Chocolate Malt

Sure, you could make a regular chocolate milkshake—or you could make an old-fashioned chocolate malt milkshake, which might just make you want to don your bobby socks and penny loafers. How’s a malt different from a standard shake, you ask? The key ingredient is malted milk powder, which gives the drink its signature nutty flavor. Malted milk powder (made from evaporated whole milk powder, wheat flour, and malted barley or malt extract) brings toast-like warmth to beverages, baked goods, and some of our favorite childhood candies (malted milk balls, anyone?). Added to a chocolate shake, malt powder enhances the milky sweetness of the ice cream and chocolate syrup with caramel-like undertones; you’ll find it in the baking aisle at most grocery stores (Ovaltine and Carnation are popular brands), but you can also shop it online (we like this one from King Arthur).

This chocolate malt recipe—which requires only about one minute of prep time—pairs vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup (yes, the kind you’d use to make chocolate milk) for the most nostalgic milk chocolate flavor. You can swap in Belgian or dark chocolate ice cream if that’s your thing, or switch it up entirely and trade the chocolate syrup for peanut butter (coffee ice cream and malt powder are also a winning combination). Whole milk will give your malted milkshake the creamiest texture, but 2% or skim milk will work if that’s what you keep on hand. Serve the malts in tall glasses and decorate them with whipped cream and crushed chocolate malt balls or a simple dusting of cocoa powder.

This recipe was adapted from ‘Moosewood Restaurant: Simple Suppers’ by the Moosewood Collective. Buy the full book on Amazon. Check out this collection for more soda fountain drinks →