2 and ? cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1 and ? cups butterscotch chips (I used Nestlé, a 10-ounce by weight bag, not quite 2 cups, but you can use the whole bag if you like lots of chips)
Lisa’s 1st Note: The butter in this recipe should be at room temperature unless you have an un-insulated kitchen and it’s winter in the Midwest. Then you’d better soften it a little.
Hannah’s 1st Note: 5 to 6 cups of whole potato chips will crush into about 2 cups. Crush them by hand in a plastic bag, not with a food processor. They should be the size of coarse gravel when they’re crushed.
Mix the softened butter with the white sugar and the molasses. Beat them until the mixture is light and fluffy, and the molasses is completely mixed in.
Add the vanilla and baking soda. Mix them in thoroughly.
If you haven’t already done so, break the eggs into a glass and whip them up with a fork. Add them to your bowl and mix until they’re thoroughly incorporated.
Put your potato chips in a closeable plastic bag. Seal it carefully (you don’t want crumbs all over your counter) and place the bag on a flat surface. Get out your rolling pin and roll it over the bag, crushing the potato chips inside. Do this until the pieces resemble coarse gravel. You can also crush them with your hands if you prefer.
Measure out 2 cups of crushed potato chips and mix them into the dough in your bowl.
Add one cup of flour and mix it in.
Add the second cup of flour and mix thoroughly.
Add the final half cup of flour and mix that in.
Measure out a cup and a half of butterscotch chips unless you want to use the whole bag. Add the chips to your cookie dough. If you’re using an electric mixer, mix them in at the LOW speed. You can also take the bowl out of the mixer and stir in the chips by hand.
Let the dough sit on the counter while you prepare your cookie sheets.
Spray your cookie sheets with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper, leaving little “ears” at the top and bottom. That way, when your cookies are baked, you can pull the paper, baked cookies and all, over onto a wire rack to cool.
Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto your cookie sheets, no more than 12 cookies on each standard-sized sheet.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I use a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop at The Cookie Jar. It’s faster than doing it with a spoon.
Bake your Butterscotch Crunch Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until nicely browned. (Mine took 11 minutes.)
Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then remove them with a metal spatula. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Yield: Approximately 5 dozen wonderfully chewy, salty and crunchy cookies that are sure to please everyone who tastes them.
Lisa’s 2nd Note: These cookies travel well. If you want to send them to a friend, just stack them, roll them up in foil like coins, and cushion the cookie rolls between layers of styrofoam peanuts, or bubble wrap.
CHEESE POPS
8-ounce package brick-style cream cheese (NOT whipped! I used Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the silver package.)
8 ounces bleu cheese, crumbled 8-ounce by weight package bacon pieces (I used 6-ounce Hormel Real Bacon Bits—it worked just fine)
2 teaspoons ground paprika Small bag of medium thin salted pretzel sticks (I used part of a 16-ounce bag of Synder’s Family Size Stick Pretzels)
Hannah’s 1st Note: Since you only use a dozen pretzel sticks in this recipe and I bought a family-size bag, I had a lot left over. Ross ate some when he watched one of the TV movies he made and so did I. Then I made Pretzel Patties with the rest and both of us took them to work.
Unwrap the package of cream cheese and place it in the bottom of a medium-sized microwave-safe mixing bowl.
Crumble or cut up the bleu cheese in small bits and put it on top of the cream cheese.
Place the bowl in the microwave and heat on HIGH for 30 seconds.
Leave the bowl in the microwave for 1 minute, then take it out and try to stir the cream cheese in with the bleu cheese. (I used a heat-resistant spatula to do this.)
If the cheeses are too stiff to combine, return them to the microwave and heat on HIGH for an additional 20 seconds. Repeat as often as necessary until the mixture is well combined and there are no big lumps.
Set the bowl on the counter and cool to room temperature. Then place the bowl in the refrigerator for 2 hours to chill thoroughly.
Once the cheese mixture has chilled, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and set it on the kitchen counter.
Set a flat pan with sides on the counter next to the bowl with the cheese mixture. (I used a rectangular plastic container.) Line that container with a layer of wax paper.
Divide the cheese mixture into four equal parts.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: Each quarter of the cheese mixture will make 3 cheese pops. You will have a dozen Cheese Pops when you finish assembling them.
Divide each quarter of the cheese mixture into thirds. You will have twelve parts in all.
**Wash your hands thoroughly. Then wet them again and partially dry them on a clean towel. You will be rolling cheese balls and this is easier with slightly moistened hands.
Roll the cheese balls and place them on the piece of wax paper in the pan or container. Leave at least an inch of space surrounding each ball. If you don’t do this, they’ll stick together.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: My container was not that large and I needed a second layer to contain all my cheese balls. If this happens to you, simply tear off another piece of wax paper and place it between the layers.
Refrigerate the cheese balls for another 2 hours. (Overnight is fine, too.)
Once your cheese balls have re-chilled, take them out of the refrigerator.
Put your bacon crumbles or bits into a small shallow bowl and mix in the 2 teaspoons of paprika.