Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
September 9, 2008 at 5:20 am | Posted in cookies & bars, events, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 63 Comments
We had a great week in New Zealand…the South Island is so beautiful, with so many different landscapes, it almost doesn’t look real in some places. And the baby sheep (otherwise known as lambs, I guess)–heart-meltingly cute! Lots of good food and vino, too (so much that, even though we brought back several bottles of wine, I am on the wagon for the next couple weeks). Should you ever go to Christchurch, do yourself a favor and check out Restaurant Schwass. Same goes for Gibb’s Vineyard Restaurant in Blenheim in the Marlborough wine region.
Enough rambling–on to the cookies! Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops are the TWD choice of Rachel from Confessions of a Tangerine Tart. These cookies are really Maltesers drops, the brand of malt ball sold here. A lot of people say they are better than Whoppers, but I haven’t had a Whopper in a very long time, so I can neither confirm nor deny this. (If you live in Brooklyn, though, the dark chocolate espresso malt balls sold at Two For the Pot on Clinton Street are most definitely the best ever!) I was pleased to notice a dark version of Maltesers, and that’s what I used here.
I, of course, only made half a batch of cookies, and they were a bit of a test-kitchen experiment for me. I don’t have any malted milk powder, and I wasn’t about to buy a big canister of Milo or Ovaltine just to make cookies. I do, though, have barley malt syrup and powdered milk, so for my half-batch I used 1/2 cup of powdered milk and 2 teaspoons of malt syrup in place of the malt powder. Luckily, they were not a total mess! Malt syrup is strong stuff, and the flavor here is definitely noticeable. I did do something that some may consider a sin–I cut back the amount of chopped malt balls and chocolate chunks (for which I used white instead of dark) by about 25%. It was still plenty, trust me, but I guess that’s why I don’t see as many chunky bits on the surface of mine as in Dorie’s book picture.
The first night, we ate them straight up, and they were so soft and chewy that R commented that they would be the perfect ice cream sandwich cookie. Well, I can’t ignore a comment like that, so the next day I made a batch of vanilla malted ice cream. He was right–they were great, albeit a little drippy.
Look in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or read Confessions of a Tangerine Tart to find the recipe. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll to see what over 250 other people had to say!
63 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a reply to Ron Cancel reply
Baked Fresh Weekly
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
a whisk and a spoon 
Oh wow – malt syrup and vanilla malt ice cream sound sooo good! I love the word Maltesers though, I’m not sure why 🙂 And dark chocolate Maltesers with white chocolate chunks sounds delicious too. Great job!
Comment by Caitlin— September 9, 2008 #
As luscious as your cookies are (and they really are), i want to know more about vanilla malted ice cream! That sounds fantastic, and what a great combination with these cookies. I wish I’d used malt syrup, because I couldn’t really taste the malt flavor in mine (I used Ovaltine). Still, great cookies!
Comment by Lori— September 9, 2008 #
SO glad that you had lovely week in New Zealand!!
Oh my, those whopper drops look insanely good – yum!!
Comment by VeggieGirl— September 9, 2008 #
Maltesers are one of my favorite candies, and they’re almost impossible to find in the US! Whoppers in no way compare! Whenever I go to Hong Kong I always stock up on Maltesers! Beautiful cookie!
Comment by Anita— September 9, 2008 #
I am pleased to hear that maltesers are almost the same as whoppers, as I used maltesers. Your cookies look so great! Also glad that you liked the south island – that is where i am from and I love it!
Comment by Tammy— September 9, 2008 #
chocolate malt I.C. sandwiches!! yummy 🙂 they are definitely the perfect texture for that. they look beautiful & delicious!
Comment by kim— September 9, 2008 #
The Malteasers look so much better (chocolate-wise) than Whoppers…glad to see they worked out so well for you, and I agree, they work so well with ice cream.
Comment by Jessica— September 9, 2008 #
I’m going to make malted milk ice cream tomorrow, to go with these gorgeous cookies! Good job with your crafty substitutions and baking on-the-go skills!
