Spent Grain Bread

I have always just liked beer. I am more of a wine person.

But in all honesty, I am really a bread person.

Now, I have a reason to love beer. I didn’t know until recently when a good friend was brewing beer at home that the spent grains can be used to make bread!

In all my years of baking bread how did I not know this?

Well, luckily my friends are into brewing beer at home so I doubt this will be the last recipe I post about using spent grains in bread.

I had some serious doubts about this bread as I was making it.

It smelled funny and it looked funny.

But the proof is in this bread (ha ha – no pun intended).

Six people tried this bread (it makes two hearty loaves) and they LOVED it. Or at least they said they did… I believe them.

So, find a friend who home brews beer and ask if you can have their spent grains. Note: I stored these grains for 7 days in the refrigerator before I got around to baking them and then I froze the leftover grains.

Ingredients

3 c. wet spent grain (mine were roasted barley, toasted barley, chocolate malt and flaked barley)

1 c. warm water

2 t. active dry yeast

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 t. salt

5 to 6 c. all purpose flour

Place the yeast and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the spent grains and with the dough hook mix the brown sugar in as well.

Slowly add a cup at a time of the flour. After half of the flour is added, add the salt and then incorporate the rest of the flour until the dough slightly clings to the sides of the bowl.