On my pastillas de leche post two weeks ago, a reader (thanks, Neil!), was kind enough to share his no-cook version which uses condensed milk and full cream milk. Pastillas without the cook time? I was duly intrigued. These milk candies are my favorite treats and if I can enjoy a batch with less work, I am all for it.
Unfortunately, the weekend I decided to try Neil's recipe, I didn't have condensed milk on hand. Fortunately, I did find deep in the pantry a lone can of dulce de leche which I meant to use for something and have totally forgotten. This should work, I thought. Afterall, dulce de leche is nothing more but sweetened milk that's slowly heated until it changes color and flavor. And work it did! The resulting no-cook caramel pastillas were delicious beyond my expectations. They were soft and silky and absolutely amazing. The chopped peanuts I added didn't hurt either as they gave the otherwise chewy candies a delightful crunch. My peeps, you need to try these caramel pastillas ASAP, like, right now. Super easy to make, they can be a fun kitchen activity for the whole family. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 can (14 ounces) dulce de leche
- 2 ½ cups powdered full cream milk I used Nido
- ½ cup dry roasted peanuts chopped
- ½ cup sugar
Equipment
- White paper cut into 1-½ inch squares
- colored Japanese paper cut into 2-inch squares
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine dulce de leche, full cream milk and peanuts. With a spoon, stir together until well-combined. Refrigerate for about 10 to 15 minutes to firm up a bit for easier handling.
- Divide mixture into about 40 portions and roll each portion into logs of about 1-inch long. Roll pastillas in sugar until fully coated.
- Wrap each pastillas with a piece of white paper (resulting into a "tube") and then wrap with the colored Japanese paper. Insert the sides of the Japanese paper into the white paper "tube" to completely seal pastillas.
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Jeannette Carlos says
Hi what if i don't have dulce de leche?..... where can i buy it?
Lalaine Manalo says
You can make it by boiling an unopened can of condensed milk in water for about 2 to 3 hours 🙂
Shelo says
Hey,
Is it okay if I won't add the peanuts anymore?
Or can you suggest some ,aside from peanuts?
....And also thank you for the info😊😊
Lalaine says
You can omit it, if you don't like it 🙂
Nora says
Hello Lalaine,,
Is there another name for Dulce de leche? Is that a condenced milk?
Thanks
Nora
Lalaine Manalo says
It's caramel 🙂 You can make it by boiling the unopened can of condensed milk in water for about 2 to 3 hours 🙂
Marja says
I tried to get on your mailinglist, but no luck. It wasn't active anymore as they said. Is that true? I hope not. I'm Dutch and have never eaten something japanese, but i like your sweet dishes to start with! I've kinda sweet tooth, so your recipes looks delicious to me. Please inform me if you still have a mailinglist and How i do get on to it? Thank you so much in advance. I hope i didn't make to much language mistakes since my speaking language is not english but Dutch! Hope to hear from you!
Lalaine says
Hello Maria,
Thank you for letting me know, the mailing should be working now. I'd love for you please to try again. 🙂
Caron says
Nido isn't liquid no need to apologize for not indicating that it has to be powdered.
rosa says
Yaks! it did not work cause I used liquid full milk. It should be written in the recipe that its powered. Too late for me to read comments.
Lalaine says
Hello Rosa
I am so sorry for the confusion, I should specified that it's powdered in the recipe. 🙁
jean cris c villapaz says
id like to learn more a lot to do a spedial pastillas
Ellen says
Lalaine, is the full cream milk liquid or powdered? Please specify. Thanks.
Lalaine says
Hello Ellen
It's powdered full cream milk, like Nido 🙂