If you asked me about my favorite smell, it would probably be a tie between earth after rain (which is called petrichor–isn’t that a cool word!?) and freshly baked bread. But what I love even more than the smell of freshly baked bread, is cutting it open while it’s hot, and slathering butter and jam all over a still steaming piece of crusty, golden goodness.
This soft honey oat bread is my absolute favorite bread to make at home. The crust has the perfect, nutty chewiness to it, and the inside is soft and delicate. It’s perfect for toast, sandwiches, or eating hot with butter and jam.
As far as bread goes, this is a really simple recipe. It only has a few ingredients and the steps are very straightforward. You basically throw everything in the bowl of your stand mixer (or you can work out some tension and knead by hand!)…
…knead, then let the dough hang out in a warm spot…
…stretch into a rectangle, then roll up and place in a loaf pan…
…let it rest a touch longer, then slather the top with honey and oats, and bake!
Super simple, right? 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup rolled oats, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup honey, plus extra, warmed honey for drizzling
Instructions
- Add the flours, oats, yeast, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl.
- Warm the milk and the water in the microwave until comfortably warm–about 30-45 seconds. Add the milk/water mixture, butter, and honey to the bowl.
- Turn the mixer on low speed and knead until a rough ball forms. Then turn the mixer to medium speed and knead for 7-10 minutes, or until dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky. If mixing by hand, mix in the bowl until a rough dough forms. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead until the dough is no longer sticky, but smooth and slightly tacky.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let rest in a warm place for 30-60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Turn out on to the counter and stretch into a 9x13" rectangle. Roll up and place into a greased or parchment lined loaf pan, tucking the ends of the roll under itself to fit in the pan.
- Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
- Once rested, slather warmed honey over the top and sprinkle with oats.
- Add a second, empty loaf pan to bottom rack of the oven and preheat oven to 350º F. Once preheated, add 1/4 cup of water to the empty loaf pan, then place the bread in the oven on the upper rack. This will create steam in the oven–essential for a perfect crust.
- Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
- Remove to a rack to cool.
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You always make bread look so easy! I may have to make this today 🙂 Do you think it would work with just regular flour? I only have AP flour at the house!
Absolutely! You can make a 100% white all purpose flour version of this bread no problem–I just like the wheat flour in it. 🙂
omg Jana — woah!!! Is there anything more perfect than freshly baked bread?! Your bread looks beautiful and I absolutely must try it soon 🙂
Just made this bread and it tastes amazing! Unfortunately when it came out the top had split open for some reason. Considering the top gets nice and crispy this made it extremely hard to slice. I even tried using a sharp electric knife. Any tips for preventing the crust from splitting open and staying perfectly rounded like your load pictured?
is the bottom softer than the top? I would slice it upside down so it doesn’t rip into shreds
Can u use dry active yeast or does it have to be instant ??
If you’re going to use dry active yeast, I would recommend activating it in water thats about 110 degree F before hand with the honey and maybe a little flour? I tried just mixing it in as the recipe called and it didn’t really rise. So just added some activated in with extra flour and re mixed it to try and save it.
How do you store the bread after its made?
Can I make tis in my bread machine? If so, is this a 1.5 loaf or 2 # loaf?
Made this last week. I’m new to making bread but this was awesome! Turned out as some of the best bread I have ever had! Thanks for the recipe
What temp do I use while baking?
Would it be alright to use salted butter, and just not add the plain salt? I don’t have unsalted butter around :/ Thanks!
I made this yesterday using regular salted butter, it turned out great!
My very first attempt to make bread, this is the recipe I decided on, SO glad I did!!! The instructions were easy to follow and the end result was so good! Mine took an hour to double in size on the first rise. I used regular salted butter (all I had on hand) and brushed an extra good coating of local fresh honey on it before baking. My kitchen smelled wonderful while it was baking and tasted amazing! I will make this one again!
This bread is very good. Making it for the second time today.
Wondering if instead of AP can I use strong bread flour instead? Will it change the texture of the bread? Thanks
I like this recipe because it makes one loaf. Love fresh out if the oven bread.
Could I use almond milk instead of regular milk?
Can we toast the bread after in a toaster
You can only toast it in a blender on Tueadays.
I just finished making and testing this delicious bread. I didn’t have instant yeast, so I substituted regular yeast, it just had to rise longer. I will definitely be making this bread again.
Do you think I could sub molasses for the honey? Just a thought.
made this today. delicious
Tastes excellent fresh out of the oven. The honey is so heavenly. I do find it difficult to slice the bread however. Anxious to see what i think about it tomorrow once it has cooled.
Works great using the bread maker on the dough setting. Remove and form into the loaf and continue with the recipe.
Thanks I have made twice already. Love this recipe. Never made bread before. Easy even kneading by hand
How do we bake bread in a convection oven where it is mentioned to use water in the lower rack
Can I put this bread in a dutch oven instead of a loaf pan ?
I followed the instructions very precisely, but the crust still came out hard? WHY?
What temp should this bread be baked at? It doesn’t say in the recipe.
I made this tonight. It was super fun to make and tastes amazing. I’m finding that it’s a little dense. Being an amateur bread baker perhaps there is something that I did, or didn’t do. Do you have any advice to make it a little fluffier? Thanks fellow baker.
Has anyone tried to make a double batch of this bread? I made a loaf on the weekend and it turned out amazing! So delicious! I want to make more, perhaps a double batch depending on if someone has made it without any complications or changes in texture and outcome
I doubled it! It worked just fine!!
Was so excited to have a mixer with a dough hook that I left out the oatmeal. I followed the rest of the instructions exactly. The bread is now Honey Wheat bread and it is so delicious even without the oatmeal. I did put the warm honey on the top with some oatmeal. The texture is wonderful. Had a warm end piece and look forward to toast in the morning. Thank you for a great Recipe. Will definitely make again with the oats.
Have you ever tried baking this in a Cast-iron skillet. I see so many bread recipes but love this one and wondered if it would work.
Delicious bread,though a bit heavy due to the whole wheat flour,the aroma was amazing,during baking!
Will definitely make it again!!!
I made this with all regular flour. I also made it in the bread machine on the dose cycle, so when it was done I could roll it up and put it in a pan for the oven. It was nice and moist not dense. Tasted amazing.
I made this with all regular flour. I also made it in the bread machine on the dose cycle, so when it was done I could roll it up and let it poof in the oven. It was nice and moist not dense. Tasted amazing.
I made it in the bread machine on the dough cycle with regular flour. It was nice and moist not dense. Tasted amazing.
Hii, what size bread pan did you use? I’m not sure what size pan to bake the bread in, thanks!
Made this today and it was so good.
Didn’t have wheat flour so used oat flour and did have to add a bit more when mixing.
It is a keeper and went well with my home made stew
Tried it out super good!
Absolutely love this bread! When I don’t have the time to do a sourdough and want a nice light and fluffy bread for the nostalgic PB&Js of childhood, I’ll whip this one up. This is my fiancé’s favorite bread for toast and sandwiches! I actually use 2 cups white whole wheat flour and 1 cup of AP as I try to keep my breads as whole grain as possible and it still turns out really light. Thanks so much for this recipe!