There is a recipe for oatmeal bread that I got from my mother, who got it from… some cookbook, I suppose. I used to make it relatively often many years ago, because it tastes delicious — but the trouble is, I could never get it to rise and it ended up incredibly dense. Now that I know more about making bread, this is because the original recipe’s process might as well have included “Step 3: kill your yeast”!

Instead of sharing that version, here is my revision, with a few tweaked ingredient ratios and a better process.

Ingredients for 2 loaves:

• 2.5 cups lukewarm water
• 2.5 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick oats
• 5 cups all-purpose flour

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add yeast to water. Let bloom for a few minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients all at once.
3. Mix by hand until dough comes together.
4. Turn out onto your work surface and knead 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
5. Put dough ball back in bowl, cover, and let rise 30-60 minutes until doubled in size.
6. Knead for 1 minute. Divide dough in half, and shape into loaves. Place in two greased loaf pans and allow to rise a further ~30 minutes.
7. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes.

Don’t forget to cool it completely before slicing. This makes a lovely bread that’s a bit on the sweeter side and perfect for toasting. Enjoy!