Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Spent Grain Beer Bread

Since recently my hubbie has gotten into making his own beer I've tried to find a few recipes of things I could make with the things leftover from it. One of the big ones is the "spent grain" or the grains that are leftover after they've been boiled. I have read that they are still quite nutritious and they give a unique flavor to this bread that I've made twice now. The bread tastes different depending on the type of grain you use so it's always new!

3/4c warm water
2T active dry yeast
3/4c milk
1/4c unsalted butter
4 1/2T sugar
1T salt
1c apple juice
1/4c honey
1 1/2c spent grain
1c wheat flour
4-5c unbleached all purpose flour
oil to coat bowl
1 egg, lightly beaten

Pour the warm water into the bowl of your electric mixer. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let set for a few minutes. Heat milk and butter until the butter melts, either in the microwave or on the stove. Add in sugar, salt, apple juice and honey. Add into the mixing bowl.
Add the spent grain reserving 2T if you'd like to put some on top to decorate at the end. Add whole wheat flour and mix thoroughly. Add all-purpose flour a little at a time until no longer sticky. Knead for several minutes with the dough hook attachment. Oil the bowl and let rise for 30-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
Form into 2 loaves and brush on the egg wash and rise again until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake loaves for 45 minutes or until a toothpick test comes out clean.