Last year, we entered Kettle Brand Chips’ the People’s Choice Create-a-Chip Challenge. Our inspiration was a fully loaded baked potato: sour cream, chives, shredded Cheddar cheese and bacon.

Fifty-four other people had the same idea, and Fully Loaded Baked Potato was the winner.

The final recipe—the 15th in the current main line of chips (see all the flavors)—used green onion instead of chives and a smoky flavor substituted for the bacon. A year ago we received our reward: a bag of the chips (we really could have used an iPad…).

KETTLE BRAND BAKES, BAKED POTATO CHIPS

Now a year later, Kettle Brand has relaunched its Kettle Brand Bakes line with updated packaging and two new flavors: Sour Cream & Onion and Cheddar & Roasted Tomato. We received a bag of each, along with a bag of Sea Salt, and they are delicious (the Bakes line also includes Sea Salt & Vinegar and Hickory Honey Barbeque).

The flavors are excellent and the texture seems to be a tiny bit thicker than we remember: a much crunchier chip. Here’s the secret: Kettle Brand Bakes are the only baked chip made from whole slices of potatoes. Other baked chips and “crisps” (the British term for potato chips) on the market use dehydrated potato pulp and flakes. Really!

Oven toasting, rather than frying, also adds to the hearty crunch.

These crunchy, golden baked chips are one of our very lines. Kettle Brand uses all-natural ingredients and non-GMO potatoes. Kettle Brand is certified kosher by KOF-K.

NO ADDED SUGAR

We also like the seasonings in the Bakes line. The three flavors we tasted had no added sugar. While we respect the complex flavor mixes that Kettle Brand uses, we don’t enjoy even a hint of added sweetness on our potato chips (except in flavors where it naturally belongs, such as Barbeque and Honey Dijon and the Bakes line Hickory Honey Barbeque). So much sugar is, alas, added to “savory” foods in the U.S. that the line between savory and sweet has become blurred.

If you like the sweetness, why is this a problem? We don’t need extra sugar in our diets—neither the empty carbs nor the calories. In addition, the unnecessary sweetness trains the palate to want everything sweeter and sweeter. Here’s an article from WebMD.com on sugar’s effects on health.

Here’s more information about Kettle Brand. The Bakes line is available in 4 ounce bags for a suggested retail price of $3.39 at select retailers nationwide, and online at BuyKettleChips.com.

Find more of our favorite snack foods.