Potato Chip Cookies

The other night The Chef and I had some friends over for dinner, and in accordance with polite dinner conversation, we discussed what foods we cannot eat due to severe illness following consumption of said food. I was most horrified at my friend John's confession that for him, it's kettle chips. I cannot even type that without feeling sad for him. Kettle chips are nothing but pure salty crunchy goodness and although I don't eat them often, when I do, I am thankful kettle chips exist. Perhaps if the chips were hidden in a delicious crispy cookie, John could once again lead a normal life.

My mom used to make these for me as a kid and I loved the novelty of them, loved telling people the secret ingredient...now, I love baking them because they are seriously delicious. It's best to give these away as soon as they are baked--unless it's not a concern of yours to consume several dozen cookies in a 24 hour period. Crisp sugar cookie meets salty chips....mmmmmmm.

For about 2 dozen cookies:

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1¼ cups flour
• ¾ cups finely crushed kettle chips
• ¾ cups finely chopped raw pecans
• Extra granulated sugar and butter for flattening the cookies

In a mixer, cream butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Add flour, chips and pecans and mix until thoroughly combined. Form the dough into 1½ inch balls and place 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Place about a half cup of extra sugar in a bowl and grease the bottom of a drinking glass with butter. Dip the glass into sugar and flatten each ball of dough, dipping back into the sugar each time.

Bake in the center of the oven at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes until the edges are just barely golden. Cool for a minute on the baking sheets, then, cool completely on a wire rack.