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...
Henry Bullock says
The malt from Amazon is $16 per lb. That is over twice what you should be paying for it. Dry Malt Extract shouldn’t be more than $5-$6 per lb.
Rebecca says
Hi Henry- You can most definitely find it less expensive from other places, but Amazon has the advantage of shipping nearly everywhere while other places don’t always. 🙂 I just included the link here for ease.
Deepa VenuKumar says
Hi thank you for the recipe..did you use diastatic or non diastatic malt powder?
Rebecca says
Hi Deepa- I use whatever I can get my hands on when I am shopping. Usually, that’s diastatic malt powder, but both work well for me.
Jackie Miller says
If there is npnfat milk in the recipe why do you add to 8 oz. Milk
Rebecca says
Hi Jackie- You’re adding more nutrients and minerals to the liquid milk with the dry milk. Sort of like when you add ovaltine to milk. If you look at an Ovaltine label, you’ll see that whey is one of the ingredients in all flavours and non-fat dry milk is an ingredient in several of the flavours. Whey is a by-product of cheese or yogurt making. It’s a way of boosting the nutritional density of milk:)
Bill says
Good idea, but real Ovaltine has added B-vitamins, no?
If I remember right back in the 70’s Ovaltine had no sugar,
you were supposed to add it yourself. I think there’s still
a German version of Ovomaltine that has no sugar.
Also, what kind of malt powder do you reocommend?
Apparently way back when, malted milk was a patented
baby formula made from powdered whole milk but the
malt helped preserve the milk fat. Also had added vitamins.
Dave S. says
I’m a little late to the party, but: Barley Malt extract (powder) can be had for considerably less than what you paid at Amazon if you have a wine-making or beer-making store near you. I just bought a pound for about $4 in Berkeley, CA. They buy it in bulk and package it in plastic bags for sale to customers. And btw, using honey to sweeten a beverage is about the same, sugar-wise, as using straight table sugar or high-fructose corn syup to equal sweetness. Sugars are sugars are sugars, and for these it’s glucose and fructose (the sucrose in table sugar is digested in the small intestine to equal parts glucose and fructose).
Thanks for the recipe!
Bill says
Different sugars have different glycemic indices. Maybe if your pancreas is in perfect condition you need not worry. Plus they have different impurities… cane sugar can have measurable amounts of aluminum, for example, and heavy metals have been found in HFCS.
Jan says
Does the nutrition info relate to per portion, per 100 g or per whole amount in recipe? Forgive my ignorance – Im from the UK!
Rebecca says
No apologies needed, Jan! The nutritional information is per serving assuming you get 12 servings per batch. 🙂
Luis says
Can diastatic malt Powder be used for the Ovaltine recipe?
Rebecca says
Hi Luis- I’m not sure how that’ll work as I haven’t tried it. If you give it a go, please let me know how it works for you!
D says
Christ just give me the recipe and less of the bloody waffle
Rebecca says
You are just a ray of sunshine, D.
If you’d like “less of the waffle”, you’re welcome to purchase one of my books to get the short intro more common to a cookbook format.
As it is, this is a blog; short for weblog. Blogs began their lives as an online diary and unless you’re keeping a weather diary, diaries are not known for being succinct.
Besides providing recipes to you free of charge on a website which I pay to maintain using ingredients I purchased and photographing it with a camera I also purchased then editing said photos with a laptop I bought and software I pay for monthly, I also provide a few anecdotes interspersed amongst some helpful information.
If you are bothered by a cramp in your hand from scrolling, I sincerely apologize. Otherwise, I think you can just relax a bit and use that lovely “Jump to Recipe” button at the beginning of the post.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Rebecca
Annabelle says
I don’t get the pregnancy joke. All I know is, you’ve turned “obsessed” into some kind of acronym, O.B.s.e.s.s.e.d. what is it supposed to stand for? I’m confused!
Rebecca says
Hi Annabelle- The O and B are capitalized (like the acronym for Obstetrician: OB). It’s a lame joke, but it’s mine. 🙂
Buzz says
Fantastic post. Just what I needed today. Ingredients ordered. Gonna have me a malt this weekend! (probably multiple malts)
I really like your style, including the great joke. 😉 Beautiful photos to accompany. thank you and keep up the great work!
buzz
Rebecca says
Wonderful! I hope you love it, Buzz!! And thank you for the kind words!
Annabelle says
Hey Rebecca!
I am a blind woman who absolutely loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooves to cook! And, I’m one of those girlies who absolutely loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooves anything sweet! I guess you could say I’m a sweetoholic! I discovered your recipe in July of 2016 when I was looking for ways to trade preservatives for quality ingredients. I’ve been drinking store bought Ovaltine for years, and until then, I didn’t realize that there were artificial colorings and flavorings in there! Even more interesting, the last time I bought a jar of Malt Chocolate Ovaltine, it tasted like chocolate and smelled like fresh cut green grass! When I made your recipe, I was amazed, and I still am! It tastes like Heaven in the stars! Though I will say it’s a bit on the bitter side, as I use Natural unsweetened cocoa powder. The barley malt powder makes it smell a bit like Malt-O-Meal, which is a hot cereal that I absolutely can’t get enough of! I buy my barley malt powder and unsweetened cocoa powder from Market Of Choice here in Eugene, Oregon. I like buying stuff in bulk, since it saves money and lasts longer! As for the whole milk powder, I buy that from The Great American Spice Company. It’s a teeny bit spendy, $11 a pound, plus $5.00 for shipping (it comes from Michigan), but it’s incredible! The only problem is, even when I mix it up in a blender, the powder seems to settle on the top! What’s up with that, I wonder?
