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Potato Chip Cookies are an old fashioned favorite that folds finely crushed salty chips into a buttery, shortbread style dough, then finishes each cookie with a milk chocolate drizzle. My grandmother would have loved these, and when I baked a batch *last weekend* Lizzie could not believe the secret ingredient. If you love my buttery shortbread cookies, this is the same melt in your mouth magic with a salty crunch.
Buttery melt in your mouth cookies with a salty potato chip crunch and a milk chocolate drizzle.
Potato Chip Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 12 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 22 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 28 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 137kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery and sweet with a salty chip crunch under a milk chocolate drizzle
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with my shortbread cookies
Quick Answer
Cream softened butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour a little at a time, then mix in the finely crushed potato chips until just combined. Scoop rounded tablespoons, roll them into balls, and bake on an ungreased sheet tray at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges turn lightly golden. Cool the cookies completely, drizzle them with melted milk chocolate, and chill for 10 minutes to set.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Crushed chips replace some of the flour texture. Finely ground potato chips add fat, salt, and crunch to the dough, giving these cookies a delicate, sandy texture no plain shortbread can match.
- No eggs means melt in your mouth. Like classic shortbread, the dough is just butter, sugar, flour, and chips, so the cookies bake up tender and crumbly instead of chewy.
- The salt is built right in. Salted chips season the whole dough evenly, hitting that sweet and salty balance without any extra measuring.
- A food processor makes even crumbs. Grinding the chips fine means they blend through the dough instead of leaving big shards, so every cookie has uniform crunch.
- The chocolate drizzle ties it together. Milk chocolate is sweeter and creamier than dark, which plays perfectly against the salty, buttery cookie underneath.
- A quick chill sets the drizzle fast. Ten minutes in the refrigerator firms the chocolate so the cookies stack and store without smearing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The sweet and salty combination is completely addictive, buttery cookie, salty crunch, creamy chocolate.
- The dough has just five ingredients plus the chips, no eggs and no chilling required.
- They balance sweet and salty like my Butterfinger cookies, but with an old fashioned charm.
Key Ingredients
Five pantry staples plus one salty surprise.
- Potato chips: The secret. Crushed fine in a food processor, they melt into the dough leaving buttery salt and a delicate crunch. Classic salted ridged or plain chips work best.
- Unsalted butter: The base. Softened butter creams into a fluffy dough and delivers that shortbread richness. The chips bring the salt, so unsalted is right here.
- Granulated sugar: The sweetness. Just enough to balance the salty chips without overpowering them.
- All purpose flour: The structure. Added slowly so the dough stays tender, never tough.
- Milk chocolate: The finish. Melted and drizzled over the cooled cookies, it makes them look bakery fancy with almost no work.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This retro cookie loves a good remix.
- Use dark or white chocolate for the drizzle, or dip half of each cookie instead.
- Stir in a half cup of chopped pecans for a turtle style crunch.
- Try ridged barbecue or salt and vinegar chips if you like a bolder salty edge.
- For another nutty classic, my almond cookies are a soft baked favorite.
- Sprinkle the wet drizzle with crushed chips or flaky sea salt for a double salty finish.
How to Make Potato Chip Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cream the softened butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium speed with a hand mixer.
- Add the vanilla and beat to combine, then slowly add the flour a little at a time until fully incorporated.
- Add the finely crushed potato chips and mix until just combined.
- Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased sheet tray, a 1.5 tablespoon scoop makes even cookies.
- Roll the scoops into balls and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden brown.
- Set the sheet tray on a wire rack for 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.
- Drizzle the cooled cookies with the melted milk chocolate and refrigerate for 10 minutes so the chocolate sets. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Crush the chips fine. A food processor gets them to an even crumb that blends through the dough. Big pieces make the cookies crumble apart.
- Measure the chips after crushing. One cup of fine crumbs is the target, which takes about 2 heaping cups of whole chips.
- Use properly softened butter. It should dent with light finger pressure. Too cold and the dough will not cream, melted and the cookies spread flat.
- Add the flour slowly. Mixing it in gradually keeps the dough tender and prevents dry pockets.
