You’ve probably seen milkshakes at your favorite burger restaurant or ice cream shop. You may have also noticed malts on diner menus and at traditional soda fountains. But what makes these two drinks different? In this guide, you’ll learn about both creamy, refreshing drinks and understand the main differences between them.
What Is a Milkshake?
A milkshake is a sweet, blended drink made with ice cream, milk, and extra flavors. These can include fruits, syrups, and other ingredients like crushed cookies, chocolate chips, or candy pieces.
What Is a Malt?
A malt, also called a malted milkshake, is a milkshake made with malted milk powder. This powder gives the drink a toasted flavor, a mild nutty taste, and extra milky sweetness.
Malt vs Shake: What’s the Difference?
The main difference between a malt and a shake is that a malt contains malted milk powder. This extra ingredient gives malts a toasted, nutty flavor and a stronger milky sweetness compared to regular milkshakes.
What Is Malted Milk Powder?
Malted milk powder is made from ground malted barley, wheat flour, and evaporated milk solids. It has a light yellow color and a creamy flavor with a gentle nutty taste. This powder is used to add nutty flavor and a slight crunch to sweets like malted milk balls and brittle. It also adds extra flavor to chocolate desserts, including truffles, pudding, cookies (such as these Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies), and cakes.
Some brands of malted milk powder also contain chocolate flavoring, sugar, salt, or preservatives. When mixed into milkshakes, malted milk powder works especially well with vanilla and chocolate flavors. However, it can also give fruit shakes a sweet, nutty taste.