I’ve had a few people ask for an oatmeal molasses bread recipe so I thought I’d break this good ‘ol recipe out of my vault of .txt files from about ten years ago. This recipe was one of my first forays into budget cooking. Back in the day, when I had first moved out on my own, I cooked a batch of this bread every couple of weeks. I’d eat one loaf that same week and the other would go in the freezer for the next week. I lived a very exciting life as a 21 year old, let me tell ya.
This is not a quick bread recipe by any means, it’s more of an all day event. Most of the time the dough is either resting or rising so it doesn’t take a whole lot of attention, just a lot of time. So, make it on a day when you’ll be at home doing other chores. Also, this might not be a beginners bread because the molasses makes it slightly more difficult to determine if enough flour has been kneaded in… but hey, I broke my bread making teeth on this recipe so maybe you can too!
This was literally the first time I’d made the bread in about ten years and it was slightly different than I remembered. But then, While writing an article about molasses, I realized the difference. Before, I used sorghum molasses and this time I used regular, dark molasses. Sorghum molasses is made from sorghum, while regular molasses is made from either sugarcane or sugar beets. Don’t get me wrong, they were both delicious, just slightly different. For more info about molasses, read What is Molasses?
Oatmeal Molasses Bread
Oatmeal Molasses Bread
Servings 12 (2 slices each)Ingredients
- 1 cup quick or old fashioned oats ($0.17)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp butter ($0.11)
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry or instant yeast ($0.18)
- 1/2 cup molasses ($1.10)
- 2 tsp salt ( $0.10)
- 2 cups whole wheat flour ($0.32)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (more or less as needed) ($0.59)
Instructions
- Place the oats and butter in a large bowl and pour two cups of boiling water over top. Let rest for 1 hour to allow the oats to soften.
- In a small bowl, soak the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water for 5 minutes. Add the molasses, salt, and dissolved yeast to the bowl of soaked oats. Stir to combine.
- Stir in two cups of whole wheat flour. Begin adding the all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until you can no longer stir it with a spoon.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and continue to knead in all-purpose flour until you have a soft, pliable, not sticky ball of dough. You want to knead for at least 5 minutes to properly develop the gluten and you should have added about 6 cups of flour total (whole wheat and all-purpose). The dough may be slightly tacky due to the sticky molasses, but it should not be super sticky.
- Place the ball of dough in an oiled bowl, loosely cover, and let rise until double (1.5 hours). Punch the dough down, divide into two, and shape into loaves. Place the loaves in oiled bread pans, loosely cover and let rise until they are about 1-2 inches above the rim of the pan (another 1.5 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the risen loaves for 35-40 minutes or until deep brown on the surface. Turn the loaves out of the bread pans and onto a wire cooling rack. Let the loaves cool completely before slicing!
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Start by placing the dry oats in a bowl with the butter. You can use either quick oats or old fashioned. I’ve used both with success!
Pour two cups of boiling water over top and let it soak for 1 hour. After one hour the oats will be very soft and pretty close to room temperature.
Soak the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water for five minutes.
To the bowl of soaked oats, add the soaked yeast, molasses, and salt.
Stir it all up.
Stir in two cups of whole wheat flour. It will be a very sticky mess at this point.
Begin stirring in the all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until you can no longer stir it with a spoon.
At that point, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and continue to knead in flour until you have a smooth, soft, ball of dough. Knead for at least 5 minutes.
This time, I used a total of almost 6 cups of flour whereas my notes from 10 years ago say 4 2/3 cups total… but I guess thats the difference between A) using a different kind of molasses and B) using old fashioned oats instead of quick oats. The point is that you have to use your judgement about how much flour is enough… which is why this may not be a beginners recipe. Also, due to the molasses, this dough tends to be stickier in general, which makes it even more difficult to gauge if enough flour has been added. But, anyway, somewhere around 5-6 cups total should do it!
Let the dough rise until double in size (about 1.5 hours) and then punch it down to deflate. Molasses is a slow fermenting sugar which is why it takes the yeast a little bit longer to do its job.
Cut the dough into two equal pieces…
And then shape each piece into a loaf. I did this by flattening each half into a rectangle (approximately the same length as my bread pan) and then rolling it up.
Place each shaped loaf into an oiled bread pan and let rise until it grows to about 1-2 inches above the top of the bread pan (another 1.5 hours)
When the loaves are nice and risen, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Bake the loaves for 35-40 minutes or until they’re a deep golden brown on the surface.
