csa share // week six
Featured Beer - echo static
other items in your share this week
elderberries // PCB Farmhouse
Sourdough, nut & berry granola // PCB Farmhouse
spent beer grain flour // PCB Farmhouse
farmhouse cheese // murandu cheese company, waterloo, ny
leeks // silver tree forest farms , owasco, NY
sourdough granola recipe
**can substitute any nuts or dried fruit as you like
Ingredients
4 cups rolled oats
1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts
1⁄2 cup sliced almonds
2⁄3 cup dried blueberries
1⁄2 cup sourdough discard
1⁄2 cup honey
1⁄2 cup brown sugar
1⁄2 cup oil [we used coconut oil]
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325°F(160°C).
In a large mixing bowl combine the rolled oats, chopped pecans, sliced almonds, and dried cranberries. Set aside.
In a smaller mixing bowl stir together the remaining ingredients until everything is fully incorporated and everything is smooth.
Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until everything if evenly coated.
Spread the granola mixture out evenly onto a parchment lined jelly roll pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Allow the granola to cool and set for 30 minutes before breaking it apart and storing in an air tight container.
What is Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough discard refers to a portion of starter that is removed or discarded during the regular feeding and maintenance of a sourdough starter. The term “discard” doesn’t mean that the removed portion needs to be wasted though.
Many bakers save this discard and use it in various recipes, like sourdough granola, instead of throwing it away. Sourdough discard can add a tangy flavor to recipes and is often used in pancakes, waffles, muffins, crackers, or other baked goods. It’s a way to minimize waste and make use of the excess starter that would otherwise be discarded during the feeding process.
Why Use Sourdough Discard in Granola?
Why would you use sourdough discard in granola? There isn’t one good reason for it, but many!
To Add Flavor
Sourdough discard can add flavor to your granola. The tanginess from the sourdough discard adds to the overall taste, giving you homemade granola with an interestingly sweet yet tangy flavor profile.
Tangy sourdough notes pair perfectly with the brown sugar and honey in this recipe. Balancing the flavor to make your granola just right, neither too sweet nor too sour. I find the taste of sourdough discard granola so much more appealing than just regular store-bought granola.
To Reduce Waste
Incorporating sourdough discard into discard recipes is a sustainable practice that helps reduce food waste. Rather than discarding the excess starter during the regular feeding process, you can repurpose it in various recipes, such as sourdough granola, to make delicious treats without wasting the flour used to make sourdough starter.
For the Health Benefits
Sourdough has many health benefits and can be an excellent alternative for those with mild gluten sensitivities. The long fermentation and beneficial bacteria break down much of the gluten a phytic acid. This makes sourdough much easier to digest and more nutrient and antioxidant rich.
Sourdough also acts as a prebiotic and can be great for improving digestive issues and overall gut health. Using it to make granola could potentially make it easier to digest and increase the availability of certain nutrients.
spent grain flour:
Spent grain is the term given to grain that is left over after the beer making process. When brewing beer, you add grain to hot water to extract all of the sugars in a process called mashing. The resulting sugar water is called wort and is then boiled with hops. After mashing, the grain can be composted, fed to livestock, spread in garden beds or, as I like to do, dry it out and turn it into a flour.
Spent grain flour gives your bread an incredible boost of whole grain flavor and nuttiness that really takes your bread to a different level.
spent grain drying & flour process click here
Note - we mixed our spent grain 1/2 & 1/2 with all purpose flour