No.497: A Year of Vintage Recipes // Old Fashioned Oatmeal Bread

In 2021, I’m working through many of the recipes in the Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook (a vintage cookbook from 1959 and revised in 1972) and sharing the ones I make on the blog. (The first recipe I made is here.)

This time, I decided to try a new bread!  I loved this introductory quote from Chapter 9:

“When a child walks into a country kitchen after school and confronts the tantalizing fragrance of homemade bread cooling on the counter top he knows he is lucky.  And when he spreads butter on a faintly warm slice of bread and tastes, he knows the true meaning of good eating.  More children today are enjoying this experience in the revival of baking yeast breads.  Young women who are rather new in this culinary art crave the satisfaction of creating something special with their hands.  And they are finding, as did their grandmothers, that kneading dough relieves frustration – and is good therapy as well! (p.230)

It’s always amazing to me that something so delicious can be made from such simple ingredients.  It’s been awhile since I’ve made any bread other than my white sandwich go-to, so I was excited to challenge myself with this more complicated oatmeal version.  A little more time intensive, but everyone found it delicious, so definitely worth the effort.

Print Recipe

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Bread

taken from Farm Journal's Country Cookbook

Servings: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
• ¼ cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• ½ cup warm water 110 to 115°
• 5 cups flour sifted
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp water
• rolled oats

Instructions

• Scald the milk. Stir in 2 cups rolled oats, brown sugar, salt and butter. Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm.
• Sprinkle yeast on the warm water; stir to dissolve.
• Add the milk mixture and 2 cups flour to the yeast. Beat with a mixer on medium speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, for about 2 minutes. (You can also beat with a spoon until the batter is smooth.)
• Add enough remaining flour, a little at a time, first with a spoon and then with your hands, to make a soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn dough over to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 to 1½ hours. Punch down and let rise again until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Turn onto a floured surface and divide in half. Round up to make 2 balls. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Shape into loaves and place in greased 9x5x3" loaf pans. Let rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Brush the tops of the loaves with egg white beaten with water and sprinkle with rolled oats.
• Bake in a 375° oven for about 40 minutes. (If the bread starts to brown too much, cover loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil after baking 15 minutes.)