9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (2024)

  • Desserts

The sweet and nutty powder that makes desserts more flavorful.

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The Serious Eats Team

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Published September 06, 2019

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Spend enough time sifting through the Serious Eats dessert archives and baking your way through Stella Parks' masterful recipes, and you'll notice a common thread running through many of our favorite treats: malted milk powder. The mixture of wheat flour, malted barley extracts, and milk adds a layer of nutty, rich, butterscotch-like flavor to all sorts of sweets. And because of the lactose it contains, malted milk powder helps baked goods brown evenly. In other words, malted milk powder can do no wrong, and these nine recipes prove our point.

  • Malted Chocolate Chip–Pecan Cookies

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (2)

    A combination of white sugar and barley malt syrup makes these cookies soft and chewy in the middle, with perfectly crisped edges. Malted milk powder joins the sugars in tenderizing the cookies, and adds the needed lactose for them to brown evenly in the oven. Chunks of rich, buttery pecans round out an already-rich and flavorful cookie.

    Get the recipe for Malted Chocolate Chip–Pecan Cookies

  • Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (3)

    Brown butter and malted milk powder turn these otherwise-classic shortbread cookies into something extraordinary. Thanks to a low moisture content, these cookies are tender and chewy, and will keep for weeks in an airtight container. That means you'll probably want to make a double batch—at least.

    Get the recipe for Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies

  • Homemade Brownie Mix

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (4)

    There's no denying that the ease and convenience of boxed brownie mix is great. But the flavor is often so-so. This homemade mix stores well for up to one year, and bakes rich, dark fudgy brownies every time.

    Get the recipe for Homemade Brownie Mix

  • Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (5)

    The only thing better than a chocolate chip cookie? A very, very big chocolate chip cookie. Though this enormous cookie bakes up to look like a decadent cake, it's made with a classic chocolate chip cookie dough, plus a few teaspoons of malted milk powder. The addition of malted milk powder contributes a rich nuttiness, and pairs nicely with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

    Get the recipe for Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

    Continue to 5 of 9 below.

  • Stovetop Butterscotch Pudding

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (6)

    This velvety butterscotch pudding is best served warm, but it certainly does the trick when it's cold and slightly wobbly, too. The pudding gets its creaminess from white chocolate—a light flavor that doesn't overpower the flavors of malted milk powder and toasted sugar.

    Get the recipe for Stovetop Butterscotch Pudding

  • Homemade Chipwiches

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (7)

    This recipe produces a twist on the classic ice cream sandwich. While the cookies may seem oddly soft and cakey straight out of the oven, they're perfectly crunchy but tender when filled with creamy fior di latte gelato, and frozen. Malted milk powder added to the cookies ensures they remain complexly flavored even after they're chilled.

    Get the recipe for Homemade Chipwiches

  • Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (8)

    The idea of hot chocolate mix is great, but the storebought stuff tends to be one-note and overly sweet. By making your own mix, you can have a constant supply of thick, decadent hot chocolate. Our recipe combines toasted sugar, white chocolate, dark chocolate, instant espresso powder, and malted milk powder.

    Get the recipe for Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

  • Pumpkin Skillet Coffee Cake With Streusel Topping

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (9)

    This coffee cake is something between a pumpkin streusel muffin and a rich, chewy blondie. It's hearty, satisfying, and warmly spiced. Melted white chocolate in the cake dough gives it a fudgy texture, while malted milk powder bumps up and accentuates the earthiness of pumpkin.

    Get the recipe for Pumpkin Skillet Coffee Cake With Streusel Topping

    Continue to 9 of 9 below.

  • Texas Sheet Cake

    9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (10)

    As soon as this enormous slab of chocolate cake comes out of the oven, it's covered in a hot fudge and buried under a mountain of crunchy pecans. Thank malted milk powder for the undercurrent of toffee that runs through each bite.

    Get the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake

9 Dessert Recipes Starring Malted Milk Powder (2024)

FAQs

What does malted milk powder do to baked goods? ›

The mixture of wheat flour, malted barley extracts, and milk adds a layer of nutty, rich, butterscotch-like flavor to all sorts of sweets. And because of the lactose it contains, malted milk powder helps baked goods brown evenly.

