Since the warm weather has left us, HD and I decided to bake this weekend. We made my grandma’s (HD’s great-grandma’s) homemade oatmeal raisin bread. HD wasn’t much help, as you can see below, he just kept looking outside. Poor little guy just doesn’t understand how it can be so warm one day that we can go for a walk and then so cold the next that we have to stay inside all day.
Below is the actual recipe that my Grandma D gave me when I used it for 4-H quite a few years ago. I can’t remember what I got on it, but for some reason a blue ribbon sticks in my brain (purple is the best and then blue, so that wasn’t too bad!).
Ingredients for Oatmeal Raisin Bread
1 c. quick cooking oatmeal
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. shortening
1 tbls. salt
3 tbls. molasses (or half dark syrup and half molasses)
1 c. boiling water
1 pkg. yeast
1 c. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
5 c. flour, divided
1/2-1 c. raisins (depending on how many you want in your bread!)
Put oatmeal, sugar, shortening, salt and molasses in a bowl. Pour boiling water over it, mix and then let cool.
Dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 tsp. sugar. Combine with oatmeal mixture. Add three cups of flour and beat with an electric mixer. Add raisins and remaining flour (or as much as possible) to make a stiff batter.
Knead it with the rest of the flour until smooth. (You may not need all of the 5 cups of flour.)
Place in a bowl and then sit in a warm place and let raise for 1.5 hours.
Punch down and then let rest for 10 minutes.
Shape into two loaves and let rest another 10 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Place on a cooling rack and enjoy with some butter and jelly!
Wow! You’re kitchen looks almost exactly like mine! The countertops are the same and everything. Thanks for sharing the recipe; I’ve been looking for a good oatmeal bread recipe. Found your blog through the Iowa Farmer Today article. Look forward to reading more.
The bread looks great! Have you considered bread flour? Sometimes it adds a slightly softer texture. Jim thinks it increases shelf life of the bread. I thought it was amusing that you had sugar from WalMart, oatmeal from HyVee, and flour from a Nash Finch store. You get groceries from everywhere girl!!