Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

You know how it is – you’ve decided you ARE going to make that dessert, and you’ve only got minutes to get it done before you have to go shower and get ready for the party you’re supposed to take that dessert to, and drats! You’ve forgotten the sweetened condensed milk. What to do….go to the store to grab it and forgo the shower (and wearing a baseball cap is NOT an option) or, run to your pantry and grab a couple of quick things and make it yourself! It seriously only takes a few minutes!

You know how it is - you have decided you are going to make that dessert for a party, but you have forgotten the sweetened condensed milk. What to do....go to the store to grab it or run to your pantry and grab a couple of quick things and make it yourself! It seriously only takes a few minutes!

How to Make Your Own Sweetened Condensed Milk?

(thanks to about.com for the recipe when I was in a hurry and needed to get this done!)

Ingredients:

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
3 Tbsp. butter

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a metal bowl and mix well with a wire whisk (works better than spoon to get it good and mixed). This recipe equals one regular can of sweetened condense milk. It really is best for a single use – don’t double the batch to put some aside.

Now – go get dressed – I’d choose the blue dress!

What? You don’t stock Powdered Milk in your pantry? Even if you only stock a bit, here are some great uses for it!

Substitute for regular milk in recipes – when milk prices shoot through the roof, reconstituting dry milk can help you cut back on your grocery budget by cooking with it, instead of using up your drink reserves.

Add a scoop or two to skim milk – to increase the flavor and protein profile without going to a higher fat milk product (though skim milk = ewww in my book. Well, honestly, all milk = ewww for me)

Combine equal parts powdered milk, cocoa powder and sugar = hot chocolate mix! Just mix with hot water – do it in large batches and you’ll be able to have a great gift for Christmas – just add festive things like crushed peppermint and small marshmallows to a canning jar, fill it with the mix, add instructions a cute top and voila! Christmas gift.

Here are some other great uses for powdered milk like face masks, insect bite/sunburn relief, paint and cheese.