malted. and baked.

In the town I grew up in, there's this family restaurant. I loved going there because they had the best sundaes...I mean, really, it has "ice cream parlor" in its name. And one of my favorites had malt powder on it, cleverly dubbed the 'dusty road'.

In recent years, I've discovered baking with malt powder, instead of just sprinkling some onto my ice cream or mixing it up with some milk. I made Pioneer Woman's malted milk chocolate chip cookies for the hubs' family at some point, and now they're always in high demand. Sought after at every family gathering...or even a quick visit to say hi. I'm strongly questioned when I don't come bearing said cookies. And if I didn't make any, it must mean there is a dysfunction in my mental state. 

So now, I always have malted milk powder in my pantry. I also bought some Ovaltine Classic Malt, so I wouldn't dip into my baking products. Now I mix it with some almond milk. Mmmm...so good. And since I'm trying to make better choices, I sprinkle some on my oatmeal. I mean, it can't be all bad...there are vitamins and minerals up in my malt. ;) You should try it. You won't be sorry. 

But the other day...brilliance! I had some frozen mini vanilla cupcakes that I was looking to fix up. And lo and behold, as I was flipping through one of my Christmas gifts from my sister-in-law, [Baked. Have ya heard of it?] I came across their malted milk chocolate sauce recipe. But since this sounded like it'd be better paired with some chocolate cupcakes, I changed it up a bit.

Normally, if and when I freeze my cupcakes, I individually wrap each one with saran wrap, and then place them in freezer bags or freezable plastic storage. However, for some reason, I just threw these into a freezer bag. So the cake got a little dry. Hence the search for a syrup. And if I have a malted syrup on my cupcake, I gotta have some malted butter cream. Such a good decision. 

Malted Milk Chocolate Sauce

adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Ingredients

2/3 cup heavy cream; I used 3/4 cup and added some milk too
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup chocolate malt Ovaltine; I used Original malt, plus extra for taste
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped; I omitted this
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

*Note: the original recipe is meant to be more of a sauce for various desserts. I wanted mine to run thin in order to moisten my cupcakes, which is why I added more cream and milk. The directions are for what I did in my kitchen.

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine cream, corn syrup, Ovaltine, brown sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil. Stir until well-blended. Simmer. Add milk and original Ovaltine until desired consistency and flavor is reached. Heat until soft boil, while stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and mix in butter and vanilla. Let sauce cool. 

Cut out the middle of your cupcake (I did a cone shape). Spoon some sauce into the middle. Replace cake. Drizzle more sauce over the top of it (I poked some holes with a toothpick, just to make sure the sauce got all up in there :D)

And then I finished off the cupcake with the butter cream.

Malted Milk Butter Cream

adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons malted milk powder; I used 1/4 cup combo of malted milk powder and Ovaltine, cuz I'm crazy like that
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa; I omitted this
2 tbsp milk, plus more if desired

Directions:

In mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, malted milk powder and 2 tbsp of milk. Mix. Add more milk for a smoother consistency. Place into piping bag and frost your cupcakes. 

And then I dug through my pantry because I swore I bought some Whoppers at some point. So I chopped some up and garnished these babies. Cuz a little more malt won't hurt you.

I was told that these are "FRICKIN AMAZING!!" and "unreal!!" -- so in spite of my cupcake-freezing mishap, I think I made some good cupcakes. 

I've also now concluded that malt saves everything. And helps you choke down your oatmeal.

baking without my camera.

I love reading blogs that have recipes or tips with visual explanations. As an educator, I should know that visual aids are more appealing and help with understanding while reading. So as I'm new to writing my own blog, you would think that I would include several pictures within each post. Well...I would...if I could remember the darned thing.

Oftentimes, I'm that person who brings my camera along to most every occasion. But for one reason or another, I don't take pictures. I left my camera in my purse, which is in the hall closet with my coat. I completely forget that I brought my camera cuz I'm too busy chit-chatting or what-have-you. OR I don't want to be the only weirdo that's taking pictures. That last one...I've got no explanation except that I've got quirks too. What are yours?

So when the hubs bought his brother's old camera, I was super-excited. I'm not one of those people who know all about fancy camera equipment, but this is one fancy camera...especially for the likes of me. And now, I take a *ton* of pictures of family and friends food. I should probably read the manual and maybe take a beginner photography class or something (then maybe I'd have better pictures). But for now, I just have to remember to have it around when I'm in the kitchen. It's definitely not a habit to take pictures while I'm baking. 

During my week off, I managed to use three new recipes in my kitchen -- none of which I have documentation for. To make matters worse, I didn't even snap the finish products, as I either gave them away or entertained our several visitors during the week. Okay, I lied. I kept two for myself. But I ran out of filling, so I just used Nutella. :) Pardon my camera phone picture.

Chocolate Malt Sandwich Cookies

slightly adapted from smells like home who adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

For the cookies:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup plain malted milk powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup plain yogurt

3 tablespoons hot water

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, baking soda, and salt. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar on medium until fluffy. Add in egg, vanilla, yogurt, and hot water. Mix on low. Slowly incorporate flour mixture.

Place tablespoon-sized balls of dough about 3 1/2 inches apart (they will spread out) on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They should be flat and firm (but not hard). Cool on parchment on wire racks. Note: This makes about 36 cookies (or 18 sandwiches). I made half of my batch with teaspoon-sized dough balls so I would have more sandwiches.

For the filling:

10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup plain malted milk powder

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream and milk (equal parts)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions: Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring. Let cool. In a mixing bowl, cream together malted milk powder and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually mix in cream/milk mixture, chocolate mixture, and vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, about 30 minutes. Beat on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Note from 'Smells Like Home' (so glad she said this!): After chilling, the filling will be very thick and dark but as soon as you start to beat it, the color will begin to lighten and the filling will become very fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, pair up cookies that are of similar sizes. Scoop about a tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom of one cookie. Sandwich with another cookie until the filling pushes to the edges of the cookies. Repeat with remaining pairs of cookies. Martha says that the cookies can be kept at room temperature between layers of parchment in airtight containers for up to 3 days. This will not be a problem.

I made a small sample so I could taste test, and I tried it in-between some sandwiching. I thought it was okay. But then, I tried one the next day, and it was soooooo much better! And like I said, I ran out of filling at the end, so either I tasted too much of it put too much filling on some cookies, or I need to make 1 1/2 times the filling to put more. The latter seems more logical. Though I'm not complaining about the Nutella. 

I brought these to friends of ours who just had a baby. They loved them (and the Irishman cupcakes too!). My sister-in-law and the kids loved them as well. The next day I found out that the kids ate them for breakfast that morning. Nothing like a breakfast of champions! hehehe...

Sorry for the lack of pictures! You won't mind anyway after you make these cookies. They're that good. Even without the filling. Cuz you'll wanna eat the filling with a spoon...just like you do with your Nutella. I won't judge.