Some of my favorite recipes are quick breads. As the name implies you don’t need to make a starter or wait for any dough to rise with these simple breads. Some can be cake-like while others have a texture very similar to risen bread. This Grape-Nuts Bread is somewhere in the middle, with a perfect bread texture and bits of lightly sweet cereal in each bite. We’ve tried Grape-Nuts Coffee Cake before and as good as that was this bread is even better!

The History of This Bread

This recipe is one of many that was in circulation in the 1940s-60s as an easy and tasty recipe that busy housewives could turn to. I have found similar recipes in cookbooks from the 1930s as well. It’s high time for a revival because this easy recipe is packed full of flavor and it’s so easy to make.

This is one of those recipes that could be found in church and fundraiser cookbooks, but was also found in clip-able recipe ads in women’s magazines of the era.

This niche cereal has had some ups and downs with production the past few years, so it’s not always available. I had to go to 2 stores to find it, but it was worth the hunt! Yes, this bread is that good. Ironically the way Grape-Nuts were originally made was that the cereal mixture was baked into loaves and then broken up and here we are making it into loaves again!

To Make the Batter

To make sure there are no hard bits of this notoriously crunchy cereal in the final bread we’re adding it to a bowl of milk and microwaving it. If you remember ever having hot Grape-Nuts this is like that. Except instead of eating it like oatmeal it’s going into the bread batter.

A lined loaf pan ensures you can lift the bread out after baking. Some bulldog clips or clothes pins keep the parchment paper in place while you pour the batter in.

Adapting the Recipe

Some melted butter or shortening here adds that rich foundation of flavor. This is a vintage recipe so of course shortening was in the original – it was all the rage back then. But, butter works just as well here.

I’ve made a reduced sugar version of this bread and it still comes out tasty, so you can adapt the amount to suit your diet and tastes.

Versions of this bread on old recipe cards sometimes call for banana or other changes so you can certainly make additions. I suggest making it once or twice the original way before experimenting.

To Serve This Bread

This bread gets a golden brown top yet remains tender inside during baking, dotted with Grape-Nuts throughout. It slices well and is divine when generously buttered. And, you can toast it the next day for an even better flavor.