Introducing the classiest potato chips you’ll ever meet: the windowpane chip. Instagram and Pinterest users alike are obsessed with this photogenic snack, featuring herbs and edible flowers between two crispy layers of chip—creating a perfectly-translucent, stained-glass potato window (hence the name).
Martha Stewart, the trendsetter she is, originally developed her own windowpane potato chips in 2017, and now they're making their way around home food blogs. Chefs and home cooks on Instagram are experimenting different herbs and flowers to create the most flavorful, picture-worthy recipe. Here's how to try it out for yourself.
How to Make Windowpane Potato Chips at Home
Making potato chips from scratch seems daunting if it's your first time, but the recipe is actually nothing to stress about: Slice a potato (or multiple) into very thin pieces. You'll stack them on top of each other in pairs, so you want them literally paper thin—a mandoline works best for this, but you can use a sharp chef's knife, too. Line a baking sheet with parchment brushed with melted butter or oil (this ensures both sides of the potato chips come out satisfyingly crispy), rinse and dry the cut potatoes, and line up half of the slices.
Next, place your herbs and/or edible flowers on top to decorate—popular options include parsley, dill, and rosemary, but use whatever savory flavors you prefer. Some chip chefs use small portions of dried herbs to create patterns and designs, while others keep it simple with one leaf or petal.
If you’re working with herbs that have thick stems, like thyme or rosemary, or edible flowers that won’t lie flat, remove the stems and cut them down a bit. Opting for smaller herbs with softer, flat stems (basil, cilantro, parsley), makes the process just a little easier.
Once you’re happy with the look, stack the other half of the potato slices on top of the first layer. Add another drizzle of melted butter or oil, and sprinkle on salt, pepper, and your favorite spices or seasonings to taste. Social media creators have gone with herb mixes, garlic, and chili flakes.
To make sure the two separate potato slices adhere to each other, you need to weigh down your baking sheet. Set another baking sheet with a cast-iron skillet, dried beans, rice, or pie weights to help press the potato slices flat as they cook.
Bake at around 250 degrees for 30 minutes—edible flowers lose less color when cooked at lower temperatures. Flip the chips halfway through. For an air fryer, around 20 to 25 minutes at 200 degrees gets you a good crisp (but you’ll still need a weight).
Instagram creator @dakotaovdan posted a video demonstrating the chip-cooking process she perfected over a few tries, and it's received over 18,000 likes. She advised that the chips must be fully dehydrated for the windowpane effect to work and discovered that doing two separate bakes achieves the best crunch: She puts them in the oven for 15 minutes, takes them out to let them cool, then puts them back in for 30 minutes. After the second bake, she removes the chips that look done, and lets the others continue cooking, checking in consistently.