Now you can make your own Homemade Ovaltine Recipe -Malted Milk Powder- without breaking the bank. Bonus: The mix is sugar free, making it a great addition to smoothies, cookies, cakes, and other home baked goods.
When one of my little sisters (she of Mapo Dofu fame) was pregnant, she was obsessed -and when I say obsessed, I mean O.B.s.e.s.s.e.d. (get the pregnancy joke?)- with chocolate malts.
Chocolate malted shakes, particularly, but chocolate malted anything pretty much. She texted me that she was making a chocolate malt cake one afternoon.
I suggested she use homemade malt powder. She asked what I meant.
I explained how I make malted milk powder for my kids and have for years. Her response?
“Why have you not blogged this?”
I had no answer.
So here we go. I’m blogging it now.
This has been a pantry staple in our home since back in the only-have-two-kids-day when I calculated how much money I was spending on Ovaltine for my munchkins one of whom would only drink milk with a solid third-of-a-cup of Ovaltine mixed into it.
I make my mix without sugar because, well, I’m that kind of mom… But I’m also the kind of mom that lets the kids add sugar to taste so long as ‘to-taste’ does not mean equal parts sugar and milk.
How about serving up an old-fashioned, icy-cold tumbler full of chocolate malted milk for an after school pick-me-up?
Why leave the sugar out of the Homemade Ovaltine Recipe {Malted Milk Powder}?
There are three solid reasons for leaving the sugar out of the malted milk powder when you’re mixing it:
Most Obvious: You can control how much sugar goes into each cup. Malt powder is already naturally sweet… Adding sugar to taste is almost going to guarantee you a cuppa malted milk that contains less sugar than a commercial mix.
Shoot. You could even sweeten it to taste with stevia, xylitol, honey, or agave!
Less Obvious: Leaving the sugar out of the mix actually helps prevent clumping somewhat.
Also Less Obvious: You can use the malted milk powder in cooking and baking (think milkshakes, cookies, and the aforementioned cake) without adjusting the other sweetening called for in the recipes.
Why make your own Homemade Ovaltine Recipe (Malted Milk Powder)?
It’s WAY less expensive, for starters! You get a pound and a half of malt powder which can also be used alone in baking in place of sugar to help extend the shelf-life of your bread.
The malt helps keep it yummy and fresh longer… all for $10.99 from Amazon.com. You only use six tablespoons of the malt powder in the mixture, which means that you get roughly a bajillion batches of malted milk powder from one thing of malt.
I’m sorry I won’t break it down further than that. I am not deep diving into that math problem.
There’s a real bonus to making your own Homemade Ovaltine (whether it’s plain or chocolate flavoured) other than just saving your pocketbook a little bit; you avoid preservatives and artificial colourings! Score and score!
Where can I get the ingredients to make Homemade Ovaltine Recipe {Malted Milk Powder}:
Well, most grocers carry instant dry milk and cocoa powder. If you’re near a really GOOD grocer, they may even carry malt powder in the baking section…
If you -like me- are in the middle of a corn field or just don’t feel like going out, you can certainly order all of the ingredients through my darling Amazon.com. Here’s a list of all the items you will need!
For the Plain:
Instant Dry Whole Milk Powder ~OR~ Instant Nonfat Dry Milk. Of the two, we vastly prefer the whole milk powder. It has a much richer taste!
Additional Ingredients for the Chocolate:
Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
When something is going to be on my counter top with some frequency, I like it to be pretty. Any container with a tight fitting lid will do the job, but this lovely jar holds a full batch of Malted Milk Powder (whether plain or chocolate) in style.
Homemade Ovaltine – Malted Milk Powder
There is no getting around it. Our Homemade Ovaltine Recipe {Malted Milk Powder} gets a little clumpy if it’s stored for long periods of time.
If it’s used quickly (within a week or two) this isn’t an issue, but any longer than that and you may need to just stick a fork in the jar and break it up a bit.
This Homemade Ovaltine Recipe{Malted Milk Powder} has no added sugar, but it’s very naturally sweet. Remember that you can use malt in place of sugar in baked goods.
Do yourself a favour and taste your malted milk before adding any extra sweeteners! And if you want added chocolate oomph and sweetness minus sugar, try chocolate stevia drops… It’s kind of one of my favourite things ever. (Add to iced coffee!!!)
We use this little frother to mix our Homemade Ovaltine Recipe {Malted Milk Powder} into the milk. It dissolves everything and makes the final milk super frothy. What kid doesn’t love frothy milk?
If you don’t have something like this or want to purchase it, I do recommend mixing your Homemade Ovaltine {malted milk powder} and milk in a blender for a similar effect.
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Homemade Ovaltine | Malted Milk Powder (Chocolate and Plain)
Rate RecipeIngredients
For the Plain:
- 2 cups instant dry milk whole or non-fat
- 6 tablespoons malt powder
For the Chocolate:
- 2 cups instant dry milk whole or non-fat
- 6 tablespoons malt powder
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
To Make the Homemade Plain Ovaltine:
- Whisk together the malt powder and the instant dry milk. Scoop into a clean, dry jar with an airtight lid and store at room temperature for up to a year.
To Make the Homemade Chocolate Ovaltine:
- Whisk together the malt powder, instant dry milk, and cocoa powder. If any lumps remain, force the powder through a fine-mesh sieve.
- Scoop the powder into a clean, dry jar with an airtight lid and store at room temperature for up to a year.
To Mix Homemade Ovaltine (Plain or Chocolate):
- Add 1/3 of a cup of the dry mix to 8 ounces of cold milk. Use a frother or blender to mix together, sweeten to taste with sugar, honey, agave, or stevia.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
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This post originally published on August 15, 2013, updated August 2015, and again March 2021.
