Easy Bread Machine Oatmeal Bread made with rolled oats, milk, butter, and sweetened with a little bit of honey. Just dump the ingredients in your bread machine, and it will do all the work for you!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Bread Machine – This recipe is designed for the bread machine to make a medium 1 and ½ lb or 750g loaf that will rise and bake correctly using the basic bread option.
- Customizable – This is a basic oatmeal bread loaf, but feel free to make it your own. Add nuts, cranberries, raisins, or even chocolate chips.
- Set it and Forget it – You don’t need to keep coming back and checking on the loaf as it’s being kneaded, when it’s rising, or baking. You literally just set it and forget it until you’re ready to eat.
If you enjoy this bread machine recipe, you’ll want to try my easy bread machine rye bread next! It’s wonderfully soft and so flavorful.
Ingredients In Oatmeal Bread
Here’s what you need to make the perfect loaf of oatmeal bread
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Flour: I used strong bread flour, but all-purpose flour will also work here.
- Oats: Go for old-fashioned rolled oats, avoid quick/instant oats.
- Fat: 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter add richness to the bread, and make it soft. It can be substituted with olive oil if desired.
- Milk: To make the bread fluffy, I added 2% milk. If you don’t want to use milk, use water instead or 50% water and 50% milk.
- Yeast: Instant yeast is the right choice when deciding what type of yeast to buy for your bread maker bread. You may also see “bread maker yeast”. This is also Instant yeast, just with a different label, so feel free to use either. Active Dry Yeast won’t properly bloom in the bread maker, so don’t use that here.
- Honey and Salt: These 2 ingredients are added for flavor!
- Egg: The egg is totally optional, it’s used as an egg wash to brush the top of the bread before it’s baked. You can totally skip this if you want.
How To Make Bread Machine Oatmeal Bread
- Layer your ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the following order: Milk, Butter, Salt, Honey, Flour, Oats, and lastly, Yeast.
- Add the bread pan to the bread machine, and make sure that it’s secured. Close the lid, and plug in the machine. Choose the basic bread setting, medium size, and start the machine.
- The bread machine will now take over for you, and knead, proof, and bake your bread dough!
- OPTIONAL: If you want to do the egg wash, when the bread is finishing the rising part, brush on some egg wash over the top and sprinkle with some oats. Close the lid, and allow the machine to continue and bake.
- When the baking cycle ends, unplug the bread machine, open the lid, and remove the pan from the machine with kitchen mitts. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then shake it out of the pan and allow it to cool completely. Carefully remove the paddle from the bottom of the loaf if it got stuck there.
Tip!
For your convenience, I’ve included US cup measurements, but measuring by weight is preferable. A digital scale is great for getting consistent results every time.
Recipe Tips
- Warm milk: When making yeasted breads, it’s always best to warm up your liquid of choice to 110°F/45°C, in order to activate the yeast.
- Add the ingredients in the right order: The manufacturer’s instructions will tell you to add the liquids first, then the dry ingredients. The instant yeast always goes in last. This ensures that the yeast is separated from the liquids until the kneading begins, and is an important step to follow.
Storing Tips
Store your homemade bread wrapped in plastic wrap to keep it soft and fresh, or in a bread box at room temperature for 4-5 days. Oatmeal bread can also be frozen, wrapped well and airtight, for up to two months.
Avoid putting bread in the fridge, as the conditions there will dry out your loaf.
FAQs
The manufacturer’s instructions will tell you to add the liquids first, then the dry ingredients. The instant yeast always goes in last. This ensures that the yeast is separated from the liquids until the kneading begins, and is an important step to follow.
Choose Rapid rise yeast, Instant yeast, or Bread Machine yeast. According to Fleishmann’s Yeast’s website, the three are exactly the same, just sold under different names. Active Dry yeast is different from the others, and not recommended for bread machine recipes.
This Hamilton Beach programmable bread maker is very well rated on Amazon and available at a reasonable price. You can buy more expensive bread makers, but I would start with a basic one until you’re comfortable and know that you want to use it often.
You should always make sure that your yeast is fresh and active. It could be that your yeast is dead, or you added too much salt or sugar, or you forgot to add the yeast.
You probably added too much yeast.
If this happens for some reason, add more liquid (1 tablespoon at a time) until a ball of dough is formed.
You need to add more flour, add it gradually (1 tablespoon at a time) until a ball of dough is formed.
I hope that you love this bread and keep making it over and over again in your bread machine! Don’t forget to pin this recipe so you don’t lose it.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Bread Machine Oatmeal Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (350 ml) milk I used 2%, temperature 110°F/45°C
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) melted butter
- 2 tablespoons honey or sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (360 g) whole wheat flour strong wholemeal flour in the UK
- 1 cup (100 g) old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
Optional
- 1 egg for egg wash
Instructions
- Layer your ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the following order: Milk, Butter, Salt, Honey, Flour, Oats, and lastly, Yeast.
- Add the bread pan to the bread machine, and make sure that it’s secured. Close the lid, and plug in the machine. Choose the basic bread setting, medium size, and start the machine.
- The bread machine will now take over for you, and knead, proof, and bake your bread dough!
- OPTIONAL: If you want to do the egg wash, when the bread is finishing the rising part, brush on some egg wash over the top and sprinkle with some oats. Close the lid, and allow the machine to continue and bake.
- When the baking cycle ends, unplug the bread machine, open the lid, and remove the pan from the machine with kitchen mitts. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then shake it out of the pan and allow it to cool completely. Carefully remove the paddle from the bottom of the loaf if it got stuck there.
Notes:
- Warm Water: When making bread it’s best to have all ingredients at room temperature to start. The water should be a bit above that, at 110°F/45°C, in order to activate the yeast.
- You Can Sift the Flour: Sifting flour before making bread with it helps to aerate it, and will make a fluffier, less dense bread. It’s not necessary for success but is an option.
- You will get a medium 1 and ½ lb or 750g loaf.
- Nutrition: Calculated is just a rough estimate for the smallest loaf if it’s sliced into 10 slices. Info is per slice.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Patty says
Very good recipe
Diana says
Thank you for trying my recipe, and for the positive feedback!
Barb says
Why do you say to put it on a basic setting? My basic setting only lasts for 3 hours and you say to bake it for 4. Even my whole wheat setting only lasts for 3 hours and 40 minutes. I don’t know wether to get it out after my 3 hour cycle finishes or then put it on a bake cycle to bake longer.
Lindsay says
Hi Barb, the “basic” setting on different brands of bread machines can vary. I suggest that you make this recipe using the basic setting and let the bread machine do the work! The four hours listed in the recipe is just an approximation.
Lynne says
Hi. Trying to figure out what strong whole wheat bread flour is. I can find unbleached bread flour and whole wheat flour but not whole wheat bread flour and no strong flour of any kind.
I’ve made this twice (once with WW flour; once with unbleached bread flour) and both times the top fell in (sunk).
Bread was still delicious. I added toasted sunflower seeds.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.