This is your next cookie obsession!
Modern Filipino Polvorons combine traditional Filipino shortbread with contemporary flavors. This crumbly, indulgent cookie is crafted from toasted flour, butter, and powdered milk, and transformed into yummy flavors like Fruity Pebbles, Strawberry Shortcake, and Biscoff.
This recipe will teach you how to make the base polvoron dough, which you can then use to create Fruity Pebbles Polvoron, Strawberry Shortcake Polvoron, or Biscoff Polvoron, and more.
Follow our easy step-by-step instructions and indulge in the taste of modern-day Filipino polvoron cookies!
If you love easy and delicious desserts, check out our recipes for Pandan Coconut Rice Krispie Treats, Candied Strawberries (Tanghulu), and Mini Hachiya Persimmon Float!
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Table of Contents
Introduction to Polvoron
Filipino polvorons are simple, straightforward shortbread cookies made with just a handful of ingredients – flour, powdered milk, sugar, salt, and either shortening or butter. While the texture is dry and crumbly, it has a pleasant mouthfeel, and the base flavor is light, buttery, and toasty.
These cookies are available in a wide variety of flavors and sizes. Among the most well-known in America are the Goldilocks polvorons, which come in both regular and mini sizes, with flavors such as original, pinipig, cashew, ube, coffee crunch, and Oreo cookie.
Growing up in America, whenever it was my Lolo’s turn to babysit, he would take us to Goldilocks for lunch, then bring home a variety pack of polvorons for us to enjoy at his house.
Polvorons are one of the most nostalgic Filipino treats – they’re a common cookie, bite-sized and perfect for casual gifting. It’s like that special candy or treat a grandparent or family member always has on hand to give to a young one.
Even now as an adult, both my parents and Elijah’s parents continue this tradition, gifting us polvorons whenever we visit.
Today, the tables have turned – instead of always receiving polvorons, I’m making them myself and sharing them with others.
The three flavors I’ll be sharing with you today are crowd-pleasers that I’ve brought to many gatherings, where they’ve been eagerly gobbled up every time!
Adding Modern Flavors to Traditional Polvoron
You can take the classic Filipino polvoron to new heights by infusing it with modern and creative flavors!
In this blog post, we’ll focus on an easy technique to add contemporary flair to the polvoron dough. This simply involves mixing in dry add-ins to the finished dough.
In a future post, we’ll share additional Modern Polvoron variations that utilize liquid extracts and pastes to achieve diverse flavors.
The Fruity Pebbles Polvoron, Strawberry Shortcake Polvoron, and Biscoff Polvoron achieve their irresistible flavors by incorporating dry ingredients such as cereal and freeze-dried fruits.
Here are some other ingredient ideas to incorporate into Modern Filipino Polvorons:
- Peanut butter and chocolate cereal puffs
- Nutter Butter cookies
- crushed pistachios and rose petals
- graham crackers
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
- sprinkles
- shredded coconut
Have a favorite flavor? Share it with us in the comments!
Tips and Tricks to Making Polvoron
Making Modern Filipino Polvorons is easy and straightforward. However, we’ll share some tips and tricks to ensure your success!
- Toasting the flour – You can toast the flour to the normal light beige color, or keep it cooking on the pan a little longer for an extra toasty, nutty flavor. Be sure to keep the heat low and stir continuously to prevent burning.We like ours more nutty so we toasted it for an extra couple minutes to a deeper shade of tan.
- Prevent polvorons from falling apart
- Pack the molds tightly to create dense, sturdy cookies that are less prone to falling apart.
- Ensure the add-ins are crushed to a size similar to or smaller than rice krispie cereal.
- Resist the temptation to incorporate more than half a cup of add-ins, as overfilling the dough with an excessive amount or oversized pieces can increase the chances of the cookies falling apart.
- Add aesthetics – Add a few pieces of toppings to the bottom of the molds before packing them with dough. This will create an aesthetic display on the exterior of the cookies.
However, be cautious not to use too many toppings, as this could compromise the structure of the cookies and increase the risk of them falling apart. - Use a silicone candy mold to make many cookies at once – Traditional Filipino polvorons are typically made using individual metal spring-powered molds, which can be challenging to find in America and also time-consuming, as you can only make one cookie at a time.
To streamline the process, we recommend using a silicone candy mold instead, which allows you to make batches of cookies efficiently and easily transfer them to the freezer to set.
How to Store Polvoron
Modern Filipino Polvorons can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
To serve, simply remove the cookies from the fridge or freezer and allow them to come to room temperature on the counter before enjoying.
Butter-based polvoron cookies are prone to falling apart if left in a hot environment for too long. The warm temperature can cause the cookies to become soft and crumbly.
However, you can salvage them by placing the cookies back in the refrigerator or freezer to firm them up again. It’s important to be mindful of the temperature and serve the Polvoron when they are at the right consistency – not too soft, but still crumbly and delicious.
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Equipment Needed
Ingredients
Base Polvoron Dough
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup powdered whole milk
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅛ tsp kosher salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Flavor Add-Ins (select one)
- ½ cup fruity pebbles cereal
- ½ cup golden oreos and freeze dried strawberries, crushed
- ½ cup lotus biscoff cookies, crushed
Recipe
- Toast the flour on a pan at medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it turns a light tan color.
- Remove from heat. Let the toasted flour cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Sift the toasted flour, then combine it with powdered whole milk, white sugar, and salt.
- Mix in the melted butter. The dough will appear very crumbly.
- Fold in any additional flavor ingredients.
- Fill the silicon molds, making sure to press down to compact each piece.
- Cover and place the mold in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
- Remove polvorons from the molds. Before serving, leave them on the counter to allow to cool to room temp.
Final Thoughts
These Modern Filipino Polvorons in three exciting flavors – Fruity Pebbles, Strawberry Shortcake, and Biscoff – will captivate your taste buds and disappear in no time! Indulge in the crumbly, yet satisfying shortbread texture of these nostalgic yet contemporary cookies.
Explore more of our Filipino recipes and dessert recipes!
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Modern Filipino Polvorons – Fruity Pebbles, Strawberry Shortcake, and Biscoff
Equipment
Ingredients
Base Polvoron Dough
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup powdered whole milk
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅛ tsp kosher salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter melted
Flavor Add-Ins (select one)
- ½ cup fruity pebbles cereal
- ½ cup golden oreos and freeze dried strawberries crushed
- ½ cup lotus biscoff cookies crushed
Instructions
- Toast the flour on a pan at medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it turns a light tan color. We like ours more nutty so we toasted it for an extra couple minutes to a deeper shade of tan.
- Remove from heat. Let the toasted flour cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Sift the toasted flour, then combine it with powdered whole milk, white sugar, and salt.
- Mix in the melted butter. The dough will appear very crumbly.
- Fold in any additional flavor ingredients.
- Fill the silicon molds, making sure to press down to compact each piece.
- Cover and place the mold in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
- Remove polvorons from the molds. Before serving, leave them on the counter to allow to cool to room temp.
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