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...
peter says
THANKS ALOT
Alma Fletcher says
Wow. I love the the recipe conversion slide! This is a delicious great substitute with better ingredients!
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Alma!! I’m so glad you like it!
DalipKumar Hasija says
Ok ,nice receipe .I remained in this malted milk food industry.Can we mix cacoa powder instead of cocoa powder and others seed powder like of pumpkin etc for addition of nutritional values .
Carol Veternick says
Question: Do You Have a Recipe for Malted Milk balls (or could be Squares…. My Family… Is Very Sugar SENSITIVE!!……………… Please Respond to: _______ Thank you…..very much.
Rebecca says
Hi Carol- I’m afraid I don’t have a recipe for that. I wish you the best in finding one!
Ellen says
You can buy malt powder way cheaper at a home beer brewing store (between $1 and $2.50 a pound.
Mary says
Made it ❤️It. Thanks for sharing recipe and great information.
Paco says
The original ovomaltine/ovaltine have eggs in the recipe.
You can´t call it OVOmaltine! or OVAltine, (ovo mean eggs from latin)….
Therefore, you could call it freestyle recipe ovaltine or something like that.
Anyway thanks for your post, and if you discover how to add eggs to the formula, spread it around the world!
Janette says
I bought diastatic malt powder, but now everywhere I look is saying to not use it, that I need non-diastatic! Is this true or will either malt powder work?
Doodh Dulari says
Wow… This recipe is so simple and easy to make and I hope this will also very yummy. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe with us.
johnny108 says
You might be able to find barley malt powder for a MUCH better price from a homebrewing supply store.
Jesse says
So if I want a malt with ice cream would I add the malted milk recipe or do I just add the malt? What if I have a bowl of ice cream and want to sprinkle malt on it… do I use the malted milk or malt? I guess I am trying to ask if the malt is typically a stand alone Ingrediant for all these wonderful malted foods or if it is the malted milk that should be used. If malt is stand alone….how come you have to add milk powder to it….why not just mix directly with the liquid milk?
Rebecca says
Hi there, Jesse- Malt likes to clump up madly when added to liquids, and that’s why it’s mixed with the dry milk powder before adding to liquids. The powdered milk acts as a buffer and allows you to start dissolving it before it makes nasty clumps.
Monique says
Thank you for publishing!
Tess says
RE: the Aerolatte
I have bought an extremely similar item at IKEA for around $4.00. It uses one AA battery. I typically froth my milk/cream to top my coffee. I have had several over the years – this one is going on 4 years – but it’s not expensive to replace. I first saw one at Restoration Hardware at Christmas (when they trot out all kinds of cool gadgets for stocking stuffers) but it was $20 & I wasn’t that crazy to own one. I later came across a version at the DOLLAR TREE (!) & bought four of them. They held up pretty good until someone dropped one or bent it or dropped it in the dish water. I also found a really nice one with a little stand at the GOODWILL store for $2. Worked great. I actually find a lot of good kitchen stuff at the GOODWILL stores around me. Someone gets tired of something or it doesn’t do what they thought it would, so they donate it. I just bought a really nice stainless electric teakettle for $3.99. It’s also become my go-to place for pyrex baking dishes & pie pans. Pots & pans are usually too beat up (scratched, etc) but there seems to be a lid for every pot & they some in all sizes. And those are usually between .99 – $1.99. Definitely check out a resale/thrift store for kitchen stuff. My GE 2.0 3-stage cooking fairly new, clean-as-a-whistle microwave came from an estate sale. $5 because it didn’t have the glass tray. I found one at GOODWILL for $1.
Rebecca says
That is fantastic advice, Tess. I love thrift shopping for kitchen gear!
Asha says
I just came across this by accident. Since the price of Ovaltine has just risen by 52% (surprise!!!), I’m going to start the hunt for the ingredients. Great idea!
