5 Best Marvelous Malts

Just in time for summer, learn where to score these cool, sweet treats.

We all know milkshakes: the best guilty pleasure, the ideal after-dinner snack. But we decided to look past the traditional milkshake and find 417-land’s best of the milkshake’s souped-up cousin: the malt.

Malts are made with malted milk (some places use liquid, and some use powdered malt) which is made from a mixture of malted barley, wheat flour and whole milk, evaporated and condensed. Malts are a richer, often sweeter and heartier version of the milkshake.

When you’re ready for more flavor than what a milkshake will offer, you don’t have to drive far to give these tasty treats a try. Here are the five top malt stops in 417-land.

1. Hannah Banana’s Gourmet Ice Cream

303 E. Battlefield, Springfield, 417-823-3749

Hannah Banana’s recommends the cake batter malt, which tastes exactly like it sounds: like just-made cake batter. Although, if cake batter’s not your flavor, the store can make a malt with any of the 24 flavors of ice cream it has available at any one time, everything from cinnamon to orange sherbet to plum. Malts at Hannah Banana’s run $2.79 for a regular, $3.59 for a large and $4.29 for a “humongous.”

2. Steak ‘n Shake

2760 N. Glenstone Ave., Springfield; 3247 E. Battlefield, Springfield; 1550 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield; 1158 Saint Louis St., Springfield; 3755 S. Campbell Ave., Springfield; 1336 Highway 376, Branson; 503 E. Main St., Branson; 3115 E. Hammons Blvd., Joplin

We’re happy to see that old-fashioned is being done right with Steak ’n Shake’s malts. At $2.89 for a regular and $3.19 for a large, you can get the Steak ’n Shake malt in a way that your grandparents got it. Hand-dipped and prepared with Steak ’n Shake’s self-described “premium ice cream,” these malts taste fairly similar to their milkshake cousin. In this case, we recommend vanilla.

3. Billy Bob’s Dairy Land

1901 W. 76 Country Blvd., Branson, 417-337-9291

At Billy Bob’s, malts are combined with their own ice cream flavors and have liquid malt flavoring added. Billy Bob’s polled their employees and decided that chocolate malts are the way to go there. But, they warned, the texture and thickness of any malt can vary depending on who makes it. They’re selling their malts at 20 ounces for $3.39.

4. Emack & Bolio’s

2925 E. Battlefield, Springfield, 417-889-3622, emacks.net

Josh Slater, with Emack & Bolio’s, says although their malts offer up a different flavor, he doesn’t think they stray too far from their “really good” milkshakes. It’s because they still use their ice cream that has little to no hormones and contains no dyes. Slater says he’d recommend the dark chocolate or chocolate fudge ice creams for a malt. He doesn’t recommend some flavors because they may clash with the rich malty taste. He says, “go for something with chocolate definitely.” Emack & Bolio’s offers 20-ounce malts for $4.80.

5. Shake’s Frozen Custard

209 W. Fir Rd., Carthage, 417-359-9789

Jill Hulderman, who owns Shake’s with her husband, says these malts are guaranteed thicker and richer. “We start out with our Shake’s frozen custard, it’s better than regular ice cream,” she says. Two big scoops of this ice cream, along with their malt mix, make these malts good and thick. Chocolate or hot fudge malts are recommended here. If you’d like, you can customize yours with candies or fruits such as cherries or pecans. These malts are $3.20 for a regular and $3.86 for a large.