Honey Oat Bread
 I’ve been wanting to have my “own” bread recipe for a while now. I’ve dappled here and there with several recipes, but not being completely crazy about any of them. I liked certain things in this recipe and certain things in that recipe……so I dappled a little myself in my kitchen and came up with this bread. And man oh man – it’s a winner! But I should tell you, before you have a winner you have several flops…..or in this case, several flat loaves of bread. Disks. Hockey pucks. Door stops. Croutons. And then came this glorious Honey Oat Bread. It makes the house smell wonderful. It makes me smell wonderful. It is just stinking GOOD. This is now my “go to” bread recipe. It makes great sandwiches and the flavor has just a hint of sweetness. Yummy! |
 You’ll need yeast, honey, coconut oil, water, eggs, salt, rolled oats, and white wheat flour (hard white wheat, ground).In a small saucepan, combine the honey and coconut oil, heating just until the oil is melted and the mixture is combined. In the hot months, my coconut oil stays liquid, but now that it’s cooling off it is solid. Once it’s warm, remove from the heat and add the water. Your temperature should now be about 110 degrees. How do you know it’s right if you don’t have a thermometer? Think baby-bath water. It should be warm enough to give a baby a bath, but not too hot. An oiled up, honey baby…..man, that gives new meaning to “slicker than a baby’s butt.”Add the yeast to the warm mixture and let it sit about 10 minutes. After that, it should look like this. You’ve just “proofed” your yeast – or made sure it was alive. |
 Pour the yeast mixture into your stand mixer. Add three cups of your flour and mix it up a tad. Then add the salt. I never add my salt to the yeast mixture without adding a bit of flour first because the salt can kill your yeast. Beat this mixture about two minutes on speed 1. Now, add the eggs, remaining flour, and oats. On speed 1, mix this until it becomes kneadable. You might have to add more flour. Like I’ve told you before, I usually don’t add a ton of flour since fresh flour can continue to absorb moisture as it kneads….too much flour and you have hockey puck bread. Let your bread knead on speed 1 for 10 minutes. After about 10 minutes, I can tell if I need more flour and then I add it. |
 Grease a large bowl with oil and then add your kneaded dough. Turn it over so it gets coated on all sides. Cover and let it rise until doubled. It might take an hour, it might take longer. It all depends on the temperature of your kitchen. How do you know it’s done rising? Poke it. Think about the Pillsbury Dough Boy and giggle. If you barely poke the dough and it springs right back out, it’s not ready. But, if you poke it and your finger print stays, then you know it’s done. Don’t poke it too hard, just in case it’s not done…..or you have to start all over again. |
 Punch the dough down and divide it into two loaves. Put the loves in two greased 9 inch loaf pans, turning it over to coat all sides. I tried making this into 3 loaves, using 8 inch pans…..but, they were too short for sandwiches. Tasty, yes. And we ate every crumb, but I like a taller bread for sandwiches. 9 inches works great for this recipe. Let these loaves rise until they double – they won’t rise much in the oven, so make sure they’re as tall as you like. But, if you wait too long they will deflate when you put them in the oven. See next photo for an idea of how tall they should rise. |
 Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. They should sound hollow when you tap on the top. Cool in the pans for 10 minutesbefore turning out to cool completely on a wire rack. Try really hard not to cut them too early, or they’ll just make a mess. It’s a hard job, waiting…..but you can do it. I can’t. But maybe you can.
Since this makes two loaves, I usually put one in the freezer and we eat the other one. In the hot months, I store it in the fridge to keep it from molding early. In the winter, I leave it out on the counter in a bread box. I don’t like it straight from the fridge – but you do what you have to do. I don’t like mold, so I deal. |
| This post is linked at What’s On Your Plate on Good Cheap Eats. |
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Honey Oat Bread 4 teaspoons yeast ½ cup honey 1/3 cup coconut oil 2 cups water 2 eggs 1 tablespoon salt 1 cup rolled oats 6 ½ cups hard white wheat flour (or white wheat flour) In a saucepan, warm the honey and oil until the oil is melted. Remove from heat. Add the water. Mixture should be warm (around 110 degrees). Add yeast and stir. Let stand for 10 minutes to proof. Pour the mixture into your stand mixer. Add three cups of flour and the salt. Beat for 2 minutes on speed 1. Add eggs, oats, and remaining flour until you have a kneadable dough. You may need to add more flour. Knead on speed 1 for 10 minutes. Move dough to an oiled bowl. Cover to coat all surfaces. Let rise until doubled. Punch down and divide into two loaves. Put into two greased 9 inch loaf pans, turning to grease all sides. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until they should hollow when tapped. Cool 10 minutes in the pan before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack. |
How did you know today is my bread baking day, Stacy? I am going to venture out from my usual sandwich bread and try yours – Thanks!
Mindy @ The Purposed Heart recently posted..Pumpkin Eggnog
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
I just finished off a loaf last night by myself….granted, it was only two slices, but I didn’t share. LOL
I was in desperate need for a new recipe (same reason as yours…I take from here and there). I am going to try this one tomorrow!
Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger recently posted..Comment on 100 Days to Christmas eBook Giveaway (And List PlanIt Giveaway winner announced) by Baptistcook02
Let me know how it goes!