- Let the cookies cool before the drizzle. Chocolate on warm cookies soaks in and disappears. On cooled cookies it sets into pretty ribbons.
- Use a fork or piping bag to drizzle. Dip a fork in the melted chocolate and swing it across the cookies, or snip the corner of a zip top bag for cleaner lines.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Stack a cookie tray with these and my oatmeal raisin cookies for old fashioned flavor.
My nutter butter cookies add a peanut butter option to the spread.
For bar cookie fans, my chocolate chip cookie bars slice up beautifully.
And my Reese’s cookies bring the chocolate peanut butter crowd running.
Potato Chip Cookies FAQs
Like a buttery shortbread with a gentle salty crunch and a hint of toasted potato flavor. The chips grind so fine that most people cannot guess the secret ingredient, they just know the cookies are rich, tender, and impossible to stop eating. The milk chocolate drizzle adds a creamy sweetness that ties the salty and sweet together.
Plain salted chips, either classic thin or ridged, are the gold standard. They bring clean salty flavor without competing seasonings. Kettle cooked chips work and add a deeper toasted note. Skip flavored chips like sour cream and onion for the classic version, though barbecue chips make a surprisingly fun variation.
This dough is naturally delicate since it has no eggs, so a few things matter. Crush the chips fine so big shards do not create fault lines, cream the butter and sugar fully so the dough binds, and let the baked cookies rest on the sheet tray for 2 minutes before moving them. They firm up quite a bit as they cool.
Yes. The dough keeps covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, just let it soften slightly before scooping. You can also roll the dough balls and freeze them on a tray, then bag them for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen and add 1 to 2 extra minutes to the bake time.
Once the chocolate drizzle is set, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, with parchment between layers to protect the chocolate. The chips inside stay crisp because they are sealed in the buttery dough. Avoid humid spots on the counter, which can soften that delicate texture.
Yes. Freeze the baked, drizzled cookies in a single layer until solid, then stack them in a freezer container with parchment between layers for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes. The texture holds up beautifully, and honestly a half frozen one with coffee is a treat all by itself.
Made these potato chip cookies? Leave a comment and a star rating below, and tell me if anyone guessed the secret ingredient!
Potato Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup potato chips crushed fine in a food processor
- 4 ounces milk chocolate melted for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium speed with a hand mixer.1 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Add in the vanilla and beat to combine. Slowly add in the flour a little at a time until fully incorporated.1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- Add in the potato chips and mix until just combined.1 cup potato chips
- Drop rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet tray. I used a 1.5 tablespoon scoop for even cookies.
- Roll them into balls and bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden brown on the edges.
- Place the sheet tray on a wire rack and let it cool for 2 minutes before transferring the cookies to cool completely on the wire rack.
- When cookies are cooled, drizzle with melted chocolate, pop in the fridge for 10 minutes so the chocolate can set. Serve and enjoy!4 ounces milk chocolate
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.
- Lays or Ruffles are the best chips to use in this recipe.
- We like to use milk chocolate to balance out the sweet and salty in this recipe, see my tips above.
- You can absolutely double this recipe to bring to parties, to give as gifts, have on hand or keep for later.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- Make sure you finely crust your potato chips, some chunks are fine.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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I rhought that a chocolate potato chip cookie would be a chocolate cookie batter with potato chips incorporated. for this reason, I didn’t make them
You’re too kind, stop! lol
I’m going to have to agree with you. They sound a bit weird, but anything from you is a winner in my book! I’ll bet they are awesome!
You know, I have seen those chocolate covered potato chips, but have never tried them. These do look delicious! I love both the savory and sweet dishes you have been sharing! It is all amazing stuff! Thank you for linking at Snickerdoodle! Love! Pinned.
Chocolate and potoatoe chips? Say what?!
They look yummy! I might give this a try! 🙂
Squeal!!!! these are awesome! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. xo
These look fantastic! Bookmarking for sure.
Oh, and I was thinking they’d taste a lot like chocolate covered potato chips too, Vickie. 🙂
Oh – these look so good! I like the simple list of ingredients, also. I just had my first chocolate covered potato chip this past Christmas and they were do die for! I will bet these cookies taste similar – I can’t wait to try them!