3-Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Malt

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Two glasses of our 3-ingredient Vegan Chocolate Malt shake

You get a malt.
You get a malt.
You get a malt.
Everybody gets as malt!

Don’t mind me. I just think saying things in an Oprah voice will never not be funny.

Three scoops of vegan vanilla coconut ice cream for making our Chocolate Malt Shake

Did you know I used to be an ice cream scooper? In high school, I worked in a movie theatre with a restaurant inside and I made all the milkshakes, cherry limeades, sundaes, etc. It was a hard job, but someone had to do it (poor, poor me).

One of my favorite things to make was chocolate malts. To be honest, if there was a little extra leftover, it totally went into my cup. Shhh, don’t tell my old boss. I’m sure there’s still some way I’d get in trouble for that.

Wood cutting board with maca, vegan ice cream, and chocolate sauce for making a Chocolate Vegan Malt

This, however, isn’t your average malt.

For starters, just 3 ingredients, 1 blender, and 5 minutes required.
Second, it’s dairy-free thanks to Vanilla Bean Coconut Ice Cream (hubba).
Third, it’s made with HOMEMADE Vegan Chocolate Syrup (that’s naturally sweetened)!
Lastly, the malt flavor doesn’t come from some mystery powder (what is that stuff anyway?). It’s the superfood maca.

Blender with ingredients for making our 3-ingredient Vegan Chocolate Malt recipe

Maca not only adds antioxidants and amino acids and rainbows and unicorns (I kid, I kid), it also adds a smoky, malty flavor that is reminiscent of a traditional malt. Yipee for healthy swaps!

Freshly blended gluten-free Vegan Chocolate Malt shake

Look at that swirl, tho.

I hope you all love this malt! It’s:

Creamy
Thick
Perfectly
Super chocolaty
Malty
& Oh-so delicious

This is the perfect dessert to make when you want to indulge while also reaping a few health benefits. Not into chocolate (who are you?)? Leave it out and go for vanilla! Or add some strawberries for a fruity twist. Dream big, people.

This recipe is a great gateway into the world of maca powder, which can also be added to things like coconut yogurt, hot chocolatechia pudding, and smoothies!

If you try this recipe, let me know! I love your comments, ratings, and (as always) your photos tagged #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!

Two glasses of our gluten-free vegan Chocolate Malt drizzled with chocolate sauce

3-Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Malt

Easy, 3-ingredient vegan chocolate malt with creamy vanilla bean coconut ice cream, naturally sweetened chocolate syrup, and superfood maca powder!
Author Minimalist Baker
Print
Two glasses of Vegan Chocolate Malt topped with coconut whip and chocolate syrup
4.50 from 8 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 2
Course Beverage, Dessert
Cuisine Gluten-Free, Vegan
Freezer Friendly No
Does it keep? Best when fresh

Ingredients

MALT

FOR TOPPING optional

Instructions

  • Add ice cream, chocolate syrup, and maca powder and blend on low until creamy and smooth. If it has trouble blending, add a bit of almond or coconut milk (I didn’t find it necessary and prefer my malts thick).
  • Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more chocolate syrup for intense chocolate flavor or maca for a more “malty” flavor.
  • Enjoy as is or top with coconut whipped cream and more chocolate syrup (optional). Best when fresh.

Notes

*If you don’t care to make chocolate syrup, either use a store-bought vegan-friendly brand, or try subbing cocoa or cacao powder.
*Maca powder adds the malty flavor in this dessert. If you can’t get your hands on it, just leave it out!
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without additional chocolate syrup or coconut whipped cream.

Nutrition (1 of 2 servings)

Serving: 1 serving Calories: 303 Carbohydrates: 40.5 g Protein: 4.9 g Fat: 14.5 g Saturated Fat: 8.9 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 115 mg Fiber: 1.3 g Sugar: 35 g

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  1. Ash says

    Tried it and it was delicious! Used 2tsp of the Maca to make it easy to remember the recipe. 2-2-2. Added some coco whip and chocolate syrup on top. The only “negative” is this definitely wasn’t two servings! In a normal milkshake pint glass, anyway. We had two small glasses and each only half full. But I guess what can you do when that’s how vegan ice cream comes packaged? Also, adding 1 pint carton of the vegan ice cream would help to visualize ingredients better. But this was delicious and perfect!

  2. Mary Carroll says

    Okay, I don’t know if we’ll try this again but my husband went and put in 2 Tbsp of the maca because he assumed it would taste just like malt, which it really kind of doesn’t. At least not when you use that much. We ended up dumping it down the sink and then looking for something to get rid of the after-taste. Maybe we’ll try it again (we have all this maca) and maybe this time he’ll follow the recipe!

