My mom made polvoron frequently when we were growing up.
We would then enjoy it with a spoon, instead of molding them. We loved polvoron, and it would disappear fast anyway, so why bother?
What is polvoron?
Polvoron is a Filipino adaptation of the Spanish polvorones. It comes from the Spanish word “polvo”, which means powder.
It is a shortbread made with toasted flour, milk powder, melted butter, and sugar. You don’t need to bake it! No oven required.
Over the years, I have seen many different flavors of polvoron, but my favorites are plain, pinipig and cashew.
A new polvoron flavor
I was scanning a Good Housekeeping (Philippines) cookbook of a friend when I saw this recipe.
A polvoron with parmesan cheese!!
I love cheese in sweet delicacies, like yema cake, ensaymadas or cheese rolls.
Obviously, I had to make it for me.
I changed the recipe a bit to reflect my tastes: a tad less sugar, and a bit more cheese.
Give it a try, it is yummy!
How to make cheesy cashew polvoron
I have made a video to show you how easy it is:
If you have unroasted cashews, roast them in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Keep watch as it can burn quickly.
Set aside to cool. Then coarsely chop.
Prepare the other ingredients.
In a medium, light-colored, frying pan, (I like using a wok, as the high sides keep the flour in) toast the cake flour over medium heat until light brown (around 10 – 15 minutes).
Keep moving the flour around to keep it from burning.
Next, sift the toasted flour into a medium mixing bowl.
Then add the powdered milk, white sugar, salt. Mix well to remove any lumps.
Pour in parmesan cheese and chopped cashew nuts. Mix well.
Drizzle the melted butter over the flour mixture. Mix well with a rubber spatula.
At this point, you may choose to pour the polvoron into a plastic container and consume with a spoon.
Otherwise, using a polvoron mold or a fondant mold, form into desired shapes.
I got these polvoron molds as a gift from my brother one Christmas, and I like the round one the best. It makes 1.5-inch/3.8 cm rounds. The other molds make bigger polvorons, which would make me eat more.
I also realized that fondant plungers can be used to make polvorons. These butterfly molds make cute plain polvoron pieces. I don’t have any round ones though, but they are available where cake decorating equipment and materials can be bought.
Molded, or not, store the polvoron in the refrigerator.
If you want to give these away as gifts, you may wrap each polvoron in cellophane or wax paper. I never bother.
Consume within two weeks.
You may also freeze up to 3 months.
Pin cheesy cashew polvoron recipe here for future reference.
Other Filipino sweets you might enjoy:
Tweety
Yields 24 pcs of 1.5-inch/3.8 cm polvoron circles
A Filipino favorite flavored differently with parmesan cheese and cashew nuts.
20 minPrep Time
10 minCook Time
30 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- ¾ c (90 g) cake flour
- ½ c (50 g) powdered milk
- 7 tbsp (88 g) white sugar (or 1/2 c (100 g) if you prefer it a bit sweeter)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ c (18 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ c (35 g) cashew nuts, roasted then chopped coarsely
- 1/3 c (75 g) butter, melted
Directions
- In a medium, light-colored, frying pan, pan-roast the cake flour until light brown (around 10 minutes.) Keep moving the flour around to keep it from burning.
- Sift the toasted flour into a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the powdered milk, white sugar, salt. Mix well to remove any lumps.
- Add parmesan cheese and chopped cashew nuts.
- Mix well.
- Drizzle the melted butter over the flour mixture. Mix well with a rubber spatula.
- At this point, you may choose to pour the polvoron into a plastic container and consume with a spoon.
- Otherwise, using a polvoron mold or a fondant mold, form into desired shapes.
- Store in the refrigerator. If you want to give these away as gifts, you may wrap each polvoron in cellophane or wax paper.
- Consume within two weeks.
- You may also freeze up to 3 months.
Notes
prep time includes molding time
