Oatmeal Bread: Make Hearty and Delicious Homemade Bread

This post contains affiliate links, which means, if you use my link to make a purchase, I get a small commission at no additional cost to you that helps support our family and this website. Thanks!

This is the recipe for our farmer's market oatmeal bread, one of our most popular items during market season. I've even made it by request at Christmastime for a lady who gave them away as presents.

This is my kids' favorite bread ever!

This is my mom's bread recipe. Growing up, I had six brothers and sisters, she would often make two or three double batches at a time. If they were for an event, she'd have to tell us beforehand or we'd eat a whole batch as soon as it cooled down enough to handle. Now I make it for my family, and my kiddos think it is the best bread ever, even for sandwiches, toast, French toast, strata, or croutons.

Now that I've upgraded to a mixer with a dough hook, it is also so easy and fast! Although, six minutes of kneading is good exercise, especially when it's out of garden season.

You will need two regular loaf pans or a large cookie sheet if making rolls.

Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon dry yeast

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 cup rolled oats(old-fashioned, NOT quick oats)

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter

• 2 cups boiling water

• 4 to 4-1/2 cups bread flour

• 
  

Directions:

1. Add the dry yeast to 1/2 cup warm water and stir. Allow this to bloom while working on the next steps.

2. Start water to boil, and either melt or soften the butter.

3. In a mixer or large bowl, combine the oats, wheat flour, brown sugar, salt and butter. Add the boiling water and stir well. Add 4 cups of the bread flour and begin to knead. After somewhat mixed, pour in the bloomed yeast and water. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding 1/4-1/2 cup more bread flour, or more, as needed to keep the dough from being too sticky. Kneading by hand will take approximately six minutes. Dough hook in an electric mixer will take slightly less time.

4. Put the dough into a clean mixing bowl with a little bit of oil in it, or remove the dough from the mixing bowl, add oil, and replace the dough, turning to coat the whole surface in oil. This helps prevent the dough from drying out as it rises. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and put in a warm place to rise. Rising time will vary dramatically depending on quality of yeast and warmth of environment.

5. When dough has doubled in size, punch it down and form into loaves or rolls. This batch will make two smaller loaves, or the batch can be doubled and made into three larger loaves. A single batch can make 12-18 rolls. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Split dough into two greased loaf pans for loaves or into 12-18 rolls on one greased cookie sheet, and allow it to rise again. I put the rising dough on the stovetop to allow the heat from the oven's preheating to speed up the rising time.

6. Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes, depending on size. Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes, depending on size.

7. Let the bread cool on the pans for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

This bread freezes very well.

You can substitute all-purpose flour for the bread flour in the recipes, but you will generally need a bit more flour and the bread will look a little less smooth.

The day before market, it's not uncommon to have 12 loaves cooling all over the kitchen.

Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think!