A holiday cookie with some crunch: potato chip pecan sandies

Yes, it is that time isn't it? The days are darker, danker, and there does seem to be the feel of "finality" about us, as the year is drawing to a close. For me, it is usually a rather melancholy period, interspersed with as much fun time as I can fit in. Parties, concerts, celebrations, and an attempt to bring in BRIGHT colors, like citrussy oranges and yellows (from Kim , the Citrus Bomb, and Sandra, the artichoke Queen, of course). It's also the time of year when Annalena's baking bug takes over, she goes on automatic pilot, and creates in the vicinity of 40-50 different types of cookies. Crazy woman, she is, isn't she?

Well, this is one of the favorites. I had seen a demo of cookies with potato chips in them, on television, many years ago, and thought of them as just an amusing aside. Then, I found this recipe. It's essentially a pecan sandy, made more crispy by the addition of the chips. And it's really good. I truly love pecan sandy cookies. I don't eat many of them, and if Emily found out I ate one, it probably means ten more crunches, but here they are.

You start with two sticks of unsalted butter, that you let get soft. I tend to leave them out overnight, because I know they'll be soft that way, but if your apartment is especially warm, you won't need that much time. Also, collect a half cup of granulated sugar, and then put some more in a b owl. You also need - NEED is a good word - a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Use the good stuff, none of this vanillin crap. Also 2 cups of all purposes flour and a half cup of ground pecans. You can buy these. If you are going to grind them yourself, here's a tip: put the half cup of pecans in the food processor with the flour, and pulse. That keeps them from getting too oily, and you're going to mix them together anyway.

AH, the chips. You need to make enough potato chip crumbs, to fill half a cup. You can do that in the food processor (after you've taken the flour/nuts out) or in a p lastic bag that you pound, pound pound. Dont' go crazy with them. Too many chips makes an oily cookie.

Now, the mixing. I use a stand mixer, but you can do this by hand. Beat the sugar and butter together, until the are really REALLY creamy. The color will lighten. Plan on five minutes for this. Then add the vanilla, then the flour, the pecans and the chips, and just stir them together. I like to add half a teaspoon of salt, but you don't have to.

Now, preheat your oven to 350, and start shaping little balls of dough onto parchment lined bakingsheets. I try to make em small, and I wind up with lots of sheets of the stuff. Maybe 24 to a baking sheet, six rows of four. Then, put each ball of dough into that bowl of sugar to get some on it, and press each one down, slightly, with the bottom of a glass.

Bake the guys for about 12 minutes. If you do two sheets at a time, know that one part of your oven is hotter than the other, and if you know which part it is (you'll find out soon enough), you should put another sheet under the cookie sheet to protect it. After 6 minutes, rotate the sheets. Put the bottom tray on the top shelf, and vice versa, and also rotate so the back becomes the front.

They won't get very brown - they're not supposed to (sandies never do). Get em out of the oven and leave em alone until they cool fully. It will take about half an hour.

If you make them small, you'll get nearly 60 cookies. That's a good haul, when you're making a lot of cookies, and you want people to have an assortment. Of course, as one friend told me, small ones are good for putting in a cereal bowl and eating with milk .

Whatever. Make some cookies. 'Tis the season