Comment by mari— September 9, 2008 #
Those look great! I love the ice cream sandwich idea!
Comment by Cristine— September 9, 2008 #
Those look so good with the ice cream! The white chocolate sounds like it would make a wonderful addition as well. Glad you had a good time in New Zealand. I would love to go there (and to Australia) someday. And I wish I could see some cute lambs 🙂
Comment by Erin— September 9, 2008 #
Oh excellent baker! Those cookies look divine as chocolate icecream sandwich cookies.
Comment by Heather Peskin— September 9, 2008 #
Thats almost the exact same thing we did with ours!
Comment by Esther— September 9, 2008 #
oh my, these look yummy!! i LOVED malt balls when i was little … oh who am i kiddng, i’d eat a bunch now too!
Comment by mimi— September 9, 2008 #
Mmmmmmmmmm! HEAVEN! Your cookies look insanely, ridiculously good! I want so much to try them with ice cream too.
Comment by Holly @ PheMOMenon— September 9, 2008 #
Darn you! Your TWD entries always make me hungry! Awesome pictures as usual. Great job!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
Comment by CB— September 9, 2008 #
I love the ice cream sandwich idea. The texture of these cookies would be great for that. I’m not a big fan of malted milk balls, but the dark chocolate ones sound interesting.
Comment by Di— September 9, 2008 #
Oh yeah…that’s what I’m talking about! That looks delicious. Why didn’t I think of that?
Comment by pamela— September 9, 2008 #
Well your experimental cookies look great, but man do those sound fattening.
Comment by Molly— September 9, 2008 #
Ooh, they look wonderful! I had the same idea about the malt syrup, it was tasty wasn’t it?
Comment by rainbowbrown— September 9, 2008 #
Wow those look fantastic!! Yum.
Comment by Susan— September 9, 2008 #
What a beautiful idea to make ’em ice cream sandwiches! …of course, it had to come from you:
such creativity!
One last taste of summer, perhaps!
Comment by Vibi— September 9, 2008 #
I think to make them ice cream sandwiches was the best thing that could happen to these cookies …
Comment by Ulrike— September 9, 2008 #
Your cookies look fantastic as always Steph! I love the idea of using them to make ice cream sandwiches! They look sooo delicious and how inventive of you to make up your own malt mixture. Well done you!
Comment by Marie— September 9, 2008 #
I haven’t seen dark chocolate malted balls over here – I bet they would be great though! The ice cream sandwich looks delish! I loved these cookies.
Comment by HoneyB— September 9, 2008 #
Yours looks so nice! Mine were all lumpy and ugly!!
Comment by Tara— September 9, 2008 #
As usual, your pictures are amazing! Even though I’m not too into soft and gooey, I wish I halfed the recipe like you instead of quarter. I only ended up with 9 cookies!
Comment by Steph— September 9, 2008 #
Ack! So divine! I could see these being a great Whoopie Pie cookie, too. I am going to eat that picture now, f’rizzle.
Comment by Mike— September 9, 2008 #
Yum – dark chocolate malt balls?!?!? That just sounds fantastic paired with white chocolate chunks. And then you just had to throw in some ice cream on top (er, I guess in between). I mean, WOW!
Comment by Laura— September 9, 2008 #
Nice job improvising! Ours are gone already, otherwise there’d be ice cream!
Comment by Jules— September 9, 2008 #
Yours look wonderful.
Mine…not malty enough.
Comment by chocolatechic— September 9, 2008 #
I thought of ice cream sandwiches but got distracted yours look delicious! I love the dark chocolate malt balls. Great job!
Comment by Christine— September 10, 2008 #
Great idea with the ice cream sandwich!
Your photo looks wonderful.
Comment by Liliana— September 10, 2008 #
Oh my word. I wish that I could just WILL two of my cookies back so that I could make that ice cream sandwich. It looks perfect!
Comment by Cathy— September 10, 2008 #
Those are completely droolworthy. I’d like them for breakfast. That drippy ice cream was a good idea!
Comment by RecipeGirl— September 10, 2008 #
You’re kidding! My mouth is watering! I am about to jump through my screen and eat that!
