I wanted to share this recipe for a granola that only brewers can appreciate.
There has been discussion about using spent grains in granola, but spent grains generally have pretty large pieces of husk and most of the "good" stuff has been transferred into the beer. So I set out to create a recipe that retains the barley husks, but in a more palatable form. And captures more of the malt flavor and sweetness we love.
This granola is sweetened, in part, with malt syrup and contains a LOT of fiber, both soluble and insoluble fiber. Very good for an old guy like me.
Malted Barley Granola
Goal: produce a tasty, high fiber cereal incorporating brewer’s malted barley
Mashing malt:
2 cup Pilsner malt
1 cup Caramel-40 malt
Grind in grain mill (not brewery crush mill) to a medium course meal where the endosperm and hulls ate well broken, but not flour. This should make about 400 gm of ground malt.
Combine grain with 1 liter of dechlorinated water to create a thick mash. Hold this mash at 140-155 F for an hour or so. . Stir frequently to distribute hot spots and even the temps. The thick mash will create a wide range of temperatures through-out the mash.
Add a few ounces of water as needed to maintain a thick, but fluid mash.
After 60-90 minutes – bring to a boil- and boil for 10 minutes
Strain mash using a mash bag lined colander, pressing out as much liquid wort as possible. I used a quart mason jar to press.
Collected 430 ml of wort – refractometer measured at SG= 1.115/ 28⁰ Plato/ 78 Brix
Making malt syrup:
Bring the collected wort to a rolling boil and boil to reduce by about 80%.
i.e. 430 ml > 90 ml
Boil to a temp of about 218⁰F, or where the syrup has thickened to sheet off of a spoon.
Making granola:
Dry: mix the following in a large bowl(s)
5 cup of mashed “spent” grains
5 cups regular (not instant or quick) uncooked oatmeal
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup sliced almonds
Wet:
90 ml (approx.) Malt syrup produced as above
1.5 sticks butter
1.5 TBL vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar or maple sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
Heat to melt butter and create a syrup
Mix and toast:
Stir together both Wet and Dry mixes, all of the Dry should be lightly coated with the syrup.
Spread the mixed granola onto two sheet pans lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Make a layer of granola not exceeding ½ inch and place into a preheated oven set at 250⁰F
Toast the granola for about 60-75 minutes– stirring every 15 minutes. Watch that the granola does not get too dry or brown.
At the end of this time the granola should be lightly browned, fragrant, and only a bit moist. Turn off the oven and allow the granola to stay in the oven until cooled. This should evaporate any residual moisture without risking over browning the cereal
When cooled (several hours or overnight)…
Add fruit:
1 cup roughly chopped prunes
1 cup raisins
(or any other dried fruit that seems like a good idea)
Shake the fruit with a mixture of 1.5 TBL powdered sugar and ½ TBL corn starch to coat and dry the fruit surfaces – mix into the dry cereal and package.
Makes about 1 gallon of cereal.
There has been discussion about using spent grains in granola, but spent grains generally have pretty large pieces of husk and most of the "good" stuff has been transferred into the beer. So I set out to create a recipe that retains the barley husks, but in a more palatable form. And captures more of the malt flavor and sweetness we love.
This granola is sweetened, in part, with malt syrup and contains a LOT of fiber, both soluble and insoluble fiber. Very good for an old guy like me.
Malted Barley Granola
Goal: produce a tasty, high fiber cereal incorporating brewer’s malted barley
Mashing malt:
2 cup Pilsner malt
1 cup Caramel-40 malt
Grind in grain mill (not brewery crush mill) to a medium course meal where the endosperm and hulls ate well broken, but not flour. This should make about 400 gm of ground malt.
Combine grain with 1 liter of dechlorinated water to create a thick mash. Hold this mash at 140-155 F for an hour or so. . Stir frequently to distribute hot spots and even the temps. The thick mash will create a wide range of temperatures through-out the mash.
Add a few ounces of water as needed to maintain a thick, but fluid mash.
After 60-90 minutes – bring to a boil- and boil for 10 minutes
Strain mash using a mash bag lined colander, pressing out as much liquid wort as possible. I used a quart mason jar to press.
Collected 430 ml of wort – refractometer measured at SG= 1.115/ 28⁰ Plato/ 78 Brix
Making malt syrup:
Bring the collected wort to a rolling boil and boil to reduce by about 80%.
i.e. 430 ml > 90 ml
Boil to a temp of about 218⁰F, or where the syrup has thickened to sheet off of a spoon.
Making granola:
Dry: mix the following in a large bowl(s)
5 cup of mashed “spent” grains
5 cups regular (not instant or quick) uncooked oatmeal
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup sliced almonds
Wet:
90 ml (approx.) Malt syrup produced as above
1.5 sticks butter
1.5 TBL vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar or maple sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
Heat to melt butter and create a syrup
Mix and toast:
Stir together both Wet and Dry mixes, all of the Dry should be lightly coated with the syrup.
Spread the mixed granola onto two sheet pans lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Make a layer of granola not exceeding ½ inch and place into a preheated oven set at 250⁰F
Toast the granola for about 60-75 minutes– stirring every 15 minutes. Watch that the granola does not get too dry or brown.
At the end of this time the granola should be lightly browned, fragrant, and only a bit moist. Turn off the oven and allow the granola to stay in the oven until cooled. This should evaporate any residual moisture without risking over browning the cereal
When cooled (several hours or overnight)…
Add fruit:
1 cup roughly chopped prunes
1 cup raisins
(or any other dried fruit that seems like a good idea)
Shake the fruit with a mixture of 1.5 TBL powdered sugar and ½ TBL corn starch to coat and dry the fruit surfaces – mix into the dry cereal and package.
Makes about 1 gallon of cereal.
