Warm, comforting, sweet, and full of rich flavour, you can't go wrong with a mug of Holt Malted Oat Milk or Hot Malted Cacao on a cold winter's day.
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Warm and comforting drinks to add to your routine
This post is an invitation to try something new to liven up your hot beverage routines. While it's easy enough to use powdered hot drink mixes, and sometimes I definitely do that, sometimes I have the extra few moments to make myself something comforting from scratch. Inspired by the sweet malted drinks I remember from childhood, these two malt based drinks provide an update to the delicious toasty, earthy, and sweet flavours that are so nostalgic, without all of the added dairy and extra sugar.
The Food Find: Malt Powder
While a number of hot drink mixes feature malt powder, they also feature powdered milk and added sugar; this kind of malt powder is known as malted milk powder. I have nothing against sweetness mind you, I would just prefer to add as much I as like to suit my own preferences, and you might prefer to do so as well.
Pure malt powder is usually made from a single plant-based ingredient, malted barley grain, and provides a toasty, roasty, and subtly sweet flavour to enhance food and drink recipes. While you do need the check the label to be sure, pure malt powder does not contain dairy.
As malt powder dissolves readily into hot liquids, it is easy to add into drinks without much of a fuss, and its warm and comforting flavour notes hit that warm and cozy spot. Learn more about pure malt powder, where to find it, and how to use it.
Hot Malted Oat Milk
While malted drinks have a reputation for inducing drowsiness before bed, due to the presence of certain sleep inducing minerals, I find that sipping a mug of Hot Malted Oat Milk before bed is comforting and relaxing, regardless of the veracity of those claims.
Oat milk is a great companion to malt, each ingredient enhancing the subtle toasty grain flavours of the other. Both malt powder and oat milk also have an inherent natural sweetness, so making my own malted drink means I can enjoy a modestly sweet drink while dispensing with the sugar rush that often accompanies commercially prepared malted drink mixes, something I definitely don’t want before bed. I can also keep this warm and comforting sip completely dairy free using my milk substitute of choice, unlike pre-mixed powders.
If you’re in the mood for something a bit more invigorating, you can also transform Hot Malted Oat Milk into your new favourite latte. Adding a shot or two of espresso to a base of the hot malted oat milk delightfully enhances the inherent caramelly, earthy, and roasted flavour notes of the coffee itself, and makes for an easy and novel variation of the standard latte.
Hot Malted Cacao
It wouldn’t be winter time for me, or any colder day no matter the season, without a steaming cup of hot chocolate at the end of an uplifting hike in the woods, or on a lazy weekend afternoon hanging around the house with my family. I love making this four ingredient Hot Malted Cacao as a quick alternative to sugar laden store bought mixes that are usually not chocolatey enough to my taste. Featuring raw cacao powder, naturally sweet malt powder, plant milk, and a touch of cane sugar or sweetener of your choice, this rich and warming combination creates a velvety, toasty, chocolatey, and satisfying brew.
The Food Find: Cacao
If you’re unfamiliar with cacao powder, it is a less adulterated version of the ubiquitous cocoa powder that is commonly used in baking and standard hot chocolate mixes. Cacao powder is made from cacao beans and visually resembles cocoa powder, but unlike cocoa, the beans used for cacao are usually not roasted, minimally processed, and contain no additives. I prefer to use raw cacao powder wherever I can instead of cocoa, as I find it has a deeper, earthier, and more fragrant taste profile. Learn more about cacao in its various forms, where to find it, and how to use it.
Looking for more sweet treats?
Hot Malted Oat Milk
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups of unsweetened vanilla oat milk or other plant based milk of your preference
- 3 tablespoon pure malt powder
Instructions
- Heat the oat milk in a small saucepan over medium high heat until steaming. If you have a milk steamer or frother that heats up milk well, you can also use those methods instead.
- Stir the malt powder into the heated oat milk until dissolved - I like to use a whisk to help create nice foamy bubbles. Pour into a mug and enjoy!
- Variation: Add a shot or two of espresso to your Hot Malted Oat Milk for a Malted Latte!
Hot Malted Cacao
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups of unsweetened vanilla oat milk or other plant based milk of your preference
- 3 tablespoon cacao powder substitute with cocoa powder if needed
- 3 tablespoon pure malt powder
- 2-3 teaspoon of organic cane sugar or preferred sweetener to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oat milk in a small saucepan over medium high heat until steaming.
- Add in the cacao powder, malt powder and the lesser amount of sugar or chosen sweetener. Whisk until the ingredients are dissolved into the milk and the mixture is foamy and steaming. Add more sugar or sweetener to taste as needed, whisk again briefly, pour into a mug, and enjoy!
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