I have a flair for the dramatic.
I almost had a mini melt down at CVS the other day. I had a lot of errands to do one early morning and I was in a sour mood. I had just injured my left hamstring which means I couldn’t run, and you know when you can’t do one of your favorite things, you end up being cranky. And when I consulted my phone to look at my list of things to buy at CVS, I accidentally deleted my list of things to cook for the blog.
Nooooooooo!! I can’t lose that list! I’m already feeling behind, and I can’t run, and I lost my important list of recipes, and my gel polish chipped, and my life is ruined.
Like I said, I have a flair for the dramatic.
When the CVS guy approached me to ask if he can help – I guess he noticed I was screaming internally – it brought me back to earth. It’s just a list, one of the many I keep. For instance, I always have a list of things to do, errands for the day, desserts to bake for Christmas, food to pick up at the grocery store, what next to buy at Sephora, something from Buzzfeed, etc. And besides, I knew I was going home to make some condensed milk cookies that morning. CONDENSED MILK COOKIES! That was certainly enough to make me feel better and prevent an unnecessary mini meltdown.
I grew up dipping my spoon in cans of condensed milk at home. My childhood in Manila was drenched with this thick sweetened creamy concoction. I loved condensed milk with champorado (chocolate rice pudding), pancakes, avocado smoothies, fruit salads, and drizzled over hot pan de sal (breakfast buns). As an adult, I like using condensed milk in desserts, particularly in fudge and no bake cheesecake. And every now and then I still sneak a spoonful from my can at home.
When I was mixing the dough for these cookies, I added white chocolate chips because it mirrors the sweet creaminess that I love in condensed milk. And it was a very good decision. The cookies taste like a cross between a sugar cookie and buttery shortbread. It’s surprisingly not too sweet, even with white chocolate chips, but instead just tastes mild and creamy. It’s soft and chewy, and almost elegant in its simplicity. I decided to sprinkle the tops with sanding sugar for some holiday sprucing, but the sugar also added a nice texture to each bite.
The soft milky cookies reminded me of the little pastillas de leche from the Philippines, which are small rolls of milk candy wrapped in colorful tissue paper. These were typical Christmas-time treats, and I thought these Condensed Milk Cookies would be a nice addition to holiday cookie platters as well.
These cookies are incredibly easy to make! There’s no egg nor any additional sugar in the dough, and you don’t need a mixer – just a big mixing bowl. The cookies come out all cracked with crevices on top, which I love and is quite perfect for the crunchy sugar to settle into. Next time I want to experiment with adding coconut flakes, or using butterscotch chips instead of white chocolate.
And next time I’m going to remember that my phone is synced to my email, so I actually have all the lists on my phone saved online, too, even the ones I accidentally delete. Oops.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup condensed milk (or around half of a 14 oz can)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons sanding sugar
I recommend that you put these cookies in your list, too, and make ’em soon! No drama needed.