Butter

Honey-Butter Chip Shortbread Cookies

May  4, 2018
4
28 Ratings
Photo by Rocky Luten
  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Cook time 17 minutes
  • Makes 24 cookies
Author Notes

I used potato chips in the batter to bring out those familiar salty notes, and I applied that unique honey-butter flavor into a glaze, which helpfully acts as a glue for the crunchy topping. —James Park

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: Salty, Sweet Honey-Butter Shortbread Cookies As Addictive As Potato Chips. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the shortbread cookie dough
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2/3 cup crushed potato chips
  • 1 cup cold salted butter
  • For the honey-butter glaze
  • 6 tablespoons melted salted butter
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Add flour, sugar, salt, honey, and potato chips into the food processor. Pulse a few times to mix everything well. Then, add chopped cold butter into the food processor and pulse the food processor several times until the dough comes together.
  3. When the dough comes together, divide it in half. Place each half on a long piece of plastic wrap. Fold plastic over to cover the dough and protect your hands from getting sticky. Using your hands, shape the dough into a log shape by rolling it on a flat surface back and forth. Gently massage the dough so that the log doesn't have any holes or gap in the middle. The dough should form 2 logs that are around 2'' in diameter. Chill the dough in the fridge until it's firm for an hour or more.
  4. When the log is chilled and firm enough to handle, slice each log into 1/2''-thick rounds. Each log should make about 12 cookies. Put sliced rounds on a prepared parchment-lined baking sheet about 1'' apart. Bake them until edges are just beginning to brown for 15-17 minutes. Let them cool.
  5. Make the glaze by whisking melted butter, honey, powdered sugar, salt, and soy sauce.
  6. Dip each cookie into the glaze, not too deep but just on the surface, and set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet or a baking rack. Sprinkle more crushed potato chips on top of glazed cookies to add extra crunch and flavors.
  7. If you want to have extra-flaky textures, you can make this cookie a square shape. Place the dough on a big piece of plastic wrap. Even out the dough, and form the rectangular shape. To shape it more precisely, using a small square casserole dish will help. Wrap the rectangular-shaped dough and chill the dough in the fridge. Bake the rectangular-shaped dough for 30-40 minutes until the edges are golden brown. The baked dough will be soft and fragile. While the dough is still hot, cut a rectangular-shaped dough into individual portion-sized cookies. It should be enough to have 20 pieces by cutting horizontally four times and vertically five times. Let them cool. Dip squared cookies into the glaze and finish them by sprinkling crushed potato chips on top.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Jennifer Uzumcu
    Jennifer Uzumcu
  • Toni Ospitale Brackeen
    Toni Ospitale Brackeen
  • Cecile
    Cecile
  • Melanie Crissey
    Melanie Crissey
  • Laura415
    Laura415

43 Reviews

Kris December 26, 2022
I've made these a few times to rave reviews. This year it was my Christmas cookie to give out and everyone asked for the recipe...that's when you know you have a winner.
 
lab1218 December 10, 2021
If you are getting lacey flat cookies, do not use silipat!! I used silipat for the first batch and they flattened. Used parchment for the 2nd and it worked great.
 
heidi December 4, 2018
This recipe was just sighted in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 901 am Dec. 4th 2018 article as winning in a sweet n salty cookie contest. It notes "the surprise source of saltiness in the cookie, created by Marianne Baseheart of milwaukee is soy sauce".
 
Food September 28, 2019
That's shady. Stealing a recipe for a contest is not cool. It would be different if the recipe was generic, but this recipe is pretty unique.
 
Hobbes August 22, 2018
I added miso not soy sauce
 
Desiree D. July 30, 2018
I LOVED these cookies! A few notes on mine, I found the dough took a couple of minutes to come together in the processor rather than just a few pulses, had my dough in the freezer for an hour, used Kettle brand plain salt chips for mine because I find them more "shatter crisp" than Lays and thought they'd resist sogginess longer, and I honey buttered and chipped half my cookies the night before serving and did the rest on the day to check if they kept well and they were great both ways! I found them easy to transport as just plain shortbread then quickly microwave the honey butter mixture, pastry brush it on and scatter the crushed chips ready to go! Fantastic recipe, I'll definitely be using again!
 
