GRAND RAPIDS – Next time you’re at the store, grab a bag of potato chips in order to make cookies.

There is such a thing as potato chip cookies and Emily Laubenthal has the recipe that has been handed down from her grandmother.

The Potato Chip Cookie recipe is not very common, and it holds a special spot in her heart, she said.

Laubenthal said she got the recipe from her grandmother, Luanne Schaller, when she went into a nursing home.

“It was her favorite recipe to make, and it just is absolutely delicious,” she said.

Laubenthal is a senior at Perrysburg High School, and she said she’s been baking since she was little.

“I used to bake with my grandma, and I would cook with my mom all the time,” she said.

“Not many people have had potato chip cookies. It’s a very simple recipe. Some people don’t understand the recipe until they try it, but it is a really good sweet and salty flavor,” Laubenthal said.

She said any plain potato chip will do but she uses Lay’s.

“I like to bake because it brings me close to my grandma and memories I have of waking up with all the fresh baked cookies and bread,” Laubenthal said.

She said her cakes could use some improvement, but she enjoys baking cookies and cupcakes and has tried breads.

Laubenthal said she found an Etsy shop that sells a dehydrated sourdough starter from the Black Plague, so she got it and rehydrated it.

The Black Plague, also called the Black Death, hit Europe in 1347 and claimed 25 million lives in just four years.

“It’s been an active sourdough starter since then and people have found it and revived it and are now selling it. They claim it’s from the Black Plague, but who knows,” she said.

Laubenthal said she likes baking by herself but prefers to cook with her sister, Lillian Otis, as she knows how to use spices.

She said while she has learned traditional recipes from her mom, she is learning from her sister how to incorporate assorted flavors.

Laubenthal said she prefers baking as it is very specific with the ingredients but there also some leeway where she can take a family recipe and make it more modern.

She said with the Potato Chip Cookies she may add frosting or a different seasoning – all trial and error.

All of her grandma’s recipes are in bulk, so Laubenthal simply buys a bag of potato chips and crushes the whole bag because when she makes the cookie, like her grandma, she makes a lot.

She gives her mistakes to the squirrels, just like her grandmother used to.

“All of my mess-up cookies that I don’t think are going to be the best cookies, I put in a bag and feed it to the squirrels. The squirrels enjoy them,” Laubenthal said.

She plans to attend Owens Community College this fall and study health care. She said she currently works in a nursing home in Maumee, and she loves it.

Laubenthal competes in the shotput and disc toss in track and field at the high school and is president of the American Sign Language Club. She does College Credit Plus classes through Owens.