Honey Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

If you've never made bread before you might want to take a few minutes to read my complete bread making guide.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 Storage
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions
• Does bread really rise better when it's raining?
• 💭 Tips
• 📚 Related recipes
• 🥄 Equipment
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• light and fluffy
• slighty sweet and nutty with lots of old fashioned flavor
• the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich bread!

Homemade honey oat bread is an old fashioned recipe that makes the best dang sandwiches ever. It's moist, soft, and a little chewy with a slightly sweet honey and wholesome oat flavor.

This is my go to bread for peanut butter and jelly — there's no bread anywhere that is better for PB&J!

Ingredients

It's always been amazing to me how many variations of bread can be made from a few simple ingredients.

• Old fashioned oats are called for in this recipe. Be sure to use the old fashioned kind and not the quick oats or the instant oats. They just won't work.
• Honey is the sweetener of choice. The flavor will change depending on the type of honey you use. For other sweetener possibilities check the notes in the recipe.
• Butter helps give the oatmeal bread richness and flavor. You can use either salted or unsalted.
• Kosher salt is used in this (and most all of my recipes) recipe. If you will be using plain table salt be sure to cut back at least ¼ amount because the kosher salt has larger crystals.
• Active dry yeast is what I use but you can substitute rapid rise if you like. Just follow the instructions on the package for adding it.
• Bread flour has more protein than all purpose and is necessary in this recipe to keep the bread from being too dense and heavy.
• Vital wheat gluten is added to honey oatmeal bread to give it more protein and to help the structure of the bread so it rises higher and lighter. You can leave it out if you wish - just substitute an equal amount of bread flour. Be aware that your results will not be the same.
• Egg is used as a wash on the top of the loaf just before baking. It helps the oats to adhere but you don't have to use it if you prefer not to.

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water, oats, ½ cup honey, butter and salt. Let stand for 1 hour or so.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of the honey added. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the oat mixture. Add the combination to the large bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached..
4. Add 1 cup of bread flour and the gluten. Mix well on low.
5. Stir in the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, continuing to beat on low.
6. When the dough has pulled together knead it.
7. Form the sticky dough into a ball and put in a greased bowl.
8. Grease the top.
9. Put a clean tea towel loosely over the top of the dough.
10. Let rise until doubled.
11. Deflate the dough. (punch down).
12. Knead bread dough briefly.
13. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves.
14. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch bread pans.
15. Mix the egg and water and brush over the tops of the loaves. Sprinkle a few of the rolled oats over the top.
16. Cover the loaves with a towel and let rise until doubled - about 40 minutes.
17. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F .
18. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
19. Remove from the oven.
20. For soft crust cover the loaves with a clean kitchen towel and let them cool in the pans for 3 minutes.
21. Put the pans on their sides, cover with a towel and let cool 5 minutes.
22. Remove bread from pan and cool completely before cutting.

Breadmaker instructions

This honey oat bread recipe makes a very heavy dough please refer to manufacturer's instructions for making heavy doughs in your machine.

I am not recommending a bread machine.

I do not have a bread machine and have not made this bread in one. I have gotten this information from a reader who has.

1. Cut the recipe in half.
2. Follow steps 1-5.
3. Mix remaining dry ingredients together.
4. Place dry ingredients and yeast mixture into bread machine pan according to manual.
5. Select white bread and light crust settings.
6. Remove oatmeal bread from pan to wire rack when done.
7. Cool completely before slicing.

🥫 Storage

Bread doesn't last long at our house - certainly not long enough to get stale or moldy. Depending on where you live, the humidity, and the time of year homemade bread can be covered and stored at room temperature about two days.

All bread freezes well. Just wrap tightly and freeze for up to three months.

I like to slice it and put parchment paper between the slices and then freeze it. That way I can take a slice at a time out.

👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions

Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this honey oat bread recipe.

Does bread really rise better when it's raining?

I made this on a stormy day and here's something that just fries my brain but it's true.

Your bread will rise higher and be lighter on rainy days than on sunny ones. You'd think it'd be the other way, right?

Nope. It has something to do with the barometric pressure — when the pressure is lower the bread doesn't have to work so hard to get light.

It's nice, too. There is something seriously comforting about a dark, stormy day outside my window while I am puttering around in my kitchen making homemade bread. It's warm and cozy and cocoon-like.

Try it sometime!

💭 Tips

For the best results be sure to read through the whole recipe before beginning.

• Use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the water and any other liquid ingredients. You want them to be under 110F.
• Oatmeal does not have gluten in it so it can be hard to work with. I offset this a little by adding vital wheat gluten but the dough will still be just a little sticky - a bit more sticky than regular bread dough. It won't stick to your hands but it will feel like it leaves a tacky film on them. It helps create a fluffy bread.
• Because of the lack of gluten in oats you'll need to knead this for a long time if you are doing it by hand. You should plan on kneading it no less than 20 minutes by hand and about 10 by machine.
• You can use all-purpose flour if you want. The bread may be slightly more dense.
• Honey oat bread variation: substitute an equal amount of brown sugar, white sugar, maple syrup, or molasses for the honey.
• Feel free to use less sweetener if you don't like it as sweet. Don't use less than ¼ cup though.
• Give this plenty of time to rise. It may take a little longer than stated in the recipe.
• Use these tips to get your dough to rise higher!
• I've made this easy honey oatmeal bread recipe for years. It's definitely kid-friendly, especially if you keep the crust soft by covering it with a tea towel during cooling. It's one of my favorites and I know you'll like it, too.
• This dough makes great rolls!
• I like to add about ½ cup chopped walnuts to the dough sometimes.
• Be sure to allow at least a full hour for the oatmeal to soak or your bread will not work well.
• Leftover oatmeal bread that's gone a little stale makes the most amazing French toast in the history of the world. I promise.

📚 Related recipes

I love bread. I love eating it and I love baking it. Here are some of my favorite yeast bread recipes from Restless Chipotle.

• Multigrain recipe with flaxseed makes the best toast ever. I love the chewy, slightly sweet flavor.
• Pullman loaf uses a special, lidded pan to keep the it from getting much of a crust. It's perfectly squared off when slices and makes the best French Toast ever.
• Amish white bread is also called milk bread. It's a soft loaf that has that old fashioned, homemade flavor you remember.

🥄 Equipment

What’s new? Check out my Restless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness!  Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!

I use a Bosch Universal Plus to make my yeast doughs.

I have a Pro Series Kitchen Aid but it is just not as good as the Bosch for bread. I can make up to 6 loaves of 100 percent whole wheat dough at one time - something that can burn the KA out if done often.

PLUS the KA doesn't knead as well.

I do not use my Bosch for cakes, meringues, and such because the KA is much superior in those things.

If you are going to be doing a lot of bread baking get a Bosch if at all possible. You'll be amazed at the difference. I love mine. I need to take the time to post a full review one of these days.

📞 The last word

Various versions of my homemade honey oat bread recipe have been in my recipe box for years. I have my "top three" list that I make often and it's the buttermilk bread, the cracked wheat, and this hearty bread.

If you can practice these three recipes to perfection you don't even have to learn to make another kind. These are the best all-purpose recipes for bread I have and with them you can make almost any variation -- including rolls.

Plus making your own bread is satisfying and fun!

📖 Recipe

First published October 2014. Last updated September 13, 2021 for minor editorial changes.