Turn the loaves out of the pan and onto a wire cooling rack. Let the loaves cool completely before cutting or else they’ll look like this…
See, I didn’t wait until they cooled to cut them and so the hot, steamy bread gummed up on the knife and made a “pilled” surface. But, I was running out of daylight to photograph so I had to work quickly! Anyway, when I sliced up the rest of the loaf later, the crumb was beautiful and a perfect size. So let the loaves cool! I know it’s hard!
This bread is not super sweet as it may seem. It has a nice, deep, rich flavor with just a hint of sweetness. I love eating it for breakfast with either peanut butter or jam. It’s a very hearty, filling bread!
Is 2 1/4 tsp active dry or instant yeast correct? That doesn’t seem like enough espexially without any water?
There is water in the recipe! It’s just not listed in the ingredients but it’s in the instructions.
What size loaf tins did you use for this bread and what type of oil do you use for the bowl and pans?
9×5 pan and any neutral oil, like canola oil is fine!
Knowing the wonders molasses does for cookies, I was excited to try this bread. It didn’t disappoint! So soft and complex in flavor, and I love that there’s whole wheat in it in addition to oats. Hubby and kids approve as well!
Can you confirm what the serving size is? Is it one slice of bread or two, and is the entirety of the recipe included (e.g. you get 12 servings out of one loaf, or two)? I’ve got a loaf in the freezer and trying to calculate nutrition info :).
It really depends on how thinly you slice it, but I got about 12 slices out of each loaf, so that would be 12 servings of two slices each. :)
Thank youuu! Normally, I’m all bread all the time so huge slices, but I just got diagnosed with gestational diabetes so now I might have to resort to thin slices. So grateful for your recipes with clear nutritional info, so I don’t have to do too much math every time I eat. :)
Finished making now waiting for bread to bake looking forward to trying it ,my friend got me on to this as she looks forward to getting it when she goes east for the summer. Told her I could make her some ,hope and think she will love it. Looks good. Harold.
This is my favorite bread lately! It’s incredible mist and tender and toasted is SO GOOD!
I posted too quickly, ha! It’s a MOIST bread, and light and fluffy. Definitely a favorite and I’ve made a lot of bread over the last 20 years. Try this one!
I love the taste of this bread! I do add some sugar to the yeast while it activates and have never had an issue with rising.
Taste good but did not rise. Turned out almost like a cake. Too much flour?
It sounds like maybe your yeast wasn’t active. :(
I’ve mainly only made no knead and quick breads in the past, so I would call myself a novice. And even though I probably could have let my bread rise a bit more, it is delicious! I only made a half recipe in case it was a flop. I realized halfway through making that I had bread flour, not whole wheat flour, in my “other” flour container. I used it instead, and it worked just fine. Now I wish I had made two loaves. Makes *perfect* toast.
Perfect sandwich or toast bread, definitely not sweet. Comparable to a honey wheat.
I use a proofing element on my oven and my question is do I have to remove the bread from
the oven to preheat it?? If not, should I reduce the baking time??
I use a proofing element on my oven, which works great. My question is when I am ready
to bake, do I remove the pans of bread from the oven to preheat my oven or can I leave them
inside and perhaps reduce the baking time????
No do not leave them in while the oven preheats. Definitely take them out while it warms up.
Can’t wait to try this. One question. If using instant yeast do you still dissolve in warm water?
No if you are using instant you will not have to use the warm water.
I made this bread last week and it didn’t rise very well, but it tasted great. I made it again today, and added one teaspoon of sugar to the yeast, water at 100 – 110 degrees F, and let it stand for 10 minutes. That was recommended on the yeast, and that has made a huge difference, as my bread is rising really well today. Thank you for this great recipe.
Delicious molasses bread! Tastes just like how my father made it when I was a kid. Not too sweet and mild flavour overall. I gave it four stars out of five though because the dough almost didn’t rise at all. My yeast and flour are pretty new so maybe too much salt? Not sure. Followed the directions to a T, besides halving the recipe to make a single loaf. Ended up with a short, small and dense loaf, although it does taste good. This was my first attempt at making bread in the oven and not a bread maker, so I’m sure with practice I could figure it out.
The butter is it unsalted?
Yes unsalted butter.
Can you use white flour instead of whole wheat? I have AP and bread flour but no whole wheat and the stores are out of most types of flour right now.
Yes you can swap :)
I’m wondering how I can go about baking this in a Dutch oven instead of bread pans.
We haven’t tried it in a dutch oven yet, but you can and let us know how it goes!
I’m also wondering how I can make it more “no knead”
I just made this recipe using a stand mixer. GREAT recipe!!
Here is what I did:
Oats–same
Yeast and 1/2 cup water in the bowl of the stand mixer.
