough and form it into a small ball with the palms of your hands. A cookie scoop really helps with this step, so use one if you have it. Roll the ball in the remaining sugar until coated. Place on prepared baking sheet and using slightly flatten the cookies. I have these cute 'Homemade' stamps that I used to press them down, but it doesn't really help since the text doesn't hold once baked and in any case, there's going to be a chocolate glaze. But yes, it is great fun to stamp them anyway!
- These cookies only need to be an inch apart as they don't spread exponentially.
- Bake cookies until lightly golden at the edges, about 15 minutes. Do not wait for the entire cookie to get golden, as they will become too hard and dry and biscuity by this time. Let rest for 10 minutes on the tray before transferring to cool completely on a wire rack. Glaze and sprinkle with the potato chip salt once completely cool (or else the chocolate will melt and get very very messy).
- Shift the cookies back onto a parchment line cookie sheet.
- For the chocolate glaze, melt chocolate with butter, in short bursts in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Dip a fork into the melted chocolate and go all jackson pollock while decorating with the dripping chocolate. Sprinkle with the potato chip salt mix decoratively and let it dry slightly before moving the cookie sheet to the fridge to harden completely. Store either in the fridge or in a cookie box.