Bakezoid July 9, 2018
So yummy - I followed the recipe and it worked perfectly. I’ve baked and glazed one of the logs and have encountered a problem : too many cookies and I will end up eating them all! How about freezing the second log while I still have some self-discipline? How long do you think it will keep frozen? Thanks for these deliciously unusual cookies!
 
Jennifer U. July 8, 2018
It was a bit crumbly until I added about another 1/2 cup of butter and a dash of water then it all came together. The cookies maintained their shaped and did not spread. The glaze seems to be a touch saltier than I would have expected even though I did not add the extra salt. Chips add a lot of salt on their own so I think most would be ok without adding more salt.
 
skind June 25, 2018
This didn't seem to work at all for me. Even after more than a few pulses, the dough was very crumbly. I followed the recipe exactly and am confused what happened. It wasn't even close to being sticky like it says in the recipe. Any ideas?
 
Toni O. June 25, 2018
Made these this past weekend, and have to say they were a delicious explosion of sweet, buttery and salty! So much so that I brought some to my neighbors so that I wouldn't sit there and eat the entire batch myself. Thank you for this recipe, and let me say this as well: I never go wrong with Food52! Love the site, and love the recipes!
 
Cecile June 14, 2018
Just finished my first batch. Omg! Perfectly delicious! I popped my butter in the freezer for 5 minutes before putting in the processor. It needed more than a few pulses to come together. Really nice dough even raw. I couldn’t really say I could taste the chips in the dough or cookie but you can tell something deliciously different is happening. I only omitted the salt in the glaze with is also delicious! Notice a theme here! Cookies came out picture perfect. Love them a lot! But then you had me at potato chip!
 
James P. June 15, 2018
YAYAYAYAYYA Love me some salty and sweet desserts!
 
Dee D. June 14, 2018
I made these, and they are fantastic. Everyone who ate them, loved them. I make hundreds of cookies at Christmas and these will be at the top of my list. I buy chips solely for these cookies. Who would ever believe there is soy sauce in the glaze. Genius.
Thank you for the recipe.
 
James P. June 15, 2018
Hi Dee Dee! I am SO glad that you gave this a try and liked the cookies. I love these cookies so much! Soy sauce just adds that secret umami flavor to the glaze that makes the cookie a little bit more special in my opinion ;)
 
Carolyn June 14, 2018
Just made these.
Delicious. Thank you !
 
James P. June 15, 2018
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed them, Carolyn!
 
Cecile June 14, 2018
Hmm I hope the recipe works for me. I have everything on hand except the chips using Lays and butter. Going to follow recipe as written. 🤞🏽
 
James P. June 15, 2018
Hi Cecile, let m know if it worked! Make sure the dough is properly chill before you bake :)
 
Melanie C. June 12, 2018
Love this idea but the recipe didn't work for me.

Was excited to try this because I had a leftover bag of Kettle Brand Potato Chips in basic Sea Salt flavor from Memorial Day weekend, but I think the grease from my crushed potato chips wrecked my shortbread dough.

I tried both methods: first cutting cookie rounds and putting them on a cookie sheet and then cutting squares from cookies baked in a small, square casserole dish.

The cookies cut from rounds spread super thin and developed a lacey texture. The cookies from the casserole developed a slightly firmer texture as they cooled, but got nowhere close to firm enough that I could dip them in the soy-butter glaze. They were more like very crumbly blondies.

Give this a shot if you're looking for a challenging experiment, but don't bother if you'd be sad to waste the butter.
 
James P. June 15, 2018
Hi Melanie, did you chill the cookie dough? I had the same problem before I realized the importance of chilling the dough. When I baked the cookies after the dough was properly chilled (the dough should be hard as rocks after chilling in the fridge for at least 2 hours), the cookies didn't spread at all.

I would also suggest leaving the cookies out in a room temperature or chill in the dough so that it becomes firm. If you try to glaze the cookies right after the cookies are baked, they will be too crumbly. But if you let them sit in a room temperature around 10-15 minutes, they will harden and get firm enough to be glazed. Let me know if these work for you!
 
