Seven Layers of Sin Bars

I’ve come across another awesome baking book: The Sugar Cube!  The recipes in this book are totally up my alley, with flavor combinations with big personalities – my favorite being the sweet and salty combination. I’m obsessed with combining sweet and salty, and not in a subtle “salted caramel” sort of way, but the in your face, “potato chip cupcakes” sort of way.  Surprisingly (and by surprisingly I mean, not so surprisingly) I decided to start with the Seven Layers of Sin Bars that included potato chips. I changed the recipe a bit by swapping the graham cracker crust with Ritz crackers!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Seven Layers of Sin Bars

Adapted from The Sugar Cube and Momofuku Milk Bar

Ingredients

1 ½ cups shredded coconut

1 cup salted, roasted cashews

110g Ritz crackers

½ cup sugar

¼ cup milk powder

7 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups crushed ruffled potato chips

¼ cup toffee bits

1 can sweetened condense milk

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast shredded coconut by spreading on a cookie sheet and baking in oven for about 7 minutes (keep an eye on it!).  Set aside.

2.  Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.

3.  Roughly chop cashews and set aside.

4.  Put Ritz crackers in a bag and crush with a rolling pin.  Add sugar and milk powder and mix in a bowl.  Add butter, mix, and press into the bottom of the baking pan.

5.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips, then cashews, then coconut, then potato chips, and then toffee bits.

6.  Drizzle with condensed milk.

7.  Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for another 10 minutes.  Cool before cutting.

Toasted coconut.

Ritz layer.

Chocolate layer.

Cashew layer.

Coconut layer.

Potato chip layer.

Toffee bits layer.

Topped with condensed milk.

After baking.

Verdict: These bars were awesome! I brought them to work and my colleagues loved them.  My friends loved them even more!  Even those who don’t like coconut really enjoyed them.  I obviously liked the salty-sweet combo.  This recipe is so easy to put together with a huge impact.

Potato Chip Rice Crispy Squares

I love the combination of sweet and salty.  I used to have dessert at the same time as my meal so that I could alternate between sweet and salty.  So when I came across this post, I was inspired! Rice crispy treats made of Doritos potato chips sounded interesting, but I wanted to start with something a bit safer: potato chip rice crispy squares.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Potato Chip Rice Crispy Squares

Ingredients

¼ cup butter

5 cups mini marshmallows

½ teaspoon vanilla syrup

3 cups crispy rice cereal (such as Rice Crispies)

3 cups crushed potato chips

Directions

1.  In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat.

2.  Add marshmallows and melt.

3.  Take off heat and add vanilla syrup. Stir.

4.  Optional – throw a handful of marshmallows and stir if you want chunks of semi-melted marshmallows.

5.  Add rice cereal and potato chips and stir until evenly coated in marshmallows.

6.  Transfer to a baking dish and pat down with a spatula. Cool completely before cutting.

Verdict: These were great! They really hit the spot for the sweet and salty craving.  They were very addictive, so be careful!  I’m thinking of incorporating other salty snacks to kick up the saltiness – pretzels, Ritz crackers, Bugles?

Potato Chip Cookies – 2 ways

Sleepover time for my friend’s birthday party! We even got matching pajamas for the event!

I was asked to make potato chip cookies as I had made them once before and they were a hit.  I came across another recipe, and wanted to see how they compared.  Potato chip cookie recipe showdown!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Potato Chip Cookie Recipe #1

Adapted from here.

Yields 16 cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

½ cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup toffee bits

¾ cup crushed rippled potato chips

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

2. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.

3. Mix in flour and salt just until combined.

4. Mix in pecans, toffee bits, and potato chips.

5. Scoop with an ice cream scoop and place on a tray.  Refrigerate overnight. (This is a standard procedure that I do with all my cookies to help with caramelization and flavor, but the original recipe didn’t call for this. Feel free to bake immediately.)

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges brown a bit.  Cool on baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a rack.

Cookies #1 after baking.

Cookies #2 after baking.

Potato Chip Cookie Recipe #2

Adapted from here.

Yields 24.

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, room temperature

¾ cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 ¼ cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

4 cups coarsely crushed rippled potato chips, divided in half

½ cup pecans

1/3 cup toffee bits

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

2. Beat in vanilla and eggs.

3. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt just until combined.

4. Mix in 2 cups of the potato chips, pecans, and toffee bits

5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dough and drop into a plate of the remaining chips. Roll around to coat.  Place on a tray and refrigerate overnight. (This is a standard procedure that I do with all my cookies to help with caramelization and flavor, but the original recipe didn’t call for this. Feel free to bake immediately.)

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 13-14 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a rack.

Verdict: The first recipe made crumbly and crispy cookies, while the second recipe made cookies that were similar to a chocolate chip cookie – chewy with lots of caramelization.  Although they were both tasty, I preferred the first recipe because I liked the crumbly texture and the potato chip flavor came out better since there wasn’t any brown sugar to mask it.  The boyfriend liked them equally and when I asked him which one he preferred, he said “same-ish”.  One of girls liked the second recipe better.  I guess it depends on your preference!