Grandma Millie. Oh, Grandma Millie.
I met my husband’s maternal grandmother while we were dating in college. We drove from Buffalo east down the NY State Thruway to a town in central New York called Herkimer. I was nervous, but excited to meet the grandparents I had heard so much about. As soon as I walked in to their home, Grandpa came towards me and hugged me. When I say hugged, I don’t mean a cute little gesture. I mean a squeeze so tight you can’t move. And he didn’t let go. I knew I loved these folks instantly. Grandma greeted me with her sweet smile and laughter. The love and respect that reflected off of my future husband towards his grandparents clued me in on what type of a man he was becoming. I liked it, and I liked this atmosphere. Because of it, I fell more in love with him. Over the years, we visited Herkimer often, and my hubby actually asked me to marry him in their upstairs bedroom. He couldn’t have chosen a better spot.
The Grape Nut Bread recipe came into my life in 2007 when my mother in law, Mary Ellen, gave us a special recipe book she put together with all of their family’s favorite recipes. Including several from Grandma Millie. Grape Nut Bread is the first entry. Mary Ellen passed away in 2010 so we try to make something from the recipe book every Christmas in her honor. It’s usually her mother’s Grape Nut Bread.
Grape Nut Bread is very hearty, nutty, moist, and has a hint of sweetness. It’s perfect for Christmas morning, or mornings on the go. You will be surprised how the Grape Nuts add a special texture like no other homemade bread. There’s also the added benefit of all that fiber that our bodies crave.
This post is dedicated to Millie & Mary Ellen.
Millie & Howie
Ingredients
- 1 cup Grape Nuts (soak in 1 1/2 cup milk for 20 minutes)-I used skim
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease or spray 1 loaf pan and set aside.
Soak Grape Nuts in milk for 20 minutes and set aside.
In medium bowl, combine egg, sugar, oil, nuts and mix well.
Add in Grape Nut mixture and mix well.
In separate medium bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda. Mix well, and add to wet mixture. Once combined, pour into loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes.
Serve with butter, cream cheese, or my favorite way…with nothing but a glass of milk.
Notes
Grandma Millie served this every Christmas morning.
Tags: best grape nut bread, bread for Christmas morning, Christmas bread, Christmas breakfast bread, fiber rich bread, grape nut bread, grape nut recipe, grape nuts, how to make bread from grape nuts, nut bread
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We make Grape Nut Muffins and they always turn out lovely.
Yum – thank you.
This sounds great, except I’m allergic to walnuts (all nuts in fact). Is there something I can substitute? (My neighbor makes a faux pecan pie using corn flakes and I’m told the flavor is identical to a real one. I know it’s good!).
Just add more grape nuts in place of the walnuts? Any other ideas?
Thanks!
Maybe add some corn flakes to it? Sounds great!!!
I just want to say thank you – thank you – thank you!!!
Grapenut bread is a recipe that came from my grandmother too. We recently moved out of state & i wanted to bake this year for Christmas. I have been unable to bake for probably 5 years due to arthritis & sciatica. I’ve now had both hips replaced & was so looking forward to picking my tradition back up. However, because of the moved, many things are still “missing” included this recipe. The only difference is that my grandma soaked the Grapenuts in buttermilk.
Again, thank you for posting this!
Merry Christmas!
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Hi Karalee…so happy to hear that you found it, too! Buttermilk sounds like a plan! Sending you well wishes & Merry Christmas! ~ Julie
I think its very nice that you post this, it sure looks good, love, Dad
Hello!
The other day I saw grape nuts in the cereal aisle and decided to give them a try. The kids weren’t really interested in them so I started looking for an great recipe and stumbled across your blog. And nothing beats home made bread with butter!! For some reason I prefer to bake cakes than bread cause of the rising time, wait time etc.. but this looked so easy so I gave it a try.. and I failed! I followed the recipe to the T.. it was soft when I first took it out of the oven and once it cooled it was as hard as a rock 🙁 does the mixture have to be “doughy” like? sticky or crumbly? Cause I was trying to form it into dough but it was too dry… please help! I’d love to make this bread over and over again!!
Thank you
Hi Inna, When I make this, it is not a dough. It is more like a cake mix batter when I pour it into the loaf pan. Did you soak the grapenuts like it says in the beginning?
I mis-read the recipe and started with only 1/2 C milk, resulting inn pie dough looking crumbles. When I re-read, and used the 1 1/2 C of milk the recipe calls for, it was beautiful. Nice and moist.
Yeay!
This was delicious! I used buttermilk and took it out of the oven at 48 minutes. Definitely a keeper!
[…] Grape Nut Bread Recipe […]
This bread is amazing!! We just had it for the second morning, toasted, spread with real butter…..Heaven! No doubt this bread will become our morning toast…..nutty, crunchy and filling. Thank you❣️ Nice story (and picture) of Grandma Millie.
Oh man.. my ex’s family makes this homemade maple nut ice cream that is amazing. I was just sitting here enjoying a bowl of it wondering what else I could make with grape nuts- since it’s my favorite part. Pinterest for the win.. I will definitely be making this tomorrow! Can’t wait!
That’s fantastic!! Hope you enjoyed it, Nikki!!