If you would have asked me a couple of years ago if I would ever prepare powdered milk, the answer would have been no. My mom tried to get us to drink this when we would run out of milk, as children, and I thought it tasted horrible. I can remember thinking that I would NEVER serve powdered milk to my children. I would NEVER shop at Aldi. I would NEVER be one of those moms…Guess what kind of mom I am? Guess which mother likes to remind me of what kind of mom I said I would not be and then became?
I have discovered the joys of powdered milk through one of my favorite resources…the great Hillbilly Housewife website. Miss Maggie offers a great tutorial explaining how to prepare powdered milk and the things that you can make from it.
The price of powdered milk is so much better than its fresh alternative. I can purchase a large four pound box for a mere $6.99 from Aldi Supermarket and it makes twenty quarts of milk. If I get fresh milk on sale, a real deal would be $1.50-2.50. The dry milk is a steady $1.40 per gallon, all year long, so dry milk is much friendlier on the wallet.
In the beginning, I bought the powdered milk to use when making my hot cocoa mixes. Then it sat there taking up space in my cupboards for a long time. Then this summer we discovered Magic Milkshakes and I found a new way to use up the milk.
As I was preparing dinner one night, I figured why not use powdered milk in my recipes? I mean, who could taste if the milk was powdered or not in my mashed potatoes or my waffle batter mix? The taste was essentially the same thing and so I thought it might be worth using for that. Sure enough, no one in my family suspected.
Since that worked out so well, I thought we could try it on our cereal (we were taking baby steps here!) and so I suggested this to my husband. The look I got from him was as if I had grown three heads, but he said he would try it, for the sake of my milk experiment. He found the taste to be “different” and said it had a bit of an aftertaste to it. He said he would be willing to drink this if he HAD to, but would rather not drink it. To me, it tasted similar to skim milk although I would still prefer the fresh alternative over the powdered stuff. It is more a mental thing than the fact that it tastes different. When mixed in my cocoa or in my food though, it performs just as the fresh milk would.
For the sake of your grocery budget, give powdered milk a try and see what your family thinks of it. Even if you end up just using it for cooking, the savings is worth it!
If you are looking for hot drink mixes to give away as Christmas gifts, many will include the infamous powdered milk. Here are a few recipes to get you started for the holidays!
Good Night Cafe
Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and whir until finely ground. Store in an airtight container.2/3 cup powdered nondairy creamer1/3 cup instant coffee granules1/3 cup sugar1 tsp. ground cardamom1/2 tsp. cinnamon1/8 tsp. nutmegAttach to jar:Mix 1 tbs. into 8oz. boiling water.
Café Mocha
1 1/2 cups instant coffee granules1/4 cup each unsweetened cocoa, and powdered nondairy creamer6 tbs. confectionary sugarPlace all ingredients into a blender or food processor and whir until finely ground. Store in an airtight container.Attach to jar:Mix 1-2 tbs. into 3/4 cup boiling water.
Cinn-Mocha-Sation
1 cup powdered nondairy creamer3/4 cup sugar2/3 cup powdered dry milk1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa1/3 cup instant coffee granules1/4 cup brown sugar1 tsp. cinnamon1/4 tsp. each salt, and nutmegPlace all ingredients into a blender or food processor and whir until finely ground. Store in an airtight container.Attach to jar:Mix 1/4 cup into 3/4 cup boiling water.
Gourmet Hot Chocolate Mix
11 Cups powdered dry milk1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer2 1/2 cups confectionary sugar1 pound container of instant chocolate drink mixSimply mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container! Attach to jar:For a great cup of gourmet hot chocolate, measure out 3 heaping tablespoons of mix into your favorite mug, and add 6-8oz. boiling water! This recipe makes about 250 servings, and can be cut in half.
Malted Hot Chocolate
3 1/2 ounces of malted milk powder5 1/2 ounces of powdered non-dairy creamer1 pound of powdered dry milk1 pound of confectionary sugar14 ounces of instant chocolate drink mix8 ounces of mini marshmallowsStir and store! Attach to jar:Use 3 heaping tablespoons of mix to one mug of boiling water.
I have always used powdered milk for cooking but I can’t make the switch in my cereal. Kudos to you for making the switch and reminding everyone of the great alternative.
-Annabel
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I use it in cooking and store it for emergencies but have a hard time with it straight up. I’d love to try the recipes though and see how they work. I love hot drinks especially.
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Thanks for the post and the recipies… Peep into this amazing Christmas Blog to check out some really cool stuffs and unique ideas
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sounds cool. found lots of interesting recipes that i could try out. check out this Christmas Blog for some unique recipes and gift ideas.
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I have used powdered milk for most of my cooking for quite a while. It makes drinking organic milk more affordable! And, there is no difference in the recipes I have tried!
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I’m so trying this at home! I always saw the box on the bottom shelf of the grocery store, but couldn’t imagine how you’d actually drink the stuff! Great ideas.
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I use powdered milk all the time for cooking, baking, smoothies, and of course for the hillbilly housewive’s magic shakes. My kids will drink it as milk if I add vanilla and a small bit of splenda or sugar. It’s also good with cinnamon,vanilla, and sugar served on ice – similar to the Mexican Horchata drink.
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Thanks for the recipes! I am thinking of doing some of these for Christmas gifts.
I use dry milk for cooking and a back up if we are out of fresh. My two year old actually asks for it sometimes! I guess it is all in how we train our taste buds!
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Thanks for this post! I have a huge box of powdered milk in my pantry because the occasional recipe calls for it, but I so hate the taste of drinking it straight that I never considered using it to mix up actual milk. The idea of using it in cooking is brilliant!
I do have a question though: How long does mixed-up powdered milk stay good in the fridge? Is it the sort of thing where you could mix up a gallon every week or so, as long as you were careful to use it up? How many days would you say it would last then? If I’m going to start using it in cooking, I just know I need to have something to grab when I’m in the middle of a recipe or I will never bother going to the cupboard and mixing up a cup (or 1/2 cup) of powdered milk.
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There is a very good reason why powdered milk tastes like skim milk and that is that most powdered milk is made from skim milk. The lack of fat gives it a more stable shelf life as fat goes rancid quickly. You can get powdered regular milk, but it is a bit harder to find and you shouldn’t buy it unless you will use it quickly because of the aforementioned shorter shelf life. If you don’t like the taste of skim milk, you probably won’t like the taste of powdered milk, either. When it’s masked by other things, like in recipes, you’ll never notice the difference.
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Thank for the post & the recipes.i love milk & I have always used powdered milk for cooking .
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Hi, Amy. Two questions for you:
1. Is the gourmet hot choc mix the blend you would've put in my swap box a couple years ago? It was so yummy!
2. Does instant choco drink mix refer to something like Nestle Quik? I've never bought it before so wanted to double check. Thanks!
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