I always seem to have a tall stack of mail order magazines accumulating on my bed side table. When I have time, I enjoy browsing through them. The food magazines are always the first I reach for. That's where the idea for these malt ball-inspired shortbread cookies came from.
I spotted some malted shortbread featured in Napa Style (now defunct) and the recipe practically leapt off the page and into my mixing bowl. The cookies looked crumbly and round with a coating of chocolate and a sprinkle of grey sea salt. I am a salty-sweet girl, and I happen to keep Sel Gris on hand.
Sel gris (grey sea salt) is less salty than table salt because it still has minerals in it from the sea water. The texture is perfect on these, so don't be afraid to add a pinch to each cookie! You can find it for purchase online and in many well-stocked grocery stores nationwide.
Adding the malted milk directly into the dough gave these cookies a chewy bite. It's a great texture and the malt flavor really comes through.
These taste fantastic and garnered rave reviews! Bittersweet chocolate and coarse sea salt are BFF's. Together they're the perfect topping for rich malted shortbread cookies.
Grey Salt Shortbread Malt Balls
Yields 2 dozen
This recipe uses two specialty salts. The first, flake sea salt (such as Fleur de Sel), goes into the batter. If you don't have flake sea salt on hand use 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt. The second is coarse grey sea salt, which can be found at most well stocked grocery stores.
Cookies
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon flake sea salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry malted milk
Chocolate Coating
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
Coarse grey sea salt, for sprinkling
Cookies
In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until well combined (this is called cold creaming, the mixture should be slightly crumbly). Mix in vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon flake salt, and 1 cup of flour just until combined. Mix in malted milk until thoroughly combined. Add the remaining flour and mix on low speed just until the dough begins to come together.
Move the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pull the dough together in a ball with your hands. Wrap or cover in a bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside. Remove dough from the refrigerator and unwrap it.
Roll the dough into 1" to 1 1/2" balls (or use a 4 teaspoon capacity cookie scoop) and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Space the cookies 1" apart.
Bake until light golden brown on the bottom, for 17-20 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheets.
Chocolate Coating
Melt chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl, stirring at 30 second intervals. When completely melted, dip rounded tops of cookies into chocolate and place back on parchment. Sprinkle the dipped tops with coarse grey sea salt. Allow to dry approximately 1 hour.
Yields 2 dozen
This recipe uses two specialty salts. The first, flake sea salt (such as Fleur de Sel), goes into the batter. If you don't have flake sea salt on hand use 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt. The second is coarse grey sea salt, which can be found at most well stocked grocery stores.
Cookies
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon flake sea salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry malted milk
Chocolate Coating
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
Coarse grey sea salt, for sprinkling
Cookies
In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until well combined (this is called cold creaming, the mixture should be slightly crumbly). Mix in vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon flake salt, and 1 cup of flour just until combined. Mix in malted milk until thoroughly combined. Add the remaining flour and mix on low speed just until the dough begins to come together.
Move the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pull the dough together in a ball with your hands. Wrap or cover in a bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside. Remove dough from the refrigerator and unwrap it.
Roll the dough into 1" to 1 1/2" balls (or use a 4 teaspoon capacity cookie scoop) and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Space the cookies 1" apart.
Bake until light golden brown on the bottom, for 17-20 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheets.
Chocolate Coating
Melt chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl, stirring at 30 second intervals. When completely melted, dip rounded tops of cookies into chocolate and place back on parchment. Sprinkle the dipped tops with coarse grey sea salt. Allow to dry approximately 1 hour.
By 
You're very ambitious; I'm impressed! Those look/sound amazing:) I love Whoppers candy, so I'm sure I would love these!
ReplyDeleteHaha, thank you! My first two batches were as flat as pancakes. It took some tinkering to get it right. :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to know where you found malted milk powder, it doesn't seem easy to find? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy local grocery store carries malted milk powder, but I'd say in some areas it's hard to find. It is shelved with the dry milk products and canned milks such as evaporated and sweetened condensed. I've found that you can buy it online at Amazon, but only in bulk. It is sold by Carnation/Nestle(well, that's the brand I use.) If you have any whole foods/specialty stores around you may want to check there also. I hope you find it!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, I will have to go on a search for it because these cookies look fantastic!
ReplyDeleteJust looking around and found this post...wow! These sound delicious! My husband loves malt balls, so I'll have to give these a try. Thanks!
ReplyDelete