Meghan G. February 17, 2019
Same thing happened to me but I used Classic Lays. I refrigerated them for an hour and a half then put them in the freezer for another hour and a half after slicing them. I ended up with super thin, lacy cookies
 
Laura415 June 11, 2018
I look forward to trying these cookies. I'll probably use my tried and true shortbread cookie recipe using oat flour (traditional for Scottish shortbread) and GF as well). I'll have to think on the chips but one way to get better crispy toppings like this is to do it a little differently. I would still use the glaze on the cookies, but I would bake the chips separately for crispiness. I make a mix of whipped egg whites, with honey or brown sugar and gently fold the chips into it. Bake chips in a 300-degree oven until the chips are flavored and baked crispy. I did this with my Secret Breakfast cornflake topping for cupcakes and it worked fantastically. The cornflakes did not get soggy. I think this technique would help the chips stay crispy. If I can make this by using soy sauce in it I might forget the glaze altogether since it's bound to make things soggy. The recipe is 2-3 egg whites about a tablespoon of sugar and a bit of salt. Whip egg whites well add sugar and salt. Bake until crispy and egg white is dry. 15 min or so. This works great for crispy nut mixes as well. With the cookies, I might try coating the chips and pile them on top of the unbaked cookie and bake them together. The flavor profile for this recipe sounds tasty.
 
Aviva June 12, 2018
So...basically, you’re not making this recipe at all, right?
 
James P. June 15, 2018
Let me know if you try them!
 
Hobbes August 22, 2018
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 @aviva right?
 
Aviva June 10, 2018
These aren’t worth the time. They have no distinguishable flavor, neither salty nor sweet, and the shortbread cookie is dry. Also, the addition of the chips in the cookie was a waste as they provided no additional flavor, and when you put them on top of the glaze, they became soggy. Find another recipe to make.
 
James P. June 15, 2018
Hi Aviva! I am sorry that you didn't enjoy the recipe. I mainly added the chips for the crunch and textures of the cookie, but I can see your point that the chips not adding more flavors. To provide the soggy-ness, you can roughly crush the chips so that they are big wedges.
 
Tara June 8, 2018
What could've happened? I swear I followed the directions perfectly. My cookies spread so much that they all joined up and made one big cookie. Has this happened to anyone else?
 
James P. June 15, 2018
Hi Tara! That happens if you don't chill the dough long enough. Make sure the dough is thoroughly chill and firm. I let it chill in the fridge AT LEAST 2 hours. The cookie log should be as hard as rocks! Let me know if that works for you :)
 
Katie H. June 6, 2018
Is there a butter substitute? Could I use vegan butter?
 
James P. June 6, 2018
Hum.. I've never baked with a butter substitute, but I found this vegan shortbread recipe (https://lovingitvegan.com/small-batch-vegan-shortbread-cookies/) and looks like you can still create that crumbly, delicious shortbread with vegan butter. Let me know if it works!
 
Mimi June 6, 2018
Do you think this would work with barbecue chips? I have some left from a party...
 
James P. June 6, 2018
Hi Mimi! I don't think barbecue chips will work in this particular recipe. The plain, classic potato chips help create that authentic honey-butter, salty-and-sweet flavors, but barbecue chips might overpower that flavor. BUT, speaking of, I may brainstorm to come up with another recipe using barbecue-flavored potato chips!
 
anchillalalala June 5, 2018
What potato chips flavor do you use for this recipe? Is it salty ones or are you using original flavored chips?
 
James P. June 5, 2018
I would use any plain potato chips. Anything that screams classic, salty potato chips would work. I've used Lay's classic potato chips and Trader Joe's classic potato chips for this recipe, and they were perfect!
 
anchillalalala June 6, 2018
Thank you! This indeed looks very appetizing! I can't wait to try making it :)
Last question: what kind of soy sauce did you use? Japanese, Korean, or Chinese soy sauce? They all have different tastes, so I'm afraid if I ended up using the wrong one and ruin the flavor or even make it tastes like senbei :')
 
James P. June 6, 2018
Ah! GREAT question. I would say use any kinds of light, plain soy sauce. I know some Chinese soy sauce has a thicker, deeper flavors which can overpower the glaze, so try to avoid those. I used Korean all-purpose soy sauce for this, and it worked wonders! The point of adding soy sauce is to add that extra salty, umami flavor, so just be sure not to use something light :) Hope you enjoy this!