Reader's Thoughts...
Sara says
Do you have to use dry milk or can you just mix the barley malt with fresh milk?
Lizzy says
Thanks i can save money now
Bill Mc Millen says
Would like a recipe for sugar free chocolate frappe powder.
Betty says
I highly recommend using gentle sweet or super sweet (made by trim healthy mama) for a genuine sugar sweet flavor. Won’t clump like sugar, is safe for diabetics and is powdered!
tory says
what about the vitamins?
Joe Mama says
Hey come on now. She’s not a nutritionist. Just ignore that part. I mean sure it’s basically the entire core of Ovaltine’s marketing, but don’t let that get in the way of a blog post. How else would you have known mixing malt into milk yielded malted milk?! Now please show some appreciation for her incredible insight by clicking on some affiliate links.
rnkenly says
So, Hubby requires Ovaltine in his coffee…and is recently diagnosed diabetic so the added sugar isn’t that great for him. Going to try this. I am also excited that it may remove a Nestle product from our house and I am not too pleased with Nestle politically, so that would be a huge bonus…without an unhappy hubby. 😉 Thanks.
Susan says
I am intrigued by the idea of making my own malted milk powder, but I have no clue how to use it – or how much. It seems to me it would be nice in smoothies. HELP!!
BTW the cute little illustrations that show up in the email you sent do not show up in the blog post. Most specifically the milk frother. (There are links for the other items.)
Cindy Campbell says
That’s regular cocoa, right, not Dutch processed?
Rebecca says
Absolutely correct, Cindy!
ron says
FYI- You can save even more by buying the malted barley from homebrewing supply stores, either online or at a local homebrew supply store. I just pulled one up randomly, the price was $4.99 a pound or $12.99 for three pounds.
Candelaria says
Hi! Thank you for the recipe.
I wonder if malt extract is the same that Orzo coffee or roasted barley. Are different things?
Could use roasted barley powder ? I appreciate any information you can give me. Thanks again 🙂
Rebecca says
Roasted barley powder is, as far as I know, not the same thing. I have never tried it in this application. If you try it, please let me know how it works out for you!
Sue says
How is this a sugar free mix when the only dry milks, required for your recipe, that I can find have loads of sugar in in them?
Rebecca says
Hi Sue- there is no added sugar in the recipe. I’m not sure where you’re buying your non-fat dry milk, but the only ingredients on the box of dry milk I buy at Walmart are: Nonfat Dry Milk, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3.
Sarah says
This may be old, but lactose in milk and the maltose in malt are both natural sugars – think sucrose, glucose, fructose, etc. “ose” = sugar. “No sugar added” is not the same as “sugar-free.” Maltose is loaded with sugar, but it has a lower GI than sucrose. Diabetics should still use caution.
Kar says
Was looking for a dark chocolate ovaltine, but this will be so much better as I have to watch how much sugar I add to things. I really like chocolate smoothies.
lillian says
why did u change ovaltine.now its to sweet and full of stuff not needed.it was a good product. now it junk like all the others.
Lisa says
Thank you! My husband is the Ovaltine perpetrator in our house and he just asked me to buy it AGAIN! I told him “no”, because of all the artificial ingredients and he was surprised. He thought it was completely healthy. Now I can whip him up a batch of this and he’ll be happy and a bit more healthy.
Deirdre O'M Humphrey says
You didn’t answer the query about the nutritional comparison between your version and traditional Ovaltine, which has a whole list of vitamins, etc. I depend on Ovaltine for it’s nutritional value since there are few foods I can eat without my ostomy appliance self-destructing. I mix it with organic, unpasteurized milk from a local farm. Been doing this for 4 years. I’m 87 and very healthy! I wouldn’t mind a cheaper, lower sugar version, though. Reply if possible. Thanks!
Rebecca says
I didn’t answer the query because I am not a qualified nutritional scientist. I encourage you to plug the recipe ingredients into one of many available nutritional calculators online. I hope this suits your needs!
Lai-Lai says
Originally called Ovomaltine, it was said to contain dried egg powder.
susan rosenberg says
I’ve been combining ovaltine and cafix (also made w/malt) for years. I’m happy to see you’ve done some research to find the healthier alternative I look forward to adding plain barley malt and cocoa to the roasted barley malt that is used to create cafix. Thank you
vanessa says
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve been looking for an alternative to ovaltine for years.
What is the function of the dry milk in this recipe? If you’re going to add the mix to milk in the end, is it necessary?
Rebecca says
Whisking the malt into the dry milk keeps it from clumping when you mix it in with the milk milk 😀
vanessa says
Thanks!
Do you know of a dairy-free alternative which would also keep it from clumping?
Sorry if that’s an annoying question hehe
Rebecca says
HA! I’m not entirely sure what you would use in place of it. I’m sorry! Is there such a thing as a non-dairy dried milk? I guess you could always just use cocoa powder, sugar, and malt and then a blender to make sure it doesn’t clump.
capt ern says
Great idea & recipe! One thing, malt is not fermented, but malted. Malting involves sprouting the grain, this turns the starch into sugar b for the little embryo. Fermenting turns sugar into alcohol
Crystal says
I prefer using ovaltine for my little ones over say nesquik because of the add vitamins but would love to cut out the sugar and other artificial additives any ideas on upping the vitamin content? Thanks in advance
Rebecca says
Well, if you cut all the sugar out, it’ll taste pretty odd!
Rebecca says
…And this version has none of the artificial additives, so I’d say go with this! 😀
Chuck says
I’m not a nutritionist, I can’t see how this has all the vitamins etc. listed on an Ovaltine jar? I tried it and the taste is similar, and it’s obviously less expensive.