Malt powder and malted milk powder are different. The malt powder is typically used in bread and can be diastatic or non-diastatic. I know of people adding it to cookies once in a while to boost malt flavor, but generally people use malted milk powder and maybe barley malt syrup (which is non-diastatic) for things like cookies and cakes. Basically, if you like candy like Whoppers and Maltesers, that’s what the flavor profile is. Carnation sells malted milk powder and you can typically find it around the hot cocoa.
Malt powder is usually bought online and helps with browning and flavor of bread. The non-diastatic kind is most commonly used in bagels.
As for the type of bread you’re after, another of my favorite channels— Chain Baker— should be good. Charlie does a ton of whole grain, seeded breads and they’re basically all no-knead these days.
(With Steph it’s important to note that she uses fresh yeast, so all her breads need to be made with 1/3 the amount of yeast if using instant. She uses fairly small amounts of yeast.)
Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads also has good recipes. I find they can do with a sugar reduction at times to be more in line with some of the breads found in countries like Germany.
Those breads are generally harder than US counterparts, but if you want to try a familiar-ish no-knead recipe to start, Alexandra Cooks has a seeded bread (you can reduce the hydration to make it a bit sturdier, or the quinoa bread is bit sturdier to begin with, and you can add seeds to that — I used that recipe as a copycat for the Whole Foods quinoa flax bread when they discontinued it).
(She says in the seeded recipe that it gets messy, but imho if you’re interested in seeds inside the bread and not the aesthetics of seeds outside, you can just add the all the seeds into the dough and forego the pan coating, and there’s no mess.)
I should point out that the bigger pieces would work if the fruit were cooked for a while similarly to the pineapple skillet cookie since it would draw out water, which is the issue with larger chunks of pineapple. Pineapple is delicious, but fairly watery, so it helps to either have smaller bites or to cook it first to concentrate its flavor.
For malted milk powder, Horlicks has a stronger malt flavor than Carnation. Carnation; is what you’ll find in most mainstream US grocery stores, but I find Horlicks is often available in supermarkets with a British section (it is the standard brand there) and in Indian marketsi. And of course, easily found online.
I am off this week, and rather then doing some heavy duty purging ( the plan) I am baking and canning . These cookies are for a friend who just had a baby: something easy to grab and eat right out of the freezer in the middle of the night! https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
A friend dropped off some of her homemade cognac-fig jam, and I realized I had some blue cheese, so those two things went on my first slice. Delicious!
To get that Euro flavour, I’d substitute up to 30% of the white flour with rye flour instead of whole wheat. Sunflower, pumpkin and/or flax seeds are a typical combination.
Non-diastatic malt powder or syrup just adds flavour and browning to bread. Flavour is bittersweet on its own and will add sweetness and richness to bread. A tablespoon is probably sufficient for a loaf made with 3 cups of flour. The diastatic malt will add sweetness and tenderize, but too much will make the dough too slack and the finished product mushy.
For the most part malt isn’t something you’re going to notice in a bread and it’s commonly used in breads like baguettes. Especially in Europe where a lot of flour isn’t malted, addition of malt powder isn’t uncommon. Your typical flour in the USA contains it already, but a little extra has benefits.
“Diastatic malt powder: Not to be confused with malt sugar, non-diastatic malt powder, malt syrup, or malted milk powder (all of which are sugars), diastatic malt powder, also known as diastase, is an enzyme made from malted barley or wheat, that breaks down starches into simple sugars. It is naturally present in grains and used by the just-sprouted plant to access the energy stored up in its core. In flour, diastatic malt serves to provide a steady supply of sugar, to drive fermentation during proofing and caramelization in the heat of the oven.
Diastatic malt is usually added to commercial flours in the mill—it’s often listed as “malted barley” or “barley flour" in the ingredients—in order to ensure a uniform, consistent amount from bag to bag. Adding a little extra diastatic malt to long-fermented doughs like this baguette ensures that there will always be enough sugar around to achieve dramatic browning during baking.”
From the Serious Eats article on baguettes.
It’s essentially an improver in bread that is not meant to be noticed. It boosts the sweetness without being sugary and helps with browning. VERY different from something like malted milk flavor in desserts where malted milk is a flavor profile.
The desserts were where I was mainly seeing the malt, and it got to the point that I was very curious about why and what it might do for my baking. But once I understood that it tastes a bit like malted milk balls (which I should have been able to figure out on my own) I knew it wasn’t for me.
Ha, hazelnuts are one of my absolute favorites, but I’ve accepted that I’m not likely to get much of them here. And they do seem unusual to pair with pineapple. Braker does mention in the introductory note that the combo is unexpected, but I trust it’s good.
– a tiny loaf to accompany 
