Old-fashioned spent grain bread
I live surrounded by people who love craft beer. I’m not big fan of beer in general, I’ve never managed to finish a complete bottle by myself hahaha. What I do have discovered is that I really enjoy cooking with beer, and now that there are so many styles it is so much easier to match each style with different types of dishes. I recently discover that to use beer is fine, but I can also use ingredients that craft breweries no longer use, such as grains.
I once tried a Finnish bread made with spent grains, I really enjoyed it and obviously I wanted to bake my own version. I was given spent grains from a local craft brewery. That day they prepared their Porter beer and I suppose the color of the bread is dark because of that.
Because these grains were already wet, it’s very important to use them as soon as possible, if not they will start to smell funny.
It’s an old-fashioned type of bread. It reminds me of European breads, especially those found in Germany and the Scandinavian countries. I searched for several recipes on the internet, I chose the one that used less flour and more whole grains. The barley flavor is unique and super tasty. Also it adds lots of fiber, and that’s always good. Surely I will continue experimenting with spent grains in baked goods.
- 160 gr (5.6 oz) bread flour
- 65 gr (2.3 oz) whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 package instant yeast (11 gr/0.4 oz)
- 300 gr (10.6 oz) spent grains
- 3 Tablespoons agave nectar
- 2 ½ Tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (428°F).
- In a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the dry ingredients. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the agave syrup, olive oil, egg and milk. Increase the speed to high and mix until the dough comes together, about 8 minutes. It’s a very sticky dough. Stop the machine several times to scrape the dough from the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough in a slightly oiled large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic bag and place in a warm place. The dough should double in size, 1-1 ½ hours.
- Divide the dough in two and shape each into a ball. Sprinkle a baking sheet with coarse corn meal. Place the two balls in the baking sheet and sprinkle with flour. Cover with plastic wrap or put inside a big plastic bag and let it rest until the dough double in size, 1 hour.
- In a small baking dish pour some hot water and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Place the baking sheet in the middle rack and bake until the crust is golden, about 20-25 minutes. Remove the bread from the baking sheet and transfer to a wire rack. Let it cool to room temperature.
- Slice and enjoy!
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