Can you guess what's inside?

The cookies I brought to the Cookie Exchange are dubbed "Mystery Ingredient* Cookies". The way it works is if ever you bake these to give away, don't tell what the Mystery Ingredient is - see if people can guess...I remember the first time I had them, I found them most delicious and quite addictive...and I had a heck of a time figuring out what the mystery ingredient was. These cookies are very tasty - light (in texture - not light in calories!), crispy and buttery good. They're something between a shortbread and a sugar cookie...

Some tips and comments before I post the recipe:

1. I use a food processor to make crumbs of the mystery ingredient
2. These cookies do suffer "spread" problems - I found rolling the dough into cylinders and storing in the freezer worked well - When ready to bake, I take a frozen roll out, slice it up and put the cookies in the oven with the dough still frozen. I also tend to bake for less time than called for in the recipe.
3. Almond Extract makes for a nice variation in place of the Vanilla.

Now then. The cookies are as follows:

Mystery Ingredient* Cookies

1 pound Butter, softened to room temperature
(that's right folks, we start these out right with a full pound of sweet cream butter!)
1 cup Granulated Sugar
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups crushed mystery ingredient*
(worry not, it will be revealed in good time)
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Powdered/Confectioner's Sugar for garnish

Method:
Cream together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and stir until combined. Add flour, then crushed mystery ingredient*, mix just until combined. Shape dough into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten slightly (with a fork dipped in cold water, or your palm or other mushing device of your choice - I prefer to skip this step and I also recommend chilling the dough to set it up a bit). Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 20 minutes (I've gone as low as 10 minutes for bake time on these cookies - be sure to keep an eye on em!). You'll want to watch them closely in the oven, as they burn easily. The cookie should just start to turn golden around the edges and the top should still be light colored when they’re finished. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan until set, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. When cooled, sift powdered sugar over cookies - if you want em really fancy, do your sifting over a stencil. Store in an airtight container, with layers of waxed paper or foil between layers of cookies.

Yield: Approximately 7-8 dozen small cookies

*Mystery Ingredient: give up yet? It's Potato Chips! Incidentally, to get 2 cups of crushed potato chips, it's a good portion of a large bag of chips from the store - I have been using Lay's Deli-style chips for my cookies....just make sure you don't use any of the flavored varieties!