Thanks so much for this recipe! Made me reminisce about when I was a kid,coming home to my mom’s homemade loaves,still warm from the oven…mmmmmmmm!!! Lol! I’m definitely going to be trying this recipe in the very near future! Thanks again and warm wishes to you & Barry! ^_^
Thanks Becki!
I’d love to try this but my son HATES any seedy texuture. Any idea what I can use instead of Oats that’s not so grainy? Thanks as always!
I would just stick my oats in the food processor and pulse them until they made oat flour…..and then I’d add that.
I’m going to do this with Hard Red. I will let you know what happens. And then the next time with sprouted. I started to make this and realized I don’t have eggs. Head to my food club to pick them up in about an hour and a half. I was hoping this would be my rising time…but NOOOOOOO.
Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger recently posted..Comment on Cloth Diapering: The Why by Nikki
We don’t care for hard red wheat……let me know how it turns out!
Oh My Goodness. This bread is amazing. With the hard red – awesome. And I brushed olive oil on the top of it right out of the oven. Antony said “That isn’t just good. That is realllly reallly good.”
Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger recently posted..Comment on Pumpkin Cake Recipe {Gluten Free} by Alea Milham
Now, THAT is a good review.
I pinned this to My Food board on Pinterest. Hope that’s okay..if not, let me know and I will delete it! Can’t wait to try it!!!
Pin away! Thanks!
Hi Stacy!
Well, I gotta tell ya your bread is a big hit at our house. In our journey (well, ok, it’s my journey…the fam’s just along for the ride cuz they don’t get a choice!! hehehe) to eat more home-made, there has been a lot of trial and error in the bread-baking department. We’re talking lots of bread-for-the-ducks kind of errors….. But your Honey Oat Bread has saved the day!!!! It is now the official bread in our home, as I make several loaves every other week. It is easy to make and we all love the taste! Not only is it yummy, it is WAY more cost effective than the organic bread I was buying, and thus very good on my budget! Yahoo! Thanks, Stacy!
Yay!!!!!!!!!
I’m SO glad! Thanks for letting me know.
Is there a reason you use coconut oil instead of another type of fat?
Yes, because coconut oil ROCKS! I use it for everything I can now. It is sooooooooo good for you! Check out this article about its awesome benefits.
I just found your recipe. I have 2 loaves in the oven right now. Can hardly wait for them to get done. I love baking bread, but have been trying to experiment with sourdough which has not been very successful.
So I was thrilled when I set these loaves to rising and they puffed up beautifully. Thanks so much for the recipe.
I’m so glad!!! I hope you love it as much as we do. It’s the only sandwich bread I make now. I’ve made traditional sourdough, and I quit…..we just don’t care for the flavor – to each his own.
Please let me know how it turns out!
I made it just like your recipe, but why use the eggs? A lot of bread recipes call for eggs, but the one recipe I usually use for sandwich bread doesn’t. Just wondering.
Adding eggs to bread usually creates a softer end product and I’ve also found that it keeps the bread from drying out so quickly.
I hope it turned out well and that you love it as much as we do!
The bread turned out fantastic. I could hardly wait for it to cool long enough before I cut it. I definitely use this recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for letting me know. I love to share my bread happiness with everyone!
I don’t have a stand up mixer …BOOOOO….I wonder if I could do this another way- maybe with a regular mixer??? We luv luv luv sourdough bread and I don’t use mixer for it…sourdough is so tricky and it is a toss if it is gonna rise or even taste good (even with the exact same recipe each time… go figure…) SO, I am excited to get a new bread recipe!
We’re not fans of traditional sourdough, but this is our favorite bread! If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix everything up by hand. When you have a good, stiff dough then you can just knead it on a well floured surface for 6-8 minutes.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
You mentioned you put one loaf in the freezer while you eat the other one, I have started cutting all of my loaves and packaging the slices 2 to a fold top sandwich bag and putting the sandwich bags into a bread bag and putting that into the freezer. That way we pull out the right amount of bread needed for the meal (or day) and the rest stays fresh in the freezer waiting to be eaten. It has worked well in our family. You might try it. : )
Do you have a section for “beans & rice OR rice & beans” recipes that Dave Ramsey recommends for budget living?
HA! No, but I really should, shouldn’t I?
You’ll find that most of my recipes are pretty cheap – because I’m pretty cheap…..that’s how I roll.
Hi Stacy,
I’m wondering if you can just throw this in the bread maker? It looks delish! BTW – I’ve been reading your blog daily for about a year now and just found you on FB. You make me laugh out loud almost daily!
I know this is probably a very stupid question but here goes. What kind of oil do you use to grease the bowls and pans? I’m fairly new to your blog but I love it, and am trying to make the switch to whole foods slowly but surely. Keep up the good works they have inspired me to stay on this path and not give up. Thanks so much.
The only dumb question is one that you don’t ask…or something like that.
I think it’s a great question, since I didn’t clarify. When I wasn’t eating Whole Foods, I would use Canola oil….now I grease with just about anything – coconut oil, butter, or palm shortening. Whatever is close by and doesn’t cause me to have to go downstairs. LOL