Got a home brewer in your life? Borrow a few cups of leftover spent grain and whip up a batch of these roasty-delicious dog treats. Professional and home brewers have discovered lots of ingenious ways to reuse this beer by-product, from feeding farm animals, to compost, to fancy food bars.
Before you begin, there are a couple of things to be aware of.
First, check that your brewer didn’t use hops! Hops in any form, whether they have been used (spent) or not, are toxic to dogs if ingested. All hops can be dangerous for dogs.
Second, make sure another ingredient, St. John’s Wort, was also not used in the brewing process. St. John’s Wort, also known as Klamath weed, is toxic to dogs and sometimes people use it in brewing as an herbal alternative to hops.
As long as you follow these guidelines, spent grain makes a healthy, toasty treat your dog will love.
Print
Brewers’ Spent Grain Crispy Homemade Dog Treats
This recipe works best if you drain as much liquid as possible from the spent grain. Consider lining your strainer with cheesecloth to really squeeze it dry.
If you own a dehydrator, you can move the cookies to it after baking for a long, slow crisping time.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 Tray 1x
- Category: Foodie Fuel
Ingredients
- 8 cups spent grain
- 2 cups rolled oat flour
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup freshly ground flax seeds
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º
- In a very large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients well.
- Line a half-sheet sized baking sheet with a lip with parchment and oil lightly.
- Press the dough onto the baking sheet, spreading it out as flat as possible.
OPTIONAL: Use a fork to mark lines, which makes it easier to break off the cookies when finished.
Bake for 30 minutes or until starting to brown around the edges.
Once it starts to brown, you can either pop the cookies out to distribute onto a few trays in your dehydrator, or turn your oven down to the lowest setting and continue baking until crisp. This takes 4 to 8 hours depending on moisture content.
Notes
- Make sure your brewer didn’t use hops! All hops can be dangerous for dogs.
- Second, make sure another ingredient, St. John’s Wort, was also not used in the brewing process. St. John’s Wort, also known as Klamath weed, is toxic to dogs and sometimes people use it in brewing as an herbal alternative to hops.
