BARLEY MALT SYRUP

Barley malt syrup is a key ingredient for home brewers and bakers. Alton Brown from the ‘Food Network” swears buy it for pizza dough making. It is a key ingredient for ‘Parker House Rolls’ from the famous ‘Parker House’ in Boston. Barley malt syrup is created from whole grain organic barley. It is sprouted and then heated to create enzymes that convert to starch, with the complex carbohydrate turning to sugars. It is evaporated to create syrup. This thick syrup is half as sweet as white sugar with a molasses/ honey type quality, and a malt flavor that will be great for baked goods.

It took some searching to find this nectar of the ‘Food Network Guru’s’. It is not stocked at our local ‘Wally Mart”. Luckily the Bay Area is full of ‘Health Food’ stores and a jar was found. This syrup can be used as substitute for sugar or honey in your baking recipes. I just substituted this syrup in our English muffin and pizza dough list of ingredients. If you liked your baked goods a little sweeter you may have to add additional sweetener according to the syrup label. We will have to give a taste test to check out this advice.

The English muffin and pizza dough really took off with the combination of Barley malt syrup and yeast. They both rose with vigor and stamina. This syrup may have blue pill quality on the baking scene. The English muffins did have a hint of malt flavor. It was very pleasant with subtle malt flavor. The pizza dough did not have a malt flavor, possibly because it was hidden with the cornucopia of other tasty ingredients. We did not notice any lack of flavor because of the smaller sugar content.

If you like to bake, Barley Malt Syrup is a must have ingredient. It will add flavor with less sugars. This thick sweet syrup marries with yeast to form yummy baking delights. I cannot wait to try making some ‘Parker House’ rolls.