    • Avatar for Dana @ Minimalist BakerSupport @ Minimalist Baker says

      Hi Mary, too much maca can definitely be unpleasant and overpowering. For the malty flavor, it’s important to use the amount specified. Let us know if you give it another try!

      • Mary Carroll says

        Okay, so we failed the first time because my husband put in too much maca (2 Tbsp). Well he tried it again and this time he followed the recipe exactly. Guess what? Tastes like a malted! We’ve since tried it with Vegan Strawberry and Vanilla! Sorry I ever doubted you guys!!!

  3. Cap'n Dave says

    For those wondering, gelatinized is not the same thing as having gelatin (which is obviously NOT vegan). However, do take note of the Prop 65 notification, meaning that it has potential carcinogenic qualities. This does NOT mean that you’re going to get cancer from it anymore than going outside under partly cloudy skies when it’s forecast to rain means you’ll get pneumonia. I’m not saying “take it with a grain of salt”, but just be aware of it. Those who are in “at-risk” groups may wish to avoid it.

    That being said? I LOVE MALTS!!! Or, you know, I did until I went vegan for personal and health-related issues. All I had to look forward to after that were frozen smoothies or “milk” shakes (many of which had banana as the star ingredient…something that I’m terribly allergic to), but along comes THIS and you know I’m DEFINITELY going to be trying it!

    There was this little place just right across the river in New Jersey from the Allentown/Bethlehem/Nazareth/Easton area. They offered malts. In all honesty, I think they just whispered the word “malt” over the equivalent of a McDonald’s milkshake when their ice cream machine was yet again on the fritz. So, I told them every time I was there, “I want a malt, EXTRA malt.” This confused them, so I said, “That little scoop you’re using? Add three of them.” NOW we had a MALT as I remember them. So yes, maca powder? It’s also nutritious – not just an added flavor! Am I going to try it? Oh, you betcha! I’ve had maca in smoothies and even in my cocoa before. It definitely adds a certain something-something. Can’t wait to try it in a vegan malt this summer!

    Thanks for the idea, and most definitely saving!

  4. brenna says

    Just made this, yum!! So glad you reccommended maca powder too, I really like the nutty flavor.

  5. Krissy says

    This is great!
    I made my own lazy chocolate sauce by whisking while melting together vegan chocolate chips and almond milk. The maca powder even smells good. Do you have more recipes involving this ingredient you have just introduced me to?

    • Avatar for Dana @ Minimalist BakerSupport @ Minimalist Baker says

      Hi Krissy! We don’t have too many recipes with maca yet, but I’ll be sure to pass your comment along and hopefully we do more with it in the future!

  6. Katelyn says

    So I am OBSESSED with malted milkshakes, well, just malt in general. Does the maca REALLY give it the malt flavor?

  7. Emily @ Robust Recipes says

    These look amazing! What a clever use of maca powder. I have been loving it for it’s health benefits in smoothies and hot chocolate. I can’t wait to give this one a try! :)

  8. Cassie says

    Sorry Oprah, but for me it would’ve gone more like this:

    “I get a malt.
    I get a malt.
    I get a malt.
    NOBODY BUT ME GETS A MALT.”

    Wink wink.

  9. Austin says

    First off, it’s really really good!
    I did a modified version – I made 2 different flavors chocolate and raspberry and splice them together and finish it with chocolate on top.

  10. Jenny says

    We made this for dessert last night and it was such a hit – we had over some vegan friends and wanted to impress them. We had to show them the recipe before they’d eat it since they were convinced it wasn’t actually vegan, lol!

  11. Natalie says

    We don’t have Malts in the UK, or if we do I’ve never seen one. But this looks absolutely delicious and I love malt hot drinks, so definitely going to try it out! Thank you

    – Natalie

  12. Georgina says

    Swapping malt powder for maca powder is something I wouldn’t have thought of but it’s such an excellent idea – thank you Dana, I will definitely be experimenting with this.

  13. Brittany says

    Three things:

    1. That Blendtec swirl has me swooning.
    2. I used to be an ice cream scooper too. Cold Stone Creamery baby!
    3. Maca FTW!! <3

  14. Rhian @ Rhian's Recipes says

    I’ve been trying to find ways to use Maca powder and this looks like the perfect thing to make! It looks delicious! Thanks for sharing :)

    • Laura @ Raise Your Garden says

      Me too, vanilla bean anything is amazing with a big zing in it!!!! I was actually an ice cream scooper for many years for a part-time job and it was a lot of fun~ I remember working with malt the first time “on the job” loved making milkshakes with malt, it was so fun. Great summer job for a teenager. This brings back fond memories.