Easy Oatmeal Bread Loaf Recipe
This easy oatmeal loaf recipe is perfect for a quick and delicious breakfast or snack. With just a few simple store cupboard ingredients, you can create a moist and flavourful loaf that everyone will love. Serve with butter or your favourite spread for an extra touch of goodness.
In the leadup to Christmas I’m growing a little weary of the constant festive foods that we’re being bombarded with and I’m craving simplicity.
Much like my ever-popular barley bread (well, not entirely mine, Elizabeth David must take a very large amount of credit), this loaf is unassuming to look at, but is utterly delicious.
Table of Contents
Vegan Oatmeal Bread
An oatmeal bread or loaf is simply a normal white loaf of bread that has the addition of soaked oats and some brown sugar, giving this loaf a rich, slightly sweet flavour, that is perfect toasted or just sliced and buttered. Because it is denser than some breads, it is very filling. I often find that one slice is enough (although an extra slice is hard to resist!).
It’s a very easy bread to make, the kneading isn’t too onerous and the addition of the oats means that you are making a denser, heavy loaf, so don’t panic if the rise is slow, or not as flamboyant as other bread doughs.
This recipe makes a small loaf, and if you don’t have a 1 litre bread tin, you can just form the loaf into a round and place it directly onto a lightly oiled baking sheet to bake instead.
I like to use regular oats for this as they add a creaminess but retain a little bit of texture. If you were to use a coarse (or pinhead) oatmeal, you might find the texture quite different, although feel free to add a tablespoon of coarse oats in addition, if you want to add a bit of bit to the bread.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Oatmeal (porridge), I use a basic rolled oat, nothing fancy.
- Plain flour. You could use wholemeal flour, or a mixture.
- Brown sugar. You can quite easily replace this with white sugar if you prefer, or use a sugar replacement. You could also use molasses instead, for a rich, dark flavour.
- Vegan butter.
- Plant-Based Milk. I used oat milk here, to enhance the oat flavour, but use whatever you have (preferably unsweetened).
This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please see recipe card below for complete printable recipe.
Instructions
Warm the sugar, butter and milk in a saucepan until melted.
Pour over the oatmeal and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, activate the yeast in the warm water.
Add the yeast mixture and gently combine.
Sift in the flour and salt and mix until you have a cohesive dough.
Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until it feels elastic.
Leave to rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size. Knock back and place in your loaf tin.
Leave to rise once more, then brush with a little milk and sprinkle with oatmeal. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180c.
Other Easy Breads
Try my other easy vegan breads:
- Easy White Sandwich Loaf
- A loaf of white bread
- No-Knead Muffin Bread
- Barley Bread – my most popular loaf!
Easy Oatmeal Bread Recipe
Equipment
- 1 1lb Loaf Tin
Ingredients
- ½ cup Oatmeal - raw weight
- ½ cup Milk - plant-based
- ½ cup Water - warm to 100f
- 1 tbsp Butter - vegan
- ⅛ cup Brown sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Instant yeast
- 2½ cups Plain flour
Instructions
- Place the oats in a large mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl and leave to activate.
- In a saucepan, gently warm the milk, butter and brown sugar.
- Once melted, pour over the oats and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the yeast mixture and blend.
- Gradually beat in the flour and salt with a wooden spoon until you have a cohesive dough.
- Leave to rest for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5 minutes or until the dough feels elastic.
- Place the dough in a mixing bowl and cover, leaving to rise until doubled, 1-2 hours (depending on how warm your kitchen is).
- Once risen, knock the dough back and give a gently knead, before putting into the loaf tin.
- Leave to rise for another hour or so.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 30 minutes or until the loaf is lightly golden brown and sounds hollow on the bottom.
- Leave to cool in the tin for just a couple of minutes before turning out and allowing to cool completely on a rack.
Please note that where the recipe asks for milk, butter or yogurt, this refers to any plant-based version that you prefer.
Storage
- This bread lasts up to 5 days in an airtight container, although I doubt it will last that long!
- You can freeze the baked and cooled bread, wrapped tightly in clingfilm and placed in a ziplock bag.
