Cookies and Cream Polvoron

Polvoron is a powdery Philippine sweet. It is Spanish in origin (polvo is Spanish for "powder"). The original Spanish polvoron is a flaky, soft, rich, shortbread-type cookie made with flour, lard or vegetable shortening, powdered sugar and cinnamon. The dough is refrigerated, then rolled out, cut and baked. The Philippine version is very different, being made of a mixture of toasted flour, powdered milk, sugar, and melted butter. Other ingredients like pinipig, chocolate cookies or chopped nuts may be added. The mixture is molded into oval or round shapes with a polvorera (a special mold which allows the formed sweets to be discharged easily without crumbling). Once molded, polvoron is wrapped in cellophane or Japanese paper. The sweet powder may also be used to fill small barquillos (rolled cookies) for a cookie called barqueron.

Toasted flour

Powdered milk

Sugar

Chocolate cookies

Butter

Cookies and Cream Polvoron

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup powdered milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup crushed chocolate cookies
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup butter, melted

Toast flour until brown in color while stirring constantly. In a bowl, combine the toasted flour, powdered milk, sugar and chocolate cookies Add melted butter and mix well. Using oval or round-shaped polvoron molder, mold and wrap individually in colored Japanese paper or cellophane.

* Do not crush the chocolate cookies finely or its color would dominate your polvoron. You want the polvoron to look like the classic polvoron with specks of cookies