Despite being married to a homebrewer, I’m not a fan of beer. I just can’t get past the bitter aftertaste. Because so many people in my life love it though, it’s on my mental list of future goals (sometime post-pregnancy, in this case) to try to develop a test for this beloved beverage. In the meantime, I will just enjoy the Grapenuts-like scent of the brewing process and scheme to make use of its most plentiful byproduct – spent grain.

Here’s the thing about most of the recipes using spent grain that I can find: They don’t use nearly enough of it. A cup here, a cup there, and I still have a couple quarts of spent grain without a purpose. For example, we sometimes substitute spent grain for oatmeal in Orangette’s leftover oatmeal muffins. I like to replace the all-purpose flour with a mixture of oat and almond flour and add a teaspoon of cinnamon (pictured above).

Spent grain goes sour pretty quickly, and while freezing them is an option, in my case that just means the grains slowly start to fill the freezer. When we lived on the Eastern Shore, we fed the grain to neighborhood chickens, and here in Brooklyn we’ve added them to the compost, but because I actually kinda dig the malty flavor of spent grain I’d rather find ways to eat it.

I’ve found the best way to use up the maximum amount of spent grain while also giving it a longer shelf life is to turn it into flour. Here is the method I use:

Homemade Spent Grain Flour

Set your oven to its lowest temperature and place two oven racks as close to the the center as possible.. Spread your spent grain in a single layer on two large baking sheets. Bake, stirring every hour to ensure even drying, until the grains are dry and brittle, about 4 hours. Grind into flour using a food processor, blender (I use the Vitamix dry blade), or a grain mill.

I fiddled around with the leftover oatmeal muffins recipe to make this spent grain version that uses a whopping SIX CUPS spent grain for 18 muffins. They’re nutty, barely sweet, and studded with the crunch of walnuts and tartness of cherries. We love them for breakfast or a snack.

Spent Grain Muffins

1 1/4 c spent grain flour (from 4 c dried spent grain)
2 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped walnuts (or other nut)
1/2 c dried unsweetened tart cherries (or other dried fruit)
3 eggs
1/2 c honey
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 c wet spent grain

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin or line with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the spent grain flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the walnuts and cherries.

3. In a medium bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs. Whisk in the honey and then the butter. Stir in the wet spent grain.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Add 1/4 c batter to each muffin cup. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15-20 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins