It hasn’t been very long since Nick brewed a batch of beer and I made dog treats from the spent grain. Since then, though, he’s already brewed 2 more batches! He’s on a bit of a frenzy, but I can’t complain… at least it this hobby is much more rewarding for me than his playing video games or watching Swamp Brothers. I like beer.
After I made the dog treats, Nick wanted me to try making granola bars (since we tried the dog treats and they were pretty tasty). On his last batch of brew (a honey lemon wheat beer), I finally got around to it.
Pecan Raisin Granola Bars
- 2 cups spent grain
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
This recipe is for a half batch, because I made half granola bars and half dog treats. If you don’t have a dog and want to make a full batch, just double everything.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine grain, flour, peanut butter and egg. Use your hands to combine them. Depending on how wet the grains are (they should be pretty dry), it might take a while to come together, but it’ll get there! Add the honey, cinnamon, raisins and nuts, and combine.
Press the dough out on a nonstick sprayed cookie sheet. Lightly score the dough into bars with a knife. Granola on the left, dog treats on the right! Bake 30 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven, and lower it to 225 degrees. Break the bars apart and spread them out (over 2 pans if you’re making a full batch).
Put the bars back in the oven and bake at 225 degrees for 3 hours. Cool fully and store in an airtight container.
Ok, I’ll admit I was skeptical before making these, but they are SO good. They’re super hard and crunchy, like those Nature Valley granola bars. The pecans got nice and toasted, and the raisins are super chewy (in a very good way). Best of all, they’re pretty good for! You’ll definitely fulfill your fiber requirement for the day… you can’t really get much more whole grain than these!
Have you thought about using spent grain flour in this recipe?
I’m going to try it later this week
I am baking these RIGHT NOW. Thanks.
These are tasty but watch your time. I ended up stopping the 3 hour baking at 225 because I could smell them starting to burn. 2 hours was enough. Granted I used spent grain flour and gluten free flour which could’ve effected the cook time. I used candied pecans (what I had on hand) and craisins. They are yummy. Thanks for the recipe.