Our oatmeal bread recipe is one of our favorite homemade breads! It’s soft and delicious, made with old-fashioned rolled oats, butter and a touch of honey.
I love to bake homemade bread, and our oatmeal bread recipe is easy and approachable, even for beginning bread bakers. I’ll walk you through the steps to making this yeast bread recipe so that you’re guaranteed success. If you enjoy baking bread from scratch I think you’ll also love my Sandwich Bread, Whole Wheat Bread and Dinner Rolls recipes.
The key to making the best oatmeal bread is to soak the oats in warm milk before mixing them into the dough. This softens the oats so that every bite of this oatmeal bread is tender and delicious.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Milk: Use your preferred type. I usually make this bread with whole milk, but 2%, skim or nondairy milk also work well.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: Old-fashioned rolled oats work best in this recipe. Don’t skip the step of soaking the oats in the warmed milk for about 30 minutes to soften them (step 1 of the recipe). I also soak the oats when I make my Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins.
- Butter: Makes the bread soft and tender and adds richness to the flavor.
- Honey: I add honey to the dough for a touch of sweetness. You can substitute granulated sugar if desired.
- Warm Water: Warm the water to 110-115ยฐF so that it will activate the yeast to help the bread rise.
- Instant Yeast: The yeast makes the bread dough rise. I use instant yeast in this oatmeal bread, but I’ve included a note in the recipe about how to substitute active dry yeast if that’s all you have on hand. My Honey Yeast Rolls are another favorite yeast recipe.
- Salt: I add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to the dough. The salt is an essential ingredient for giving the bread flavor.
- Flour: I use a combination of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour in this recipe. You can use only all-purpose (or only whole wheat) if you prefer. When I use only all-purpose flour, I find I need to add a little more flour. The whole wheat flour absorbs more water so you need a bit less whole wheat flour to achieve a dough that’s only slightly sticky.
- Topping: I top this oatmeal bread with a few tablespoons of oats, using a mixture of beaten egg white and water to help them stick.
How to Make Oatmeal Bread
Start to finish this recipe takes about 3 1/2 hours, but much of that time is inactive time while the dough rises. I like to make this bread on the weekend, either to serve with dinner or to use throughout the week for toast or sandwiches.
Make the dough. First, combine the oats and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. (If you don’t have a stand mixer you can mix and knead the dough by hand.) Let the oats soak for about 30 minutes. Then add the butter, honey, warm water, yeast, salt, and flour. Mix using the paddle attachment until everything is combined.
Knead the dough using the dough hook for 8 minutes, adding more flour 1-2 tablespoons at a time if the dough is very sticky. I press my finger to the dough and if it’s very sticky I add more flour, but if only a little dough sticks to my finger the dough is good as is.
Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes, until it has doubled in size. Then transfer the dough to a clean floured work surface, knead it a few times to release any large air bubbles, and shape it into a loaf shape. I cup the dough between my hands as I rotate it on the counter, shaping it into an oval loaf and tucking the ends under as needed. Place the dough in a greased loaf pan.
Let the bread rise in the pan for 20-30 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready to bake when the center of the top of the bread is just barely above rim of loaf pan before baking. It will rise more in the oven as it bakes.
Add the oat topping and bake the bread at 350ยฐ F for 45-55 minutes. I put the pan in the oven so that the long side of the pan goes front to back, not side to side. This helps the loaf to rise evenly as it bakes, rather than lopsided. The best way to tell when the bread is done is to use an instant read thermometer to test the temperature in the center of the loaf – it should be 200ยฐ F.
What to Serve with Oatmeal Bread
I love this bread sliced and served with softened butter or Honey Butter. It also makes excellent toast and sandwiches. Try it with my Chicken Salad or easy Egg Salad.
My family loves when I make a loaf of oatmeal bread to serve with dinner. It goes great with Slow Cooker Pot Roast, Chicken Stew and Homemade Hamburger Helper.
Soft Oatmeal Bread
Ingredients
- ยพ cup warm milk, 115-125ยฐF
- ยพ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ยฝ cup warm water, 110-115ยฐF
- 2 ยผ teaspoons instant yeast, (1 packet)
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons salt
- 1 ยฝ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour
Topping
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
Instructions
- Combine the warm milk and oats in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for 30 minutes to soften the oats.
- To the mixer bowl with the oats and milk, add the butter, honey, warm water, yeast, salt, all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Mix using the paddle attachment until everything is combined.
- Switch to the dough hook. Knead the dough on low speed for about 8 minutes, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should feel slightly sticky when you touch it, but a lot of dough shouldn't stick to your finger. If the dough is very sticky, add a little more flour, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time.
- Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes, until it has doubled in size.
- Grease a 9 x 5-inch or 8 ยฝ x 4 ยฝ-inch metal or glass bread pan (see note). Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead it a few times with your hands to release any large air bubbles. Shape dough into a ball. Then use your hands to gently form the ball into a loaf shape. (To do this, cup the dough between your hands as you rotate it on the counter, shaping it into an oval loaf and tucking the ends under as needed.) Put the dough in your greased bread pan, seam side down.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in the bread pan until the top of the loaf is just above the top of the pan. This should take about 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350ยฐ F.
- Right before baking, add the topping: In a small bowl beat together the egg white and water with a fork. Brush over the top of the loaf (you will not use all of the egg wash), then sprinkle on the 2 tablespoons oats.
- Bake the bread for 45-55 minutes (see note), until the center of the loaf registers 200ยฐ F on an instant-read thermometer. Check on the bread partway through baking and if the top is browning too much, cover the top of the loaf loosely with foil.
- Let the bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling. The bread will slice easiest when it is cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- I use a stand mixer to mix and knead the dough. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix the dough in a large bowl with a spoon, and knead it by hand on a clean work surface.
- The bread will bake faster in a glass pan (mine was done in 45 minutes) and will take a bit longer in a metal pan (mine was done in 52 minutes).
- When putting the loaf in the oven, place it so that the long edge of the pan is front to back in the oven. If you place the long edge side to side the loaf rises a bit lopsided as it bakes.
- To use active dry yeast instead of instant: Proof the yeast in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup by combining the 1/2 cup warm water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the honey, whisk, then let sit for 5 minutes until bubbly/foamy. Then add the mixture to the mixing bowl with rest of the ingredients.
- To make dairy-free bread, replace the milk with nondairy milk or water. Substitute the butter with olive oil or a neutral vegetable oil, such as canola oil.
Can this be done with a bread machine? Any hints on changes that might be needed?
I don’t have a bread machine, so I haven’t tested this recipe that way but I do think it would work well in a bread machine. Just be sure to follow step 1 of the recipe (soaking the oats) before adding everything to the bread maker. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out!