Malted Milk Blondies with Malted Milk Frosting
Malted Milk Blondies have a special flavor that’s reminiscent of “cereal milk”. You know how the milk at the bottom of a bowl of cereal has a sweet, slightly salty, grain flavor? Well, if you love cereal milk, you’ll really love this new malted milk recipe for bar cookies.
Inspired by this article on Serious Eats, I bought a big container of malted milk powder to play around with. Yes, that’s my idea of fun, what can I say? I’m a big ‘ole baking geek and proud of it.
Speaking of geeky information…
About Malted Milk Powder and why it’s a great blondie ingredient
- Malted Milk Powder is made from malted barley, wheat, evaporated milk and a hint of baking soda and salt.
- This recipe uses “nondiastatic” malted milk powder, which means there are no active enzymes in the powder. It’s the stuff used for flavoring milk, milk shakes and baked goods.
- “Diastatic” milk powder has active enzymes that break down starch into sugar. Diastatic milk powder is used in bread baking.
- The malted barley and wheat in the powder add a slightly cereal/grain flavor to the blondies and frosting.
- The baking soda and salt in the malted milk balance out the sweetness in both the blondies and the frosting.
- The malted milk powder milk enhances the creaminess of the frosting.
Scroll through the step by step process photos to see how to make Malted Milk Blondies
How I created this blondie recipe:
Blondies don’t have chocolate or any other particularly assertive flavors in them. I thought a blondie might be just the right vehicle to highlight that special malted flavor.
I wanted to make a chewy, dense bar with a noticeable malted milk flavor. After a couple of tests I found that by reducing the flour and vanilla in the blondie batter I got a great texture and more of the malted milk flavor came through.
I debated if I should frost the blondies, but I’m really glad I did. Because it’s the frosting that takes the malted milk flavor and runs away with it.
I used a milk based frosting recipe for obvious reasons. I cut way back on the amount of vanilla that I would normally use for frosting. Less vanilla allows the malted milk flavor to really shine.
It’s like the cookie bar version of a malted milk shake. That doesn’t sound terrible, does it?
What else can you make with malted milk powder?
- Malted Milk Ice Cream
- Malted Milk Skillet Cookie
- Malted Milk Brownies
- Malted Milk Cream Pie
- Double Malted Chocolate Ice Cream
- Malted Chocolate Frosting
You might also like these wonderful Butterscotch Ripple Blondies.
You might like these fabulous brownie recipes: Classic Fudgy Brownies, Sourdough Brownies, Habanero Brownies, Chocolate Cherry Brownies, Roasted Beet Brownies, and White Chocolate Raspberry Brownies.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider giving it 5 stars.
Malted Milk Blondies with Malted Milk Frosting
Ingredients
Batter
- 6 oz unsalted butter (melted)
- 6 oz granulated sugar (¾ cup)
- 8 oz brown sugar (1 cup)
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 oz malted milk powder (⅓ cup)
- 6 ¼ oz all purpose flour (1 ¼ cups, see note)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
Frosting
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 4 oz sugar (½ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 oz whole milk (½ cup)
- 2 tablespoons malted milk powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Butter a 9" square baking pan. For easier removal of the bars from the pan, line the pan with parchment paper after buttering.
- In a large bowl, combine 6 oz unsalted butter (melted) with 6 oz granulated sugar and 8 oz brown sugar. Add 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add 2 oz malted milk powder and whisk vigorously with a hand whisk until there are no lumps of malted milk powder. Add 6 ¼ oz all purpose flour and ½ teaspoon table salt and mix just until combined. Spread the batter into the pan.
- Bake until the center springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, about 30-35 minutes. While the bars cool, make the frosting.
- Combine 3 tablespoons all purpose flour, 4 oz sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt in a small saucepan, whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in 4 oz whole milk until smooth. Heat the mixture over medium low, whisking constantly, until it begins to boil.
- Continue to cook and stir for 2-3 minutes until it thickens to a pudding-like texture. Immediately remove from the heat. Transfer to a bowl, whisk in 2 tablespoons malted milk powder until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, cool to room temperature.
- Cream 4 oz unsalted butter until light and fluffy. Add the pudding, a tablespoon at a time, until completely incorporated. Switch to the whisk attachment and whip the buttercream until it’s light and fluffy.
- Ice the cooled bars with the frosting and cut into 16 squares.
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These are delicious. Had to cook about 45 min but only had a 8×8. Especially liked the frosting. Will try on a cake for sure. Thanks
Yes, that frosting is sensational!
I browned the butter for a whole new level of flavor. My gosh . . . This was good!