Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread Recipe

Baking up a batch of homemade brown sugar oatmeal bread will near instantly fill your home with the scent of brown sugar and baking bread. Each one of my kids walked into the house while this bread was baking and excitedly asked, “what is in the oven?!”

This simple bread is ready in about an hour and can be made with some of your most common pantry ingredients. If you’ve never made brown sugar oatmeal bread before, you won’t believe how easy it is to make- AND how much you’ll LOVE it!

A slice of this sweet bread is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea any time of day. You’ll love it for a cozy breakfast or a tasty afternoon snack!

Other Kinds Of Sweet Bread Options

Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread

Pan Dulce

Cinnamon Rolls

Apple Bread

Brioche

Challah

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread – The Perfect Treat

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread makes a delicious breakfast snack or dessert. Serve it warm immediately after removing it from the oven.

This Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread also makes for the most thoughtful and perfect housewarming, hostess, holiday or neighbor gift. You can simply bake it in miniature loaf pans instead of full sized loaf pans and can tie them with a ribbon, wrap in parchment, or an adorable kitchen towel, and you will have such a beautiful gift.

Ingredients For Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread

This easy brown sugar oatmeal bread starts with a few simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand. See the recipe card below for exact measurements!

Brown Sugar– I recommend dark brown sugar for the richest taste, but use what you have on hand!

All-Purpose Flour– This recipe calls for all purpose flour, but you can substitute self rising flour and omit the baking powder and salt. Self rising flour is a blend of all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.

Oats–  Gives this bread a subtle nuttiness, great texture, and extra fiber. Plus, it just looks so pretty sprinkled on top!

Baking Powder– This ingredient gives the bread a rise and soft texture. It releases gas in the batter causing bubbles which create the rise. This ingredient is essential for a bread recipe with no yeast!

Salt– Redmond’s fine sea salt is my favorite salt to use.

Milk– Milk adds to the moisture and activates the gluten. Half-and-half or whole milk are good options too.

Salted Butter: I prefer to bake with salted butter. It’s also possible to prepare the recipe with unsalted butter, and in that case, add 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Eggs: You need 2 large eggs. Be sure to set them out on the counter (if you don’t already keep them there!) to warm to room temperature, so they incorporate easily into the bread batter.

Maple Syrup– I love grabbing organic maple syrup from Costco or Azure Standard, but tapping our own trees next winter is on my homestead wish list!

Cinnamon Sugar Topping (optional): For a sweet, slightly crunchy crust, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top of the bread before baking.

This bread is incredible as is because of the rich molasses from the brown sugar, but you can also mix up this recipe in so many different ways!

Some brown sugar oatmeal bread variations include:

Extracts – Simply add 2 teaspoons of your favorite extract. Vanilla, almond, banana, or maple are great options!

Nuts – Add 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts for a bit of crunch and nutty warmth.

Fruits – you can add in banana slices, apples or dried fruits, even raisins to your mixture as well.

Chocolate – Fold 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips into the bread batter. White, milk, semisweet, or dark… try anything! You can’t go wrong with chocolate chip brown sugar bread.

Cinnamon swirl: Mix 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon with 1/3 cup sugar to make a cinnamon swirl. Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan, then sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top. Add the remaining batter and bake.

Spices: Season the batter with 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, or gingerbread spice.

Kitchen Tools You Will Need To Make This Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread

Large mixing bowl to combine the ingredients or you can use a Stand Mixer if you’d prefer!

Whisk for stirring the bread batter.

Rubber spatula to transfer the batter from the bowl into the pan.

Loaf pan: You need 2 9 x 5 in loaf pans.

How to make brown sugar oatmeal bread

Ready in less than an hour, this bread will become a new family favorite. Grab a mixing bowl, and let’s go!

#1: Mix batter

Combine your dry ingredients. Place the flour, oats, salt, and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Next, add your wet ingredients. Combine the brown sugar, milk, melted butter, maple syrup, and eggs. Stir for about 1 minute until everything is combined and you no longer see streaks of flour. The batter will be a bit lumpy, which is fine.

#2: Bake bread

Fill loaf pans.

Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Let the brown sugar oatmeal bread cool in the pan. Then lift the bread out of the baking tin and cut it into slices. Enjoy!

Tips for making brown sugar oatmeal bread

Pack the brown sugar into your measuring cup: To measure brown sugar accurately, scoop it into your measuring cup and then gently press down with the back of a spoon until compact.

Avoid overmixing: Once the ingredients appear combined, stop stirring and move on to the next step. Over-mixing can cause the bread to be dense and heavy.

Don’t overfill your loaf pan. Allow room to compensate for rise.

Don’t let the batter stand: Once you’ve mixed the batter, transfer it into your prepared baking pan and bake right away. Allowing the batter to sit can sometimes cause the bread not to rise properly.

Be careful not to under bake: Each oven has its own temperature settings, so check the bread with a toothpick at 40 minutes of baking. The bread is ready if it comes out clean with no liquid. If not, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.

Use the toothpick test to ensure it’s ready. Bake time varies based on your loaf pan size and material, altitude and even oven temperatures can vary. Insert a toothpick into the center. When it comes out clean it is done.

Baking Alternatives

Mini Loaves – You can also make this in mini  loaf pans or you can cut the recipe in half for just 1 loaf pan

Make Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.

Storage Instructions For Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread

Room temperature: Loosely cover your brown sugar bread and store it in a cool, dry place at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Refrigerate – Up to 1 week in an airtight container.

Reheat: You can reheat in the oven on bake or broil, this takes just a few minutes!

Freeze – Wrap tightly in heavy foil, saran wrap or place them in freezer bags, and freeze for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature to serve.

FAQ’s

What happens if you use brown sugar instead of white in bread?

The sweetness level will be exactly the same, but the brown sugar may change the texture of your baked goods. You’ll likely notice a more robust flavor and the color of the finished baked good may be darker as well.

Is it better to bake with dark brown sugar or light brown sugar?

The molasses content in dark brown sugar will make your baked goods moister than if you use light brown sugar. That means that not only is the flavor affected, but the texture will be, too. Light brown sugar will result in a subtler flavor, while dark brown sugar will give your baked goods a richer flavor

Do you pack down brown sugar when baking?

Packing brown sugar is a crucial component in making a consistent baking measurement. Packing brown sugar presses out all of those small pockets of air that get trapped between the sticky sugar granules, and in-turn will ensure that your sweet treat comes out as just that!

Does brown sugar bake differently than white sugar?

White and brown sugar can be used in different ways in baking and cooking. While they can sometimes be used interchangeably, doing so may affect the color, flavor, or texture of your final product. The molasses in brown sugar retains moisture, so using it will result in baked goods that are softer.

Does brown sugar go with wet or dry ingredients?

While sugar is technically considered a “dry” ingredient, it must be mixed with “wet” ingredients, like butter, eggs, vanilla, etc

What is the thing you put in brown sugar to keep it soft?

marshmallow

Just make sure the container is airtight. Next, put a marshmallow in the container. This will keep the brown sugar soft, owing to the moisture in the marshmallow. You can also use a slice of white bread, or a couple cut-up wedges of apple, both of which have enough moisture to do the job, too.

Do you scoop brown sugar?

To pack brown sugar, simply scoop it into your measuring cup with a spoon. Then gently press down with the back of the spoon until the sugar is compact, and repeat as needed until the cup is full. The top of the brown sugar should be flush with the top of the measuring cup.

Other Home Sweet Spena Recipes To Try!

Sourdough Pancakes

Sourdough Waffles

Bacon Wrapped Smokies