In the past couple of weeks, we’ve been venturing back into Aberystwyth to pop to the shops. We visited Ty Coed Treehouse in their brand new home opposite the town’s train station. It’s the kind of shop where you can pick up ingredients that you don’t always find in a supermarket.
I’ve been looking for malt extract for a while, and they had it in stock. I’ve used it to make Paul Hollywood’s malt loaf in the past, but this time, I’ve made a batch of white chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies.
In the early 20th century, when sweets weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now, children would eat spoonfuls of malt extract. Malt extract was used as a nutritional supplement given alongside cod liver oil… it probably helped to mask the awfulness!
The cookies were lovely, with that particular taste reminiscent of Ovaltine and those childhood malt biscuits with cows stamped on the front. The white chocolate and hazelnuts go really well – as would milk chocolate with pecans or dark chocolate with Brazil nuts.
Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 125g/4½oz butter, softened
- 115g/4oz malt extract
- 55g/2oz soft brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 300g/10½oz self-raising flour
- 100g/3½oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
- 140g/5oz hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Line two oven trays with parchment paper
- Process the butter, malt extract, sugar and egg in a food processor until well combined
- Add the flour and pulse until just combined
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts
- Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on prepared trays about 4cm apart
- Flatten balls to about 1 cm thick and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden
- Cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week