Add the molasses, and salt to the oats. Stir to combine, then add to the dissolved yeast in the bowl of the stand mixer.
Using the paddle on the mixer, add 2 C whole wheat flour, and when well-combined switch to the dough hook.
Add the white flour and keep the mixer on low until the dough is all off the sides of the bowl.
I added 3 C of white flour, so 5C total.
Turn the dough out on your kneading board and knead once or twice to form into a nice ball and proceed from there.
Well received by the family and will be making this one again!!!
Hi Beth! I’ve recently discovered this site and I’ve been loving it so far–you have such great recipes! I want to try this one out but I have a couple of questions for you. Firstly, would rolled oats work instead of steel cut or old fashioned? Secondly, how long would a loaf keep in the freezer? I have a big bag of rolled oats that will expire soon so I need to use it up stat! Thanks!
Yes you can use rolled oats, just not the instant. Also it should last in your freezer for a few months if stored properly :)
Just made this recipe, which was the first time I’ve baked bread in at least a decade. It turned out absolutely delicious!! It didn’t rise quite as much as it says it should, but I realized that is likely because my pans are 9″ x 5″ instead of 8.5 x 4.5. But if the shape isn’t a concern, then it probably doesn’t matter. I’m psyched!
I used vegan butter instead of butter, and made an aquafaba+honey “egg wash”, then sprinkled rolled oats on top: fantastic! thank you!
Are there instructions for making this in a bread machine?
Honestly, I’ve never used a bread machine, so I can’t advise you on that. :(
This bread is so good. The molasses flavor is excellent. I used coconut oil in place of butter (vegan) and made half a recipe. I am thrilled with how it came out and I hope to regularly make my own bread from here on out! Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing the coconut oil will work as a swap, Jenny!
Do you have a calorie count on this bread? My sister makes this and it’s great!
We do get that request a lot, but unfortunately we don’t have a reliable source for the nutrition information. The calculators and databases that most bloggers and websites use to calculate the info can be extremely inaccurate, and for something that can so severely impact the health of people with health conditions, we just don’t feel comfortable publishing unreliable numbers. We prefer to leave it up to the reader to use the database or calculator they trust. I’m sorry and I wish accuracy were easier than shipping the food off to a lab for analysis! 😅
Hi Beth. Did you use blackstrap molasses for this recipe? Or just regular?
Just regular. :)
I have not tried this recipe yet but I will soon. First I’m asking what would happen if I cut back by half or even more on the called for salt? We try to follow a low sodium diet and finding packaged low sodium bread can be impossible.
Salt helps flavors pop and allows your tongue to differentiate different flavors from one another, so if you reduce the salt it will probably just taste more bland all around.
Thanks for a great recipe! Your directions were excellent. It turned out like my Nana used to make!
Five star rating!
Amazing bread! I added 1/4 sugar because I prefer it a little sweet with the oatmeal and it turned out perfect! Thank you for your simple recipes, simple ingredients and budget friendly recipes! I feel like I have found a gold mine! I haven’t really been successful in the past making home made bread, so I really, really appreciate your step by step pictures. This bread turned out perfect! (I also baked in them in stoneware loaf pans.)
I just came across this recipe and am sure it’s the same as one I had (and lost) about 35 years ago. Was just talking about it early this week, in fact, bemoaning it’s loss. I am so excited to have found this. Back in the day I used to come home from work and make it. Up till midnight but worth it for the glorious smell. Wonderful hot with butter, strong cheddar and tea. Or hot with more molasses.
I made a single loaf of this last night (using half the recipe quantities) and it is hands down the tastiest bread I’ve made so far! Thank you so much for this recipe, really looking forward to re-using it in future :)
How about sprinkling some oats on top right before baking?
That’s a great idea. :) You might need to do an egg white wash on top first, though, to help them stick.
There about a zillion comments on how good this is. Okay, so here’s another. This bread is so good! and so easy! Thankyoumuchly!
About a month ago I decided to make a loaf of bread with sorghum and went searching for a recipe. I ran across your recipe and knowing that I have yet to be disappointed with any of your recipes thought I’d give it a try. My bread making is limited, and the first few weeks the bread was just okay, but after making loaves weekly, tonight my husband declared it perfect. Thanks for sharing your recipes. Your African Peanut Stew and Spinach Pie are two of our family’s favorite recipes.
Used almost the full amount of flour (it’s winter here in the northern part of the country). Took a little longer to rise since the house isn’t very warm; about 2 hours per rising session. Used Brer Rabbit Full Flavor molasses which is in between light and black strap. Baked 40 minutes and the loaves turned out perfect. Moist inside with a chewy crust. Wrapped one in Saran and foil for the freezer. Took about an hour to fully cool. Took awhile to make, but hands on time was nominal. Great bread to make when you are home all day.
