Nuts give baked goods a nice crunch, but a lot of people are allergic to them.
If you're among those with nut allergies,here's another way to get that crunch in your sweet treats.

Sunday's USA Weekend insert included a recipe for Chips and Dips Cookies, created by Tracy Schuhmacher and her son, Danny, 9, of Rochester, N.Y. Their tip for those who are allergic to nuts: Use pretzels.
"They're crunchy and salty," the mom said in the article. "At first, people were like, 'Are you sure those aren't nuts in there?' You can use them as an alternative in lots of recipes, like dessert crusts."

Schuhmacher's recipe, which also uses potato chips, recently won a contest sponsored by AirBake cooking products.

I did a Google search and found another recipe that uses potato chips in place of nuts - though it's not for someone with nut allergies. But I thought I'd include it, just for the fun of using unusual, salty ingredients in cookie recipes. The latter recipe, by the way, won a Betty Crocker cookie contest.

Chips and Dips Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
½ cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup coarsely crushed potato chips
¾ cup coarsely crushed pretzels
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chips
Preheat oven to 350°
In a medium bowl using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually add the flour and mix well. Stir in crushed potato chips and pretzels. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 3-inch logs. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, 1½ inches apart. Bake 14 – 18 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on baking sheets. Melt semisweet chocolate chips in microwave, 30 seconds at a time, stirring frequently, until completely melted, about 1 minute. Dip one end of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a sheet of waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes. Melt white chips in microwave, 30 seconds at a time, stirring frequently, until completely melted, about 1½ minutes. Dip the other end of each cookie into the melted chips and place on a sheet of waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.
Yield: about 2 dozen.

Chip and Dip Cookies (Cookie Mix)

1 pouch Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
1 cup crushed plain potato chips
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup finely chopped salted mixed nuts

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water, egg and potato chips until soft dough forms. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart; press each ball to flatten slightly. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and peanut butter chips uncovered on high 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and stirred smooth. Dip each cookie halfway into melted chocolate mixture, letting excess drip off. Immediately dip same half into chopped nuts. Place on waxed paper until set, about 1 hour. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.