Rebecca says
Hey Annabelle! I’m so glad you love the taste of this one and I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know where you source your ingredients! I will say it takes a bit more effort to get it to incorporate than the store bought version and I think it may have to do with the tendency of cocoa powder to clump. I haven’t figured out how to get it to stop settling, but when I’m feeling like that irritates me, I pour it through a fine mesh sieve into my glass. I know that doesn’t solve the problem, necessarily, but it helps my brain. HA! 🙂
Annabelle says
My provider, Mary, says she wants to try making this recipe, and she says she’d like to try it in her coffee. How would I explain the procedure to her, as far as homemade Ovaltine to fresh brewed coffee ratio? Also, I’m not sure if this is the right measurements, but when I make the recipe, I put 1-¼ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 1-¼ cups Barley Malt Powder, and 4 cups whole milk powder into a jar that holds 3-½ pounds of dry ingredients. How much would make enough for 3-½ pounds of mix?
Rebecca says
Hi Annabelle- I’d say Mary should just try adding it to taste! (I’m not a coffee drinker, but I think that sounds delicious!) I’d imagine it’ll be much like adding creamer, so a matter of personal preference when it comes to quantity. As for making 3 1/2 pounds of mix, I’d say you’d want to weigh the ingredients that you’re putting in and increase the recipe proportionately to make that goal. 🙂
Annabelle says
The 3½ pound jar I have was once one that contained chocolate covered raisins from Costco. I wonder if mixing the powders in a Kitchenaid mixer with the flat beater attachment would work. That way I could get the lumps out without making a mess. Then I’d scoop the powder into the jar with one of my measuring cups.
Annabelle says
Better yet, I wonder if I should store this in the freezer so it won’t spoil. Does whole milk powder, cocoa powder, or even malt powder ever spoil?
Soma says
Hi, please is malted powder same as ovaltine? I can’t find malted powder where I am but there lots if ovaltine beverage. Can it substitute malt powder?
Rebecca says
Hi Soma- Ovaltine is kind of what we’re making in this recipe here… If you do an online search for “home beer brewing supplies malt powder” you should have better luck!
Loris Cook New Zealand says
Back in the 50’s my sisters and I were given a big spoonful of liquid malt during winter, if unwell or run down.It was my mother’s cure all for kids, we loved it when the big tin came out. I can still remember the lovely smell nearly 70 years later. I will be trying your recipe.
Rebecca says
Thank you so much for sharing that, Loris! My mom used to give me frozen chocolate malts when I felt unwell, so I love your story!
Dana says
Hello,
I wonder if I could use regular fresh milk and mix it with the barely and chocolate instead of the powder milk?
Rebecca says
I imagine that’ll work. You’ll need to tinker with quantities, though! 🙂
Kristin Gorak says
First off, my kids love ovaltine. I like it because of all the “good stuff” in it and they like it because it mixes smooth and tastes great. In all reality ovaltine is terrible. There is over 2 teaspoons of added sugar in one serving, Carmel color and natural flavors which are fake and terrible. But it gets my kids to drink their milk! So I was excited and skeptical when I read this post. Went to the store and bought all the ingredients. Made it… and can only say disappointing. It is awful to get mixed into the milk and leaves a funky residue on cup or straw which totally freaked the kids out! Without sweetener it was not to their liking. Added powdered monk fruit to dissolve quickly and that improved the like-ability but overall this did not win any fans in my household. I will use it in their smoothies so that will be a great use and maybe for hot chocolate but definitely not a cold glass of chocolate milk.
Darlene DiPasquale says
When I was pregnant, I, too, was obsessed with chocolate malts! I never heard of anyone else who was! Too funny! Thanks for posting; I will try this!
James Ellsworth says
I LIKE IT! All the nutrition and flavor and far fewer of chemical additives. I plan to make this with my ‘up-market’ high fat cocoa powder. (Another benefit of ‘homemade’ items.)
AlecSandra Bihlmaier says
The Ovaltine in the jar has vitamins and minerals. How do you add that to your homemade to make it as good as store bought?
Mary says
Tastes good, but cocoa stays on top and doesn’t dissolve well…unless you use the frother to mix. Anything else to remedy the cocoa mixing?
Rebecca says
Hi Mary! You can blend it in a blender, as well!!
Ketil says
Ovomaltine is nowhere to be found in Norway, and before finding som tins of Ovaltine in London in decembee, I hadn’t tasted it since spending 1979 in Switzerland! Just made half a kilo, and it tasted instant childhood! Thanks!
Rebecca says
That’s awesome, Ketil! Thank you for letting me know!!!