My saturated fat-addled mind has been dreaming of these chocolate-dipped chips for a long time.
Well, to be accurate, I dreamed of Lay’s Original Potato Chips and Lay’s Kettle Cooked Potato Chips dipped in chocolate. However, even though it ended up being Lay’s Wavy Potato Chips dipped in milk chocolate, my saturated fat-addled mind is still happy.
Actually, to be even more accurate, my dreams didn’t involve the chips being dipped into chocolate, instead the chips were anthropomorphic and they wrestled in a Spongebob Squarepants kiddie pool of melted chocolate surrounded by cheering anthropomorphic crunchy snacks. At the end of the match, the cracked, chocolate-dripping loser would march into my mouth and the chocolate-dripping winner would battle another potato chip.
The Lay’s Wavy Original Potato Chips Dipped in Milk Chocolate don’t look like they were wrestling in a small inflatable pool because the chips are mostly coated on one side. Anyone who’s grappled with an opponent in a kiddie pool knows it’s impossible to not get completely covered in whatever is in the pool. It’s a thick layer of chocolate that gives each chip a noticeable heft.
Frito-Lay was correct in using their Lay’s Wavy Potato Chips. Their thickness doesn’t cause their crunch to get dampened by the chocolate like they probably would’ve with the thinner Lay’s Original Potato Chips. The milk chocolate was sweet and I loved the way it instantly melted in my mouth the moment it hit my tongue, as if my saliva was molten lava.
For a brief moment the chocolate’s sweetness and potato chip’s crunchiness made me happy, but there no epic unclasping-of-a-bra-like euphoria that makes my innards scream, “YES!” Instead, there’s a Wonderbra-like disappointment, because they aren’t as awesome as I imagined them to be in my mind. The whole point of combining chocolate with potato chips is to create that pleasing sweet and salty combo, but with most of the chips I ate, I felt they were significantly more sweet than salty and the potato flavor couldn’t cut through the sweetness.
Salt plays a huge part in what makes potato chips so addictive, but my taste buds didn’t regularly register any. And for those times I did, it wasn’t as potent as I hoped it would be. I think I can get a more pronounced saltiness on my tongue if I ran in place for 20 seconds and then licked myself.
Besides the lack of salt, another issue is the sticker shock. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s really packaging shock, which is then followed by sticker shock. Each bag comes with five ounces of chocolate dipped chips, but that bag is the same size as the smallest bag of Lay’s Potato Chips (1 7/8 oz.) I could find at my nearest convenience store. Yes, chocolate is heavier than deep fried potato slices, but I’m pretty sure most people who see the bag will think, “Wow. That’s a small bag.” Then they’ll look at the price and maybe have some hesitation about purchasing it.
I know it sounds like I’m not thrilled by these Lay’s Wavy Potato Chips Dipped in Milk Chocolate, but I did enjoy making my way through the bag, getting chocolate all over my hands. They’re really good, but they didn’t blow my mind. But I think that’s my fault, because my saturated fat-addled mind had such high expectations of them.
A special thanks goes to Impulsive Buy reader Johnny who sent me two bags.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 oz./about 4 chips – 160 calories, 80 calories from fat, 9 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 milligrams of sodium, 130 milligrams of potassium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.)
Item: Limited Edition Lay’s Wavy Original Potato Chips Dipped in Milk Chocolate
Purchased Price: $3.49
Size: 5 oz. bag
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Really good. It’s frickin’ milk chocolate dipped potato chips! Use of Lay’s Wavy chips helped prevent the crunch from being dampened by the chocolate. Love the way the chocolate instantly melted on my tongue.
Cons: Most chips were significantly more sweet than salty. Target exclusive. Serving size is about 4 chips. Potato flavor couldn’t break through the sweetness. Potential buyers might have packaging shock, then followed by sticker shock. The dreams my saturated fat-addled mind has.