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After my mother passed away two years ago, I was given her old recipe box. (I’m the only food blogger among my brothers and sisters, so it only made sense for me to inherit it – and lucky me!)
The box is filled with some old, time-tested family recipes that I vividly remember my mom making, recipes that simply caught her eye in a magazine and she saved, and other recipes that friends and family shared with her. (I can tell who gave them to her by the handwriting on the recipe cards!) It’s really a treasure!
The recipe box has been on the bookshelf of my office for a while now – and the other night, my husband Jack and I started looking through it again. We love updating and recreating old family recipes (you already know that if you’re a regular here at A Family Feast!) – and this Grape-Nuts Bread was one of the recipes that immediately caught Jack’s eye!
I have very vague memories of my mom making this bread (she loved baking all kinds of quick breads that didn’t require yeast in the recipe), and I believe she copied the recipe off the side of a Grape-Nuts cereal box
many years ago.
Jack had never heard of Grape-Nuts bread – but was immediately inspired to try baking it the next morning! And I’m so glad he did – it’s a fantastic bread!
It’s hearty, slightly (and perfectly) sweet, and the Grape-Nuts give this dense white bread some wonderful texture! Although the original recipe didn’t call for it, Jack also added golden raisins to the dough and it was a great addition! (We also updated the recipe with more current cooking terms – buttermilk today used to be referred to as ‘sour milk’ in older recipes, etc.)
The dough mixes up very heavy and dense – but it bakes up perfectly so don’t be worried that this bread won’t rise in the pan! Also, my mom’s original recipe did not include a baking time (gotta love those old recipes!) – but we found that an hour was about right for our oven. You may want to start checking the bread for doneness about 50 minutes into the baking time – using a toothpick inserted into the middle as the method to check for doneness.
We loved this Grape-Nuts bread so much – we can’t wait to make it again! (And thanks for the great recipe Babci!)
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Grape-Nuts Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal
- 2 cups buttermilk
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- Shortening to grease the loaf pan
- Flour to coat the loaf pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix Grape-Nuts cereal, buttermilk and raisins and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- After 15 minutes, add baking soda to grape nut mixture and stir.
- In a medium bowl, sift sugar, flour and baking powder and stir into grape nut mixture. Use a wooden spoon for this, the dough is very dense and sticky.
- Grease and flour a loaf pan and place dough into pan, pushing to edges.
- Place in center of oven and set timer for 50 minutes. If it is browning too quickly, cover with foil and continue baking for 10 more minutes. Test loaf by inserting a tooth pick in center to see if it pulls out clean and tap the bread to see if has a hollow sound. If not quite there, bake for another five to ten additional minutes.
- Let cool in pan for a few minutes then remove to a cooling rack.
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It turned out wonderfully delicious. I used a different cereal since I didn’t have grape nuts. Also used almond milk.
Thanks Marie – so good to know that some cereal and milk swaps work in this recipe!
I have this recipe from my mother, but the fruit in hers is chopped dried apricots. My recipe calls for 4cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, and 2tsp baking powder, and 2 large eggs.
Now that I found yours, I’m going to try variations
We hope our version is just as delicious as your Mom’s recipe Ginny! (I love the idea of adding dried apricots.)
Can you use coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar?
Hi Ellen – We haven’t tried swapping in coconut sugar in this recipe…but I think it would work. If you try it, please let us know how it comes out!
Thanks for the great recipe. It was a big hit and I will definitely be making it again!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Was this recipe supposed to have any eggs? The 1st time I make a recipe I always follow it exactly which I did with recipe. I t only baked for 40 minutes and the top was completely crunchy and the sides and bottom as well. My hubby did say that the inside tasted good.
Hi Rosemary – I went back to my mother’s old recipe card to double check and it did not include any eggs in the recipe.
Delicious! My toddler loved this bread. I added a tsp of cinnamon to the batter. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re very welcome Donna! Great idea to add cinnamon!
I tried your Grape Nuts Bread recipe however I cut it in half since I know my husband would not eat it (he’s a finicky one!). I baked it for 30 minutes. The other substitutions I made was making my own buttermilk with milk and lemon and using dried blueberries instead of raisons. It came out wonderful and will give me a way to use the rest of my Grape Nuts cereal because after one or two bowls it does get boring.
Thank you again.
Sounds like a delicious adaptation Kathleen! Thanks for sharing!
This sounds wonderful! I love Grape Nuts and have found an ice cream shop that makes Grape Nuts Ice Cream – delicious!!! I’m not fond of raisins so I substituted apricots, YUM! Thanks for some great recipes.
Thanks Patti! I’ve had Grape Nuts ice cream too – it’s delicious! Thanks for writing to us today!
I confess: the first time I made this recipe I messed it up in so many ways that it tasted terrible. But I recognized my mistakes as I was baking that I knew it would be worth a second try. And it was. Yummy and chewy, just a little sweet thanks to the raisins; it’s a great breakfast bread alternative!
Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad you gave it another try Brandy!
Yes, so am I!
The first time I baked it, I didn’t realize it would be so dense, and had swapped in some whole wheat flour (mistake Number One). I also didn’t let the milk combine with the grape nuts and raisins for long enough (mistake Number Two). And, I think my flour might have been outdated (mistake Number Three). It didn’t rise at all, and I wound up with a BRICK of bread. Fixed all those mistakes the second time, and added a splash of buttermilk when mixing to help combine it better, and it turned out great!
Now, I’m imagining what it might taste like with some mashed bananas and chocolate chips mixed in! 🙂
Those additions sound GREAT Brandy! If you try a version adding either (or both) of those – let us know how it comes out!
Thank you Myra! I hope our version is as delicious as the one your mother used to make!