Polvoron: A Filipino Shortbread Cookie

I’m half-Filipino. My mom is from Manila, Philippines and my dad is from Utah. They met at school in Hawaii.

I grew up very American. I don’t speak Tagalog and know embarrassingly little about the Philippines—although I was actually born there. Even if I recognize the food, I don’t always know the name of the food. And if I do know what the name is, I can’t really pronounce it without sounding like I don’t have a single drop of Filipino blood in me.

But I’ve known Polvoron since I was a kid.

I always just knew it as a thick, dry, sweet, and crumbly Filipino treat.

Doing my Filipino treat tasting project has helped me learn more about it.

Historical Background

The geographic area which now constitutes the Philippines was ruled by Spain for over 300 years–from 1565-1898. That may not sound long, but for some context, that’s longer than the United States of America has even existed.

Prior to the Spanish rule, the “Philippines” was not a distinct country. Rather, the more than 7,000 islands were made up of various independent and even isolated city-state groups called barangays. The geographic area was ultimately claimed by Spanish colonizers, who named the area in honor of their future king, King Phillip II of Spain. Therefore, the area was decreed as “Las Islas Filipinas” or “The Islands of Phillip.”

But, for various reasons, the Philippines was difficult to control, with many groups remaining fiercely independent or indifferent to the Spanish rule. Many of the Spanish customs were adopted over time were reinterpreted.

Eventually, the Filipino people fought to separate from Spain. The Spanish American War took place in 1898. In this war, the Filipino people fought alongside the United States to defeat Spain. This resulted in the collapse of the Spanish empire.

Polvaron is a Filipino Take on a Spanish Treat

Filipino polvoron is similar to a Spanish cookie called a Mantecado. The main difference is that the Spanish bake these cookies. The Filipino polvoron is not baked.

Polvoron is made out of toasted flour, whole milk powder, sugar, and butter.

Toasted flour is literally what it sounds like–flour that is toasted (ie: browned) over heat in a pan.

The dry ingredients are then mixed with the butter (or another type of fat) and pressed into a compact cookie.

You can purchase a polvoron mold from Amazon.

Having learned more about Polvoron, I like to think of it as a cookie that embodies some of the Filipino spirit. The Spanish introduced it, but the Filipinos reinterpreted it and made it their own.

Rating the Filipino Polvoron

I purchased classic Polvoron made by Goldilocks.

Goldilocks started as a very small bake shop in Manila, Philippines in 1966. It came to the USA in the 1970s and now has over 600 locations worldwide.

I have to say, Goldilocks is a Filipino food brand that has earned my trust.

I tried and rated the classic Polvoron. I posted my initial reaction on YouTube.

I also give it a more careful review using my proprietary Food Rater scale.

Here are my results:

Best on this score, I give Polvoron just under Amazing, but it’s so close. I don’t mind saying that the classic Polvoron is one of my favorite Filipino treats.

If you haven’t had a chance to try it, you should! If you’ve tried it, let me know what you think.