Mini Malt Chocolate Chip Bundt Cakes

I love bundt cakes because they remind me of my childhood. I still have the bundt pan that my mom used to make our boxed cake mix cakes in. I’ve mentioned on here several times that my mom isn’t a baker at all, but bless her heart because she would try her very best to make my sisters and I so very happy. She’d bake us those sugar cookies with the shape in the center, the kind that you’d slice and bake and they’d have a Christmas tree or pumpkin in the center for the different holidays. We loved them. There were several things in her repertoire that she’d make often, which included homemade flan (that my grandma made her all the time as a kid) and a yellow rum cake. We probably shouldn’t have had it as kids, but I’m sure that most of the alcohol baked off so it’s okay. Anyhow, she would bake the rum cake in this vintage bundt pan that I still have and use to this very day. I love it because it reminds me of all the times she would bake this cake for guests and friends.

The problem with bundt cakes, as much as I love them, is that they take forever and a day to bake and you always have that anxiety if the cake will come out cleanly from the pan or not. You cross your fingers and say a little prayer when you go to invert it. It’s a 50/50 chance that it’ll all go downhill. Just because I live with that constant struggle of baking a bundt cake doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them. I solved this by buying a mini bundt pan because they take no time at all to bake and they always come out perfectly. These Mini Malt Chocolate Chip Bundt Cakes are a great baking project to tackle this coming weekend. They’re fun to make and super tasty. They taste like chocolate chip cookies and chocolate malted milkshakes but in cake form, and I can’t recommend them enough. 

To make the batter, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on high speed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

**Tip: Always crack your eggs into a separate bowl, just in case shells fall in or the egg is bad. That way you can catch it in time without ruining the entire batter. Kapish?!**

Stir in the vanilla extract and malted milk powder until well combined. Malted milk powder can be found in most grocery stores in the baking aisle or chocolate milk powders and hot cocoa mixes are. 

In a small bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. 

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. It’s crucial to mix just until combined after each addition because you don’t want to over-mix the batter at this point or else the cake will become dry and tough. No one wants that. 

 
Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula. 

**Tip: To ensure that the chocolate chips don’t settle to the bottom of the bundt cakes, a good trick is to toss them with a few tablespoons of flour before adding them to the batter. The flour helps suspend the chocolate chips into the batter and prevents them from sinking. The same trick works with any ingredient you’re adding to your batters. Like blueberries or cherries into muffins or cakes.**

Fill a greased and floured mini bundt pan a little more than halfway up with the batter. You want to make sure to leave plenty of space for the cakes to rise. 

**Note: Most mini bundt pans have six cavities for cakes, so if you have two pans grease both. If you only have the one, then you’ll have to bake them in batches. This recipe yields 9 mini bundt cakes.**

While the cakes bake off, let’s make the chocolate chip streusel topping. Let’s brown some butter. We need browned butter for both the streusel and the glaze, so it makes sense to just do it all at once. You want to brown butter slowly and over low heat. 

Once the butter has browned, remove about 2 tablespoons and set them off to the side for the glaze. Then to the pot, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and flour. Return to the heat and cook, stirring often until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs like sand. 

Dump out onto a bowl or plate and let the mixture cool down completely to room temperature. Once cooled, then stir in the mini chocolate chips. 

**Note: Make sure the mixture is completely cooled before stirring in the chocolate chips. If it isn’t the chips will melt into the mixture since they’re so tiny, and that’s not good.**

Once the cakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, remove the pan from the oven. Let it cool for about 15 minutes before inverting them out onto a wire rack. Let them cool completely before glazing and topping. Clean out the pan and repeat with the remaining batter, as needed. 

While the cakes cool, let’s make the glaze. In a medium shallow bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, the reserved brown butter, salt, vanilla, malted milk powder and enough milk as needed to create a dippable, spreadable glaze. 

Dip the cooled cakes into the glaze and then sprinkle the tops heavily with the streusel. Return them to the wire rack and allow the glaze to set before serving and eating. 

**Note: You can also spread the glaze on top with a butterknife or offset spatula!**

These cakes are best when eaten the day they’re made. Anytime after that, the cakes will become a bit dry. However, if you do have any leftover, you can wrap them in plastic wrap and keep them at room temperature for up to 2 days max. They won’t be as moist (sorry) but they’ll still be good. Especially with milk or coffee in the morning. 

I like recipes like this because they verge on the line between breakfast and dessert. They’re great first thing in the morning as a sweet treat, but also great enough for dessert after dinner when you want to impress your guests. They’re also amazing as a mid-day snack.

Sometimes when I’m working a lot, after lunch I crave something sweet. Whether it’s a doughnut or a cookie. Does that ever happen to you? If it does, these bundt cakes are perfect to fill that mid-day craving. Believe me. 

 
These Mini Malt Chocolate Chip Bundt Cakes are the perfect weekend baking project. Add them to your list and don’t forget our promise to each other to unplug and take back our weekends. These are the recipes that’ll help us do just that. Gather some friends or your kids or your sisters or your brothers and have some fun whipping up a batch of these cakes.

Mini Malt Chocolate Chip Bundt Cakes

These delicious individual cakes are flavored with malt powder and chocolate chip. They're topped with a brown butter glaze and mini chocolate chip streusel!

Servings 9 cakes

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup malted milk powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Streusel Topping:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a mini bundt pan, set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and malted milk powdered until well combined.
• In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together the 2 cups flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Make sure to mix until just combined after each addition.
• Toss the chocolate chips with the remaining 2 tablespoons flour and fold into the batter. Fill the prepared mini bundt pan a little more than half way up. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then run a knife along the edges and invert onto a wire rack to release the bundt cakes. Let cool completely before proceeding. Clean out the pan, grease and flour once more and repeat with the remaining batter.
• To make the streusel, melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan until browned and it no longer crackles. Once the butter has browned, reserve about 2 tablespoons of it for the glaze and set aside. To the saucepan, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and flour. Stir with a spoon and cook over low for about 3 to 5 minutes. The mixture should resemble coarse sand. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely. Once cooled, stir in the mini chocolate chips.
• To make the glaze, in a shallow dish, whisk together the powdered sugar, reserved browned butter, salt, vanilla and enough milk to create smooth somewhat thick glaze. Dip the cooled bundt cakes into the glaze and then top with the streusel. Return to the wire rack and allow the glaze to set before eating. Leftovers can be covered with plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days. Enjoy!

Author: The Candid Appetite