Codename : Chocolate Spent Grain Granola

Once the beer has been brewed, what does one do with the spent grain? Try making granola! In this case, using my previous recipe as a base, and using some cocoa and chocolate chips

Ingredients

  • 3 C rolled oats
  • 1 C spent grain (see notes below)
  • 3/4 C brown sugar
  • 1/4 warm water
  • 1/3 C cocoa powder
  • 1/2 C chocolate chips (or measure with your heart)
  • 1 cup cashews/peanuts/pecans/walnuts (or your favourite nut), coarsely chopped
  • 2/3 cup sunflower seeds (or your other favourite seed substitute)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)
  • 1 cup of your favourite dried fruit, such as raisins or cranberries (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 275F
  2. Combine water and sugar, stir thoroughly until the sugar is dissolved
  3. Add in salt, vanilla and cinnamon, stir
  4. Add oats and spent grain, stir until everything is coated with the sugar water
  5. Add the rest of the ingredients (leave out the dried fruit for now), once again stirring everything until the contents are uniformly distributed.
  6. Line a cookie sheet with parchment
  7. Spread the mixture on the cookie sheet
  8. Bake for 45 minutes
  9. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on the granola
  10. Put back into the oven and cook for 5 minutes, just long enough to melt the chocolate chips
  11. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle on your optional dried fruit
  12. Allow the granola to cool on a rack for approximately one hour.
  13. Once everything has cooled, break it up, and store in an airtight container.

Made from the spent grain of my most recent Irish Red Ale.

Notes

  • I used dehydrated spent grain, although I have to think wet spent grain would work
  • The chocolate chips remained gooey, not a big problem, but I would just add them cold to the mixture as I put it into storage next time
The base granola with cocoa added.

 

Baked granola with the chocolate chips spread around.

 

The chocolate granola with cranberries sprinkled on top.

 

Baking day : 30-Jan-2025

Pig facing left