Love this bread!!! While it is not an easy and short bread to make, the two loaves last all most a month in my house. I seperate the loaves in two and freeze them, since I have not comverted the rest of the familly to the bread!!! Means more for me!!!!
Hey I was wondering how to convert this to a bread machine- at least up to the actual baking (letting the machine do all the work then shaping and baking it myself). This sounds like a wonderful recipe and I can’t wait to try it : )
Honestly, I’ve never used a bread machine, so I can’t advise you on that. :(
Hi, just curious about what size loaf pan I should use. Made the recipe.. Tasted great but didn’t seem to rise as much as the pictures. I’m not sure if my pan was too big or I need more patience :-)
Mine is a basic loaf pan, 8.5″x4.5″. Depending on the temperature in your house, you may just need more patience. :)
Hi! Ive been baking this recipe for the past half year and im both the envy and the hero of all my friends. We just love how this comes out!
I followed it again today at my parents home in mexico and it came out awful: thick, sour, not fun. This city is at about 7000ft over sea level, do you think that has something to do with the results? I followed the exact same steps you have here, which are the steps ive been following at my home (pretty much at sea level).
Any advice?
Thanks for such an awesome recipe!
Yes, I would guess that the elevation has something to do with it… although I’m not well versed in high altitude cooking, so I’m not sure how to fix it. :( (for reference, I live in New Orleans, which is at/below sea level)
Could one use a stand mixer for mixing instead of by hand?
Probably, with a dough hook, although I’ve never done it myself so I don’t have any suggestions. :)
Just made this bread and it turned out fantastic! It has a great, unique flavour. I made it using my Kenwood mixer and used black treacle instead of molasses as that’s we have here in the UK. Will definitely make it again. Thanks for the recipe!
Wow, this bread is amazing! Gobbling some down right now! :)
I made this today and it is so so great! Perfect for fall- french toast, breakfast or even at lunch with a soup. And easy too! I posted this recipe to my facebook and I very seldom do that so you know I’m impressed. Thanks!
Lindsay – Yes, I think that you could use oil without any major texture or flavor changes. The butter is such a small part of this recipe that I think you’ll be fine :)
Do you think I can substitute oil for the butter in this recipe?
I am just blown away by all of the awesome recipes you have! And the effort you put into costing and pictures and explanation is really great. Excellent work!
So I just made this bread today and I am looking over the recipe again and I noticed that I skipped a rising step. Right after kneading I put the dough in the pans to rise then baked it. it turned out great!
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for ages. Today I finally made it – and it’s my first time ever making bread. I LOVE IT! I had to try a piece right out of the oven, but will let the rest cool.
Oh I just wanted to add that I had to knead this by hand because it was “climbing” my dough hooks. But trust me it is totally worth the little bit of extra work :)
I have had this recipe saved on Pinterest for a while but just got around to making it today. It is AMAZING! I followed the recipe exactly except for adding 1/2 cup flax seed meal in place of 1/2 cup of the flour. It came out perfect… taste, texture, everything is perfect. I have already had 2 slices and had to stop myself from eating more. My husband and daughter also love it. This is going to be my main bread from now on. Thank you SO much for sharing this with us.
Works great in bread machine. A bit denser and not as developed in taste, but great to have a loaf of fresh bread in the morning. To adapt the recipe, I halved it and added 1 2/3 cups of water (no soaking of oats beforehand).
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!
I finally got around to making this last week and it was wonderful! Got lots of compliments from my family and I’ve been eating it for breakfast all week. It’s good just warmed up a little with butter and maybe a bit of honey.
This came out sooo good. My first loaf of bread without the bread machine. Thank you Beth!
I love your website and so far this is the first recipe I’ve made. It’s easy with your step by step photos! I used 2 cups WWF and 2.5 cups of all purpose. I backed it in the oven the next morning after the second rising. It wasn’t nearly as poofy as yours as I think it “deflated” a bit overnight.
Overall a good recipe. Not too sweet, but a different take on squaw bread (my fave! Do you have a recipe?). Can’t wait to try your olive bread (DF loves olives!)
As a matter of fact… that loaf in the top picture was the frozen one after thawing. You can’t even see (or taste) a difference!
