Recently, we took Leo to his first ever baseball game. It was kindof a big deal. Growing up in the Twin Cities, I spent my childhood going to many Twins games at the old Metrodome, and as a result, I’m still a huge baseball fan. Twins baseball in particular, but really any baseball game is good in my book.

As a kid, one of my favorite things to get at the Twins game was a chocolate malt cup - I would get one every time we went. To this day, I always feel the need for a chocolate malt cup whenever I go to a baseball game. And while they are near impossible to find at most other ballparks I’ve visited, Target Field doesn’t disappoint. Also, you absolutely have to eat your chocolate malt cup with the wooden spoon that comes with it. This is very important - it just doesn’t taste right otherwise.

It goes without saying that at Leo’s first baseball game, I, of course, got a chocolate malt cup. And I, of course, let Leo have some (it’s tradition). He loved it, obviously, but even more than the malt cup, he loved the wooden spoon. After I finished off my malt cup, I gave him said spoon to play with, and he proceeded to be entertained by it for several innings.

So there you have it. In a game where the Twins pulled off a much needed win against the Indians in extra innings, a game that included Torii Hunter’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a game where past Twins greats such as Kent Hrbek and Rod Carew were in attendance, Leo’s favorite part was a chocolate malt cup, and the wooden spoon that came with it. That’s my son.

Baseball games are great, but the opportunities to attend them happen a lot less frequently than I would like, so I felt the need to recreate the baseball game chocolate malt cup experience at home. Not wanting to churn up ice cream, or figure out how to get my hands on a supply of wooden malt cup spoons, I went for the next best thing - popsicles. Whip up a quick, no-churn chocolate ice cream base, spike it with some malt powder, and freeze it in a popsicle mold with - and this is of the utmost importance - wooden popsicle sticks. Boom. Malt cups in popsicle form. And if you’re feeling the full ballpark experience, you can coat the outside of the frozen pops with peanuts, another baseball game staple that goes wonderfully with chocolate malt cups.

Chocolate Malt Pops

Makes 10 pops

2 cups heavy cream
¼ cup cocoa powder
3 Tbsp malted milk powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
⅓ cup roasted, salted peanuts, roughly chopped

1. Whip heavy cream until peaks form. Mix in the cocoa powder, malted milk powder, vanilla, and salt until just combined.

2. Fold the sweetened condensed milk into the whipped cream mixture until fully incorporated.

3. Pour mixture into a 10 popsicle mold. Cover and freeze for about 1 hour so they are just beginning to set, then insert the popsicle sticks (this will ensure popsicle sticks stick straight into the pops, rather than floating at an angle). Freeze until firm - I like to let these set at least 8 hours if you can wait that long.

4. Remove popsicle mold from freezer and run hot water over the bottom of the molds for 20-30 seconds to loosen pops. Remove pops from molds and roll in finely chopped peanuts to coat. Popsicles can be served immediately or individually wrapped in parchment paper and stored in the freezer for several days.