Horlick’s Malt Cookie Tablets

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“Scrapbook of Memories–Childhood Favorites:  Superheroes and Candies”

Toys and candy — two of the most memorable parts of childhood.

Of course I had Barbies.  My sister always kept her dolls neatly in their suitcase-like carrier, clothes and shoes neatly on, and any extra accessories neatly stowed away in their proper drawers.  I, on the other hand, quickly slid my dolls into their slots, clothes and shoes sometimes on, and most times just thrown in the case.  There were some instances of the headless Barbies, but they always got reattached.

When I eventually became a mom myself, I would frequently find every single one of my daughters’ Barbies with their heads detached, sometimes wearing the stuffed animals’ clothing, and matching parts thrown in different toy buckets.  I lectured my daughters about taking care of their toys, but I really couldn’t get too upset with them, since I had pretty much done the same thing myself.  Actually, from talking with other moms over the years, pulling apart Barbies is pretty common behavior even for girls.  So that makes me feel better, I think.

What I really cared about as a kid was Kikaida!  The original action hero from Japan. Starting in the early 1970’s, Hawaii broadcast the subtitled series on television.  All kids were crazy over Kikaida.  Who didn’t idolize Kikaida’s human form too– the guitar wielding, motorcycle riding Jiro? And Kikaida doll?  Yep, my prized possession.

I also liked Rainbowman and Kamen Rider V3. Why play dress up dollies, when you could change into flying superhero machines? Although, I have to admit that when I look at you tube clips of these shows now, they look pretty silly, especially compared to the Spiderman, X-Men and other superhero movies of today. But for back then, this was big stuff.

Horlick’s Malted Milk tablets in the small glass bottle.  I must have really loved them, because I have multiple, clear memories of being really little and going to Hawaii’s main drugstore, Long’s Drug Store, and being allowed to choose the plain or chocolate malt tablets off the shelf.  The really neat part was that the glass jars they came in looked just like real asprin bottles. You could pretend you were sick and had to take your medicine, which was really candy.

These haven’t been made in the United States for a long time.  I see online that they’re made in Malaysia and called “Malties,” but the tablets come in paper packets.  The Horlick’s malt powder is now manufactured in the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Jamaica, the Philippines, and Malaysia, with some cultural variations in flavor and ingredients. Some countries market it as a health promoting supplement, and others as a bedtime drink to aid sleep.  I’ve often seen containers of it on the shelves in Asian markets here, and at World Market stores (where I got mine), and wished for some of those old fashioned malt tablets.

(Update: I don’t think World Market carries Horlick’s Malt Powder anymore, but it is available online at Amazon.com)

I decided to give a try recreating some malt tablets in a small glass jar, and recapturing a part of my childhood.

Start with softened butter. I use salted butter here because I like the flavor better in the final cookie.

In the past, I’ve made tiny shortbread cookies and filled recycled glass baby food jars with them.  Everybody always loves those.

Add sugar.

So we’ll make some malted cookie tablets instead.

Add in Horlick’s malt powder.

Nonfat dried milk will add extra richness and a touch of sweetness.

And finally flour.

It’s pretty easy to dump everything into a bowl.

Wash and dry your hands, and dig in.  Rub the butter into all the dry ingredients.

Keep mixing and squishing until you have a well mixed dough that sticks together.

Divide the dough into eight even portions.

Take one portion and roll out into a log, about the diameter of a dime.

Use a knife to cut the log into 1/2″ pieces.  Place the pieces cut side down on an ungreased, shiny baking sheet.  Press each piece down slightly while rounding the  edges to make as perfect a circle as possible.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

If you want to make chocolate malt cookies, use unsweetened cocoa powder.

Just add two tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to the rest of the ingredients, and continue as above.

Watch these closely though, the chocolate ones can brown very quickly at the end and may burn. Take them out when they’re cooked, but still soft. They’ll harden up when they cool.

Bake at 300 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes, until just done.

After the cookies are done, remove the cookies from the hot baking sheet onto a cooling rack, or onto a cool baking sheet to prevent the bottoms from overbrowning.  Cool completely.

Use chopsticks to carefully arrange the mini cookies in little glass jars.

I didn’t have any baby food jars on hand, so I used some brand new spice jars, which I also found at World Market.

Look at my medicinal arsenal!

These make great little gifts, especially when topped with sprinkles. See some of my Christmas malt cookie tablets here.

Horlick’s Malt Cookie Tablets, along with some old time Chocolate Flicks and Botan Rice Candy……..plenty of energy for a deluge of  “double chops” and “The Ends!”

(If you’re not familiar with those terms, you’ve probably already guessed that those are signature Kikaida moves.)

(Update 3/14: I had my oven door readjusted, and my oven is cooking much hotter, so I’ve decreased the cooking time.)