Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like a super chocolate-y malted milkshake – but better.
Texture: The cake is perfectly moist while the frosting is rich and creamy. The malt ball on top adds a nice crunch.
Ease: Not difficult at all, just dirties a few dishes.
Appearance: The cute factor is the very best part of these cupcakes!
Pros: Beyond adorable and delicious. Would be perfect for a 50s themed party or just when you’re craving something chocolate.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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Chocolate Malt Cupcakes are like a super chocolate-y milkshake, but in delicious, cute cupcake form!
Malted milk powder on it’s own is a bit strange. It smells… off. But when added to chocolate something amazing happens. The toasty, almost indescribable sparkle it adds to every chocolate treat is something to be relished. The 1950s might not have been the greatest time for women (or anyone who wasn’t a white man for that matter), but they were a great time for fabulous and adorable desserts.
You might also like Chocolate Malt Sandwich Cookies.
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Chocolate Malt Cupcakes
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Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 1/4 cups malted milk powder
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the buttercream:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup malted milk powder
- 1/2 cup milk, plus more if necessary
- chocolate covered malt balls to garnish
- red and white striped paper straws to decorate (optional)
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa, sugars, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk and malted milk powder until the powder is dissolved.
- With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat flour mixture, milk mixture, and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add sour cream and vanilla, and beat until just combined.
- Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each halfway. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tested inserted comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cupcakes can be stores up to 3 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
For the buttercream:
- Beat butter, vanilla, and salt with an electric mixer until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together sugar, cocoa powder, and malted milk powder. Gradually add sugar mixture alternatively with the milk in 3 additions. Beat until smooth, adding more milk until desired consistency is achieved. Remove frosting to a piping bag fitted with a tip of your choosing and pipe onto cupcakes. Place a malt ball on the top of each cupcake. Decorate with a striped paper straw cut to size, if desired.
Recipe Notes
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Hi!
Each of your recipes I’ve made have been great! Could I use chocolate malted milk powder in this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Renee! So glad to hear that you’re loving Tessa’s recipes! 🙂 We haven’t tried chocolate malted milk powder in this recipe, so we can’t say for sure how it would work, but feel free to experiment and let us know how it goes!
I try to bake a cake or cupcakes from scratch 2x a year – once for each kid’s birthday. I’ve only ever repeated a recipe once in 8 years, but THIS ONE – the whole family says this is the best yet. A do-over for sure!!! The texture of both the cupcakes and the icing were incredible. And the flavors were so yum! Thank you!!!
So happy you loved this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment your rave review, Victoria! 🙂
These turned out great! I will definitely be making them again.
Hey tessa. I keep visiting this page for this particular recipe again and again but never quite get to making them. I have a question, do you have any substitute for sourcream. I want to go for something healthier. Also, where i live sourcream and greek yoghurt arent really sold in the market. We do however get fresh whole mill yoghurt. Hoping you could help. Thanyou 🙂
Can this same recipe be used to make a two layered chocolate malt cake?
I think this is a great recipe but there is a very similar recipe which i prefer is better. It’s called Malted Milkshake Cupcakes and the website you can find it on is Easybaked. It is very yum with hardly any ingredients needed.
Not to judge but there’s another recipe similar to this one but is much better. Malted Milkshake Cupcakes and you can find the recipe on Easybaked website!
They really look adorable! I think I will try them out!Thank you for sharing the recipe with us!
Divine and it looks yummy on the photos. I can't wait to try this at home.
those straws….soo cute!