A Duo of Hot Malted Drinks: Hot Malted Oak Milk, and Hot Malted Cacao

This post is an invitation to try something new to liven up your hot beverage routines. Recently discovered in a bulk food store, malt powder provides all of the toasty, earthy, and sweet flavours that I remember from childhood, without all of the added dairy and sugar. Pure malt powder is made from a sole plant based ingredient, malted barley grain, and provides a toasty, roasty, and subtly sweet flavour to enhance food and drink recipes. 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 have been just what I didn’t know I needed of late.

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. Learn more about pure malt powder, where to find it, and how to use it.

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.

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 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.

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Hot Malted Oat Milk

Both oat milk and malt powder are on the sweet side, so when combined, the result is a subtly toasty and just sweet enough comforting sip, perfect for before bed. I often make this simple drink with unsweetened vanilla oat milk, as I find the vanilla note enhances the overall flavour, but standard oat milk also works well and I usually use whatever I have on hand. Feel free to use whatever plant based milk you prefer, but choose something that is unsweetened and on the thicker side.

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Servings: 1 serving

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!

Print Recipe

Hot Malted Cacao

Featuring raw cacao powder, malt powder, plant milk, and a modest amount of cane sugar, this rich and warming combination creates a velvety, toasty, chocolatey, and satisfying brew. As both oat milk and malt powder are naturally sweet, start off with the lower amount of sugar when you make your Hot Malted Cacao, adding more if needed to taste.

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Servings: 1 serving

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!