Asha says
Hi. Asha here again. Unfortunately, it seems that Canada doesn’t have anyone living here that knows how to make barley malt powder. I had to send to the US for it. $47 CDN for a pound (yep, the cheapest I could get it after a LOT of shopping around). And then $27 in a budget food store for 4.5 pounds of skim milk powder. It took more barley malt powder than listed to get a slightly malty flavor. $31.33 for the malt powder used in the mix, $5.40 for the milk powder. It ended up costing me $36.73 CDN for not quite 2 empty Ovaltine jars of the recipe. If I’d just bought the Ovaltine, it would have been $12.74 CDN. I love the idea of not having to have sugar and silica in my pseudo Ovaltine, but the cost of making it myself has proven prohibitively expensive.
If anyone knows of an inexpensive source of plain Non-Diastatic Barley Malt Powder, in Canada, Id love to get a reply to my post. Because I can’t believe that the only sources of Barley Malt Powder in Canada are either for Beer brewers (who use Diastatic Barley Malt) or large corporations who want to spend thousands of dollars through a corporate account (the only options I’ve been able to find online).
Here’s hoping!
Rebecca says
Holy moly! That’s crazy expensive, Asha. Can you order from King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Catalogue? That might run less for the non-diastatic malt powder, but I’m not sure. I know the exchange rate definitely favours the dollar right now.
Rebecca says
Another place to try might be Asian markets or Amazon!
Asha says
Hi, Asha here, again.
Thank-you for the suggestions of King Arthur Flour. It would be cheaper to get it from there, but it would still come to $39.93 CDN for just the Barley Malt powder. That’s because of the shipping ($30 CDN).
Amazon.com is where I first found the barley malt powder by Barry Farm. It was priced even higher by the seller on Amazon so I went directly to Barry Farm and purchased it from them. Again, the shipping cost was the problem.
I have checked out any Asian markets I can find in my area, as well as health food stores, and there’s no Barley Malt Powder to be found.
Happily (?) I seem to really hate the taste of instant milk powder, so I’m going to keep drinking the batch I’ve made up (I add an extra tablespoon of Barley Malt Powder to each mug) to wean me off Ovaltine completely.
Thanks again to those who replied with suggestions. I appreciate it 🙂
Bianca says
Hi. Could i use wheat malt in stead of barly malt?
Rebecca says
Hi Bianca- I’ve never tried it with wheat malt. Please let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Jasmine Puskarcik says
I appreciate this article so much! You are more helpful than you likely know! I’m a Breastfeeding councilor and a lot of parents that are breastfeeding their toddlers are interested in pleasant ways to wean. Many moms find that Ovaltine is a substitute that their babies love! I worry about the sugar content for such little ones and therefore came across your article. I now recommend your recipe and give many interested moms your link! Thank you so much!
Gogcy says
Thank for the ovaltine recipe. I enjoy the hot beverage and yet the tin costs an arm and a leg. I’m glad I’ll make my own wholesome and enjoy for many years to come.
Thank you so much
Brad says
Greetings from central PA! Thanks for the tasty recipe! I made a full batch of the chocolate with black cocoa that I bought at an Amish bulk food store and Munton’s Extra Light malt extract powder. I used the Walmart brand nonfat dry milk. When mixed as suggested, it tastes like a malted Oreo cookie milkshake! Thanks again for the recipe, and may God bless!
Lisa says
Hi there I have a question – my daughter likes the original chocolate Ovaltine but not the malt flavor. Does this have a malt flavor to it since it is made with malt powder? Is there anything else I can substitute to have just chocolate flavor ?
Annie says
Rebecca mentioned using chocolate stevia drops (5 drops per cup) as the sweetener instead of sugar. Perhaps this would work for your daughter, as I would think the cocoa powder AND chocolate stevia drops together would mask any malt flavour.
MontanaMama says
Thank you for posting this!
Nick says
I was a bit taken aback to see that you claim this is sugar free. Malt is the shortened version of maltose. It’s literally a sugar. It seems you really should clarify that. I really wanted to love this recipe but it taste nothing at all like Ovaltine. I’m glad your kids and others like it but it just doesn’t hit the spot for me.