Reflecting on my growing up years and how I’ve come to love cooking, I have vivid recollections of my feeble attempts at making trouble in the kitchen with whatever I could find edible in the pantry to make a sweet fix . I remember breaking a plate when I was making some toffee/fudge with condensed milk but it got too sticky and hardened too fast I couldn’t get it out of the plate.
There was also this instance when I thought I could make some chocolate candy out of a powdered chocolate malt drink, but it too resulted in a hard clump you could skip stones with on water. Serious epic fail on those but, there was one time I made powered milk candies and they were awesome!
These we call polvoron which is very similar to the Mexican polvorones. It’s basically a “dust ball†candy because of the powedered milk, powedered sugar and flour. During parties, polvoron whistling is  almost always included in games since it is impossible to whistle, let alone talk with a mouthful of powdered milk.  It’s a very frugal recipe yet children and adults like this sweet milky treat any day.
Many have capitalized on this due to its popularity and low costing expenses to make. I myself would always buy a pack of these whenever I pass by the cake shops. It’s gotten quite expensive now, but if you make it yourself, you’ll be a happy camper.
It has up-scaled its simplicity as variations have been developed to make it more marketable. I still like the original version but I wouldn’t mind trying something new with it. You can make a big batch of these milk dust ball candies and package them for selling or just for gifting.
Polvoron –
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 cups refined sugar
1 cup butter
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Prepare the japanese paper for the polvoron molds.
2. In a large wok, toast the flour with a wooden spoon. You’ll know that it’s done when you smell that distinctive cooked flavor. (The flour is now dextrinized).
3. Cool down the mixture.
4. Add the powdered milk and sugar.
5. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it is incorporated smoothly into the flour-milk-sugar mixture.
6. Mold into polvoron.
7. Wrap in japanese paper.
8. Store in a cool, dry place.
Yield: around 80 pieces of the standard mould
A healthier option:
1/2 cup powdered skim milk
1-1/3 cup sugar, not confectioners’ sugar
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 bar of refrigerated butter, softened to room temperature
(Just follow the same directions as above to prepare and mould the polvoron)
Rolled Oats Polvoron
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or 1/4 bar
1. Brown rolled oats in a dry pan over low heat. Stir constantly under moderate fire. Cool.
2. Add sugar, powdered milk, melted butter. Mix well and shape in polvoron molds.
3. Wrap in colored paper.
