Oatmeal Bread

5 from 4 votes

Easily mix together a loaf of homemade oatmeal bread that's soft, fluffy and perfect for morning toast, sandwiches, or alongside a warm bowl of soup.

Course bread

Cuisine American

Keyword homemade oatmeal bread, oatmeal bread

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Inactive Time 3

Total Time 4

Servings loaf (about 8-10 slices)

Calories 156kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

¼ cup warm water (about 110-115° F)
1 (0.25 oz) packet active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, plus extra for topping (do not use instant oats, quick oats or steel cut oats)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk or 2% milk, scalded (see note below for tips on how to scald milk)
2 - 2 ½ cups bread flour (10.625 oz total)
Egg wash: 1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

Instructions

In a small bowl, stir together warm water and yeast. Set aside for 5-10 minutes. The softened yeast should look slightly foamy.
Meanwhile, in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine oats, sugar, shortening and salt. Pour scalded milk over the oat mixture. When the oat mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add the yeast mixture.
Gradually add the flour, ½ cup at a time, just until the mixture pulls away from the edges of the bowl in a soft ball of dough – do not add too much flour. Knead for about 8-10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and turn to coat the dough on all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 - 2 hours.
Punch down dough to release the air. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a loaf. Place in a greased 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan. Brush egg wash on top. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of raw oats. Cover loosely with well-greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes - 1 hour. The dough should rise about 1 inch over the top edge of the pan. Carefully remove plastic cover.
Bake at 375° F for 30-35 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Notes

To scald the milk for this recipe, place the milk in a saucepan over low heat. Warm the milk until a skin forms on the top. As soon as the skin forms on top of the milk, remove the pan from the heat -- be careful not to let the milk boil.
Bread Flour vs. All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour has between 8 and 11 percent protein, while bread flour contains between 12 and 14 percent protein. The extra protein in bread flour results in a higher rise, so that's my preference for this recipe.
Make sure that you use warm water when preparing the dough — not too hot and not too cold. You want the water to feel like warm bath water (about 110-115° F). If it’s too hot you will kill the yeast; too cold and the yeast will not be activated.
Store yeast in the freezer. Even unopened packets of yeast with a good expiration date can go bad at room temperature. Old yeast will impact the dough's ability to rise.
Rise in a warm spot. If your dough isn't rising, check the temperature of your kitchen. Ideally, you want to find a spot that's about 70-75° F, but this doesn't have to be exact.
Properly measure the flour. Always weigh the flour for the most precise measurement, or spoon and level the flour in your measuring cups -- do not scoop it out of the package. The total amount of flour necessary can vary depending on different factors (such as humidity, how you measure, altitude). You're looking for a dough that's soft, slightly sticky (but still pulls away from the sides of the bowl). Adding too much flour will result in a dense, hard loaf of farmhouse oatmeal bread, so keep an eye on the dough as it's mixing and add small amounts until it reaches the desired texture.

Nutrition