Polvoron with Roasted Macadamia Nuts

One of my favorite treats is polvoron, a Filipino shortbread made from flour, sugar, milk, butter, and nuts. I have been making polvoron ever since I was a little girl growing up in the Philippines. I learned how to make polvoron from my sister, who learned how to make it from my mom. Back home, we would use peanuts to add flavor to these treats. When I decided to make polvoron, I noticed I was out of peanuts. I substituted the peanuts for some macadamia nuts and the flavor still reminded me of my original family recipe.

Its soft and powdery texture is sweet delight.

Ingredients
4 tbs. Butter
1 1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Powdered Milk
1/2 Cup Macadamia Nuts
Cookie Cutter Mold of Your Choice

Steps
In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Combine the flour, sugar, and powdered milk into the pan. Begin mixing everything together.

The ingredients should begin to clump into small grains. Now, the idea is to try to grind these grains into a fine powder. I just keep on mixing and crushing the grains at the same time.

Another way to grind the grains is to take a wire flour sifter and press the grains through the mesh. The fine powder should fall through. This will take some time, but be patient and keep working at it.

In another frying pan, place in the macadamia nuts over medium heat. Let them roast until they are golden brown. Let them cool off. After they’ve been cooled, place them in a ziplock bag. Find something to crush them into small chunks. Once you have the chunks, mix them into the polvoron.

After you add in the macadamia nuts you are essentially finished. You can serve the polvoron in small bowls, but if you have time, you can mold the “dough” into a circle cookie cutter to give it some shape. When using a cookie cutter, just be sure to pack in the polvoron very tightly because if you don’t, the shape won’t hold and you’ll be left with just unshaped polvoron powder. The last step is to carefully transfer the shaped polvoron onto a plate and you’re done.

I don’t usually shape my polvoron into molds because sometimes I have a hard time getting the polvoron to hold its shape. There are polvoron molds available to make things easier for you, but I haven’t found one in store nearby. Don’t worry, polvoron tastes great even if you don’t get a chance to shape them.