Comment by Teanna— September 10, 2008 #
Fabulous looking cookies, I love the drippy ice cream!
Comment by April B— September 10, 2008 #
OMG! That looks so good!
Comment by Carmella— September 10, 2008 #
those mini ice cream sandwiches look heavenly! makes me want to buy that stupid ice cream attachment;)
Comment by Laura— September 10, 2008 #
Oh yum! I love the looks of your version! The perfect sweet treat!
Comment by Maria— September 10, 2008 #
Fabulous pictures! I am drooling over the first one! I can only imagine how great these would taste with ice cream. I’ve never seen dark maltesers before, I’d love to try them.
Comment by nickki— September 10, 2008 #
You confirmed that these would make great ice cream sandwiches! And your photos look great.
Comment by Madam Chow— September 10, 2008 #
Very inventive!! With your malt syrup and your ice cream sandwiches, I would say you were playing along woth my theme too. The theme of compromise 🙂 Your sandwiches are giving me an idea of what to do with my remaining cookies!!
Comment by Stephanie— September 10, 2008 #
Mmmmmm…I love that you have dark chocolate Whoppers! Your ice cream sandwiches look scrumptious!
Comment by Beth— September 10, 2008 #
We were going to go with ice cream sandwiches, but the dough never made it that far — we just tossed it into the ice cream unbaked!
Comment by Lillian— September 10, 2008 #
My husband is from London and swears that Maltesers are so much better than Whoppers! Yours look fantastic and very creative with the ice cream sandwich idea. I think I might like them better that way.
Comment by Bridgett— September 10, 2008 #
These cookies would make the perfect ice cream sandwich. I envy your access to all things Milo, but love your substitution ideas!
Comment by Shari— September 10, 2008 #
Great last photo. Oh, and DARK chocolate maltesers?! Where did u find those?
Comment by Danielle— September 10, 2008 #
What a great idea to make the cookies into ice cream sandwiches! 🙂 I wish I had one right now.
Comment by Gigi— September 10, 2008 #
They look fabulous! Great job!
Comment by Heather B— September 10, 2008 #
These are perfect for ice cream sandwiches, and with malted ice cream! Oh, I want one.
Comment by Carol Peterman— September 10, 2008 #
So tasty and inspiring. Thanks for a terrific read.
Comment by Lauren— September 10, 2008 #
Steph – Have sent you a cute award. Please check my blog.
Comment by Heather Peskin— September 10, 2008 #
I can only imagine how good these were. Wow, great idea!
Comment by JacqueOH— September 10, 2008 #
Oh my goodness! Cookies made with DARK chocolate M’s with ice cream! Sounds sooooo yummy.
Comment by foodlibrarian— September 10, 2008 #
hehe, did the same thing with mine! Hooray for ice cream sandwiches. But I also loved the cookies alone. Yum! Good job!
Comment by Sugar Betty— September 10, 2008 #
What a way to come off a vacation! Those look sensational-or should I say sin-sational. Yum!
Comment by Erin— September 10, 2008 #
Oh my! Those ice cream sandwiches look divine.
Comment by kamaile— September 10, 2008 #
oh wow. these look like an it’s it on crack.. i love the ice cream.. I wanted to lick my screen
Comment by samele— September 10, 2008 #
Those look yummy, drippy and all. I don’t think I’d have thought of your substitution.
Personally, I don’t know that I’ve ever noticed much of a difference between malteesers and whoppers. I like them both. 🙂
Comment by Jenny— September 10, 2008 #
Sounds like you had a fantastic time in NZ! Love the melty, drippy ice cream sandwich…that’s the only way to really enjoy them!:)
Comment by Linda— September 11, 2008 #
Wow those look SO good with that ice cream!
Comment by Jodie— September 11, 2008 #
wow those look fabulous as ice cream sandwiches!!!
Comment by Jaime— September 13, 2008 #
I love Maltesers! They don’t exist in the US so whenever I go back to Hong Kong every year, I buy a box full 🙂
Comment by Ron— September 18, 2008 #