How to Make Next-Level Double Chocolate Malt Cookies at Home

Valentine’s Day is coming up, which means it’s time to talk about chocolate—real, professional-quality chocolate. If you’ve ever made a chocolate dessert at home and thought, this is good, but it’s missing something, you’re not alone. That deep, rich flavour we all expect doesn’t always come through, and the wrong ingredients might be to blame. Luckily, we know exactly how to fix that.

Our Double Dark Malted Chocolate Cookies are chewy and deeply chocolaty, with a touch of malt powder for subtle, toasty complexity. Smoked salt balances the sweetness, and high-quality chocolate takes centre stage, making these anything but your average homemade cookie. But in order to make these cookies shine, you need to start with the right chocolate. Let’s break it down.

Three Things That Make or Break Your Chocolate Baking

1. Cocoa Butter Content Affects Texture

Ever wonder why some chocolate melts into glossy pools while other pieces stay dull and lumpy? It all comes down to cocoa butter.

Higher cocoa butter content—like what you’ll find in Callebaut baking chocolate—creates a smoother melt and silkier texture in cookies and ganache. Many supermarket chocolate bars contain less cocoa butter or add stabilizers, which can lead to a waxy mouthfeel or uneven melting.

Pro tip: If you want those gooey chocolate pockets in cookies, skip the chips (which contain stabilizers to hold their shape) and use chopped Callebaut blocks or callets instead.

2. Cocoa Powder Choice Changes Depth of Flavour

Cocoa powder isn’t just about adding chocolate flavour—it affects acidity, bitterness, and even the structure of your bakes.

Valrhona Cocoa Powder is known for its complex, well-balanced flavour, which makes it perfect for cookies, brownies, and cakes where you want deep chocolate notes without overpowering bitterness. It also has a finer texture, which blends better into doughs and batters, preventing that dry, chalky taste you sometimes get with lower-quality cocoa powders.

Pro tip: If a recipe doesn’t specify Dutch-processed vs. natural cocoa, knowing the difference matters. Dutch-processed (like Valrhona) is smoother and works well in recipes with baking powder, while natural cocoa is more acidic and interacts differently with leaveners.

3. Salt Does More Than Just Balance Sweetness

It’s no secret that a pinch of salt improves chocolate desserts, but smoked salt takes it further.

Our Double Dark Malted Chocolate Cookies use Smoked Maldon Salt, which adds a hint of savoury depth without overpowering the chocolate. Instead of just cutting sweetness, the smoky flavour rounds out the richness—almost like how a touch of espresso deepens chocolate flavour without making it taste like coffee.

Pro tip: Salt will dissolve onto the cookie if it's added before baking, so we sprinkle it on while the cookies are baked but still warm—this allows it to stick but also retain that visual sparkle and crunch. 

Double Chocolate Malt Cookies

Our Double Dark Malted Chocolate Cookies were designed to let high-quality chocolate shine. The malt powder adds a caramelized, almost milkshake-like depth, while the smoked salt brings a savoury contrast that makes the dark chocolate even more satisfying.

350 g Callebaut dark chocolate, chopped and divided (about 2 cups)
1½ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (26 g) Valrhona cocoa powder
3 tbsp malt powder (ideally Horlicks*)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
⅓ cup sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
Smoked (or regular) Maldon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Divide chocolate in half, saving the 1 cup of largest chunks to stir into the batter. Melt the remaining 1 cup of chocolate in the microwave or in a small pot over low heat. Set aside.

3. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, malt powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and yolk, one at a time, beating well between additions. Mix in vanilla and melted chocolate until uniform.

5. Add dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Stir in reserved chopped chocolate (or save some chunks to press into the top of each cookie before baking).

6. Roll dough into 1½-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

7. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 12 minutes, or until puffed and set but still soft in the center. Remove from oven and bang the baking sheet once on the counter to deflate slightly.

8. Sprinkle with smoked (or regular) Maldon salt. Let cool.

Makes 24 large cookies (about 3 inches in diameter).

*Horlicks malt powder has less sugar and a much stronger flavour than other brands. Look for it in the British specialty section of grocery stores.