How do you use dry malt powder in baking? ›

To include diastatic malt powder in a recipe, mix it directly into the flour. If you're trying to decide how much diastatic malt powder to use in a yeast dough that does not include the ingredient already, Leo recommends starting with a range of about 0.25% to 1% of the total weight of the flour.

What is the difference between malt powder and malted milk powder? ›

Malt powder is made from wheat flour and another grain, usually barley. On the other hand, malted milk powder is malt powder with milk solids added to it.

What does malted milk do to your body? ›

Malted milk provides energy and boosts metabolism

Malted milk is rich with Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, folate and thiamine which as a result provide energy and boost metabolism.

Is Ovaltine the same as malted milk powder? ›

Ovaltine, a powdered chocolate drink created in 1904, is another type of malted milk powder, though it has other ingredients in it so can't be used exactly the same way.

What does malt powder do in cookies? ›

​Non-diastatic malt powder and barley malt syrup will boost the sweetness and color of your baked goods. ​Diastatic malt powder will do all of that, plus your dough will rise faster.

Can you put malted milk powder in coffee? ›

Malted milk powder combines flavorful ground, malted barley, and wheat flour with milk powder, and just a spoonful or two adds a delightfully rich and complex flavor that melds beautifully with coffee, whether it's served iced or hot.

Does malted milk help you sleep? ›

Malted milk

The extract of malt is the main ingredient. Its snooze-inducing powers are well known, with Horlicks marketed as a drink that's perfect to drink before bed, and this is certainly the case. Malted milk contains a good source of vitamin B, iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphorous.

What does malt powder do for pizza dough? ›

Diastatic malt powder doesn't just elevate the dough's rise; it also enhances its flavor. The sugars produced during fermentation contribute to a richer, more complex taste. Your pizza crust will have a subtle sweetness and a depth of flavor that takes your homemade pies to a whole new level.

Can you sprinkle malt powder on ice cream? ›

Enhance classic ice cream flavors: Malted milk powder can be sprinkled over vanilla or chocolate ice cream, or frozen custard — it'll make the flavors taste richer and warming, even though they're frozen. It's also delicious as a garnish dusted on top of chocolate cake.

What is the benefit of dry malt powder? ›

A heart-healthy mix, malt contains fiber, potassium, folate, and vitamin B6, which together lower cholesterol and decrease the risk of cardiac disease. Its dietary fiber helps reduce insulin activity and increases cholesterol absorption from the gut and encourages cholesterol breakdown.

Can you use malted milk powder in baking? ›

Malted milk powder, the unassuming carton of powdery milk found in the dried dairy section of most grocery stores. I use it to make my cookies, cakes, homemade ice creams, and brownies infinitely better.

Why is malted milk powder so good? ›

The blend of concentrated grain extracts gives malted milk powder a roasted, toasty, earthy flavor, while the powdered milk adds a bit of creamy richness. In the oven, the extra lactose helps baked goods brown, while also lending a cooked-milk flavor along the lines of butterscotch or toffee.

Does Dairy Queen have malt powder? ›

A DQ milkshake is a creamy cool drink made by blending our famous soft serve, milk, and additional flavorings. A Dairy Queen malt is sweeter, has a thicker consistency, and is made with the malted milk powder, milk, soft serve, and additional flavors.

Can you put malted milk powder in hot coffee? ›

Malted milk powder combines flavorful ground, malted barley, and wheat flour with milk powder, and just a spoonful or two adds a delightfully rich and complex flavor that melds beautifully with coffee, whether it's served iced or hot.

What does malted milk powder do to milkshakes? ›

A malt, or a "malted shake," is a milkshake made with the addition of malted milk powder. This gives the shake a bit of a toasty, rich taste that enhances classic milkshake flavors like chocolate or vanilla. It also creates a thicker consistency.

Can malted milk powder be used as coffee creamer? ›

To use as a beverage, stir 3 tablespoons into 8-oz. of hot water or hot milk. To use as a coffee creamer, use 1 tablespoon to 8-oz.

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