Chocolate Chip Cookies Are 10x More Flavorful When You Add This Old-School Ingredient

The basic chocolate chip cookie recipe that you might see printed on a bag of semisweet chocolate chips is barely the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the possible upgrades that one can make to this classic baked good. Folks have been mixing and matching the titular chips for ages, for one, and additions like a bit of barely detectable orange zest in the dough can actually have a surprisingly tasty effect. Even the two seconds it takes to add a scoop of malted milk powder can make for a transformative chocolate chip cookie experience.

Malted milk powder is a barley-, wheat-, and dairy-derived ingredient that gives the malted milk balls you might remember from the movie theater their signature flair and separates a milkshake from a malt. On its own, malted milk powder has a bit of a roasted marshmallow quality and some nutty sweetness — all notes that also go great in a chocolate chip cookie.

Should you simply add a couple of tablespoons of malted milk powder to your existing chocolate chip cookie recipe, it may end up tasting a little sweeter than usual due to the powder's own properties. So, you can reduce the intended sugar by an equal amount to dial the intensity back down a bit, if you wish. Unlike some other adaptations, malted milk powder alone will not otherwise torpedo the science of a baking project, but it will have a unique effect on texture. Its tenderizing milk solids make the cookies turn out on the softer, chewier side, so brittle cookie lovers might want to skip this one.

Semisweet chocolate chips are the cookie standard for a reason: They are, you know, only semisweet. That means they're just bitter enough to complement the rest of the sugar in a typical chocolate chip cookie recipe. The increased sweetness that malted milk powder will bring means that you can also go darker with your chocolate than the typical semisweet variety and still achieve an appealing balance. If you've been eyeing something with a higher cacao content, now is the time to try it.

It's also a good idea to consider malted milk powder's standalone flavor profile. Some people's palates will associate its toasty quality with butterscotch, making that chip variety a great full or partial swap in your malted milk powder cookies, too (just make sure you follow proper techniques so the chips melt correctly). The same goes for toffee or caramel mix-ins, but keep in mind that none of these is exactly going to dial back the powder's inherent sweetness. And you'll still want to bake your cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, checking for doneness after around eight minutes but expecting them to require a few more.