Michele – When I make this bread I keep one loaf in the refrigerator (it stays good for about a week in there) and the other in the freezer until the first loaf is gone (about a week). So, either would work! The bread holds up to freezing *really* well so if you did want to just freeze it for 3-4 days (or longer) until you’re ready for it, you can certainly do that. Glad you liked it! :)
OUTSTANDING! I haven’t tried making bread in, probably, 15 years. I made this recipe today and the results were AMAZING!!! I even goofed a little – and added a little extra flour – but still great results. A nice dense, but very tender, loaf with wonderful flavor. I will be making more next week – time permitted, I can’t imagine buying bread from the grocery store as a rule any more. I can’t wait to try some more of your bread recipes. One question – any suggestions on how to store the remaining loaf – to eat later in the week (so, probably not the freezer)?
This looks so amazing! Has anyone made this in a bread machine? I love homemade bread and make it every few days in my machine and I know I will never get to this making it by hand. :)
Starting to make the bread now. Anyone use there kitchen mixer dough hook to knead dough? Or is it best to knead bread by hand?
Is waiting ever to patiently for the second rise (in loaf pan) to finish so I can bake it. I saw this recipe while on vacation and couldn’t make it until now. I can hardly wait to eat it! (I’m making chili for dinner tonight, and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on a piece of this bread is calling my name!)
ah, good call. i waited a couple hours so i thought it’d be cool enough but i guess not. Oh well, it still tastes good!
Harrison, those pictures are actually the *second* batch of photos that I took because my first slices were pretty awful :P The first time around I was running out of daylight so I had to try to slice it before it was completely cool – that never works. I took these a few days later after I had stored the loaf in the refrigerator. I think having the bread chilled made it a little more rigid and so it sliced easier. Plus, a good bread knife is a must!
Just wanted to say that I made this last night for the first time and it’s really good. I’d been wondering what to do with the jar of molasses and this was a perfect idea and not a very difficult recipe. Plus it makes the whole house smell wonderful. I added some oats to the top once the bread was in the loaf pan.
I have a question, though. How did you get such perfect slices for your photographs? Mine were really rough.
Anon- After the first rise, when you shape the loaves into logs, wrap one up tightly in plastic wrap and then seal it up tight in a ziplock bag. Freeze it like that and then when you’re ready to make it, unwrap it fully and place it in the prepared bread pan. Let it defrost and rise in the bread pan at room temperature for a few hours or until it has risen to the appropriate size. It’s just like buying the frozen bread dough logs (if you’ve ever done that). Hope that helps!
I can only bake one loaf of bread at a time and wanted to freeze the other. When would be a good time to freeze the dough?
Yum.
That looks so easy!!
This bread was so simple to whip up and is rising as we speak. Will update later on how it turns out!
Anyone try this in a bread maker? I haven’t ever made a loaf by hand!
Yum! This looks wonderful
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I suck at bread making. But I made this last night and holy wow was it amazing. Amazing. I had it for breakfast and had to make sure I didn’t eat the whole loaf!
I like this molasses bread. It’s giving me an idea how to prepare it for the holiday season.
I really like the sound of this recipe – making bread is one of my favourite things. No need to apologise for your time spent as a 21 year old making loaves ;) Molasses isn’t so common in New Zealand but I bet golden syrup would be a good substitute.
loved your description on tasteologie.. :) breads definitely need a bit more than 5 minutes:) lovely crust and crumb.!
Richa @ Hobby And More Food Blog
I love the color of this bread! I’m still arguing with yeast, but I would love to be able to bake my own bread every week! I will let you know if I also break my way into bread baking with this recipe…
Fall is on the way here, quickly. Breadbaking season will be back very soon, along with soups. Thanks for a new recipe. I just bought a new bottle of molasses as used up the last in my baked beans. Beans and bread…another good combo.
FABULOUS suggestions, Elsa! I love it! I’m definitely going to try that next time :D
Oh, YUM, oatmeal bread! Possibly my favorite bread. My oatmeal bread recipe is very similar and an overnight routine works marvelously with this dough — which gives you a lot more flexibility in timing.
I reduce the yeast by half, mix the dough, knead it, then promptly pop it into a large tightly covered container in the fridge. It will rise slowly but well. Knock it down thoroughly before you go to bed.
In the morning (or in the afternoon or in the evening, in which case be sure to knock the dough down well one more time) pull out your dough and let it warm up a bit before you shape it into loaves. Bake as directed.
Now you have a bread recipe that adjusts to your schedule. Bonus: the flavor develops during the long, slow rise and the cool, rested dough is less sticky to work with.
It’s been hovering around 110 degrees here and I desperately need to bake bread (I caved and bought a loaf yesterday). This is first on my list when the outside cools off.
I grind my own wheat and make bread for my family every day. This looks like an awesome surprise for them. Can’t wait to try – thanks!