Honey and oat bread is a classic for good reason, and spelt flour adds even more flavour to this version. It’s one of the first breads I started baking when I was nine or ten, and has remained a solid favourite for homemade loaves over the decades.
While people are sometimes a bit nervous about baking with spelt flour, it can be used very similarly to standard wheat. The biggest caveat is that you can’t knead or mix as much as with a higher gluten flour.
This makes a wonderful sandwich or toasting loaf and it’s a nice way to get some more whole grains in. There’s plenty of texture here and the honey adds a nice flavour element, which will change depending on the type of honey used.
This recipe is adapted from my simple spelt bread recipe.
Why You Should Try This Recipe
Not only does spelt bread need less kneading time than normal wheat loaves, this particular recipe doesn’t need soaking time for the oats, either. Excellent flavour, not much work, win win.
- It’s great sandwich bread: not only is the crumb great for sandwiches, the flavour is perfect for just about any filling you can think of.
- The dough is easy to work with: in addition to the shorter knead time, the dough is also not very sticky and easy to shape, great for beginners.
- It uses whole grains: you can use light or whole grain spelt or a mix of the two, but in any case, you have rolled oats in the mix adding extra fibre and nutrients.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Spelt Flour: you can substitute wheat flour in place of spelt. Use all white flour or a mix of white and whole wheat. The texture of the bread will change slightly and it will require a longer kneading time, but no changes to quantities are needed.
- Rolled Oats: I highly recommend sticking with rolled oats for this recipe. Quick cook oats can be used in a pinch, but steel cut are not appropriate.
- Yeast: fresh or instant dried yeast.
- Honey: sub maple syrup for a vegan loaf. If you use a very dark honey, like forest honey, it will make a noticeable difference in the taste of the bread. Use a honey you like to eat.
Step by Step
1. Mix the wet ingredients: dissolve the yeast and honey in water.
2. Add dry ingredients: part of the flour, the oats, and salt are stirred in.
3. Mix: add the remaining flour and mix into a shaggy dough.
4. Knead: use your hands to knead until a soft, smooth dough forms.
5. Rise: set aside to rise, covered, until doubled in size.
6. Roll: roll or press the dough out into a rough rectangular shape.
7. Roll it up: roll into a log or spiral to get the loaf form, as tight as possible.
8. Place in the tin: seam-side down, so that the edge of the roll is facing the bottom of the tin.
9. Rise: rise for about half an hour, then top with oats.
10. Bake: for about 40 minutes, or until quite golden brown.
If you can’t see the accompanying video, please watch it here.
Recipe Notes
While some oat breads soak the oats beforehand, this recipe has been developed with dry oats in mind. It has a slightly higher hydration considering that oats will absorb more of that water than flour alone would.
The dough does rest for a few minutes before kneading, which allows the oats to absorb some of the water. If you skip this step, you’ll need to add too much flour when kneading and will have a tough bread.
If you want a sourdough version, please try this honey and oat sourdough bread. I haven’t tried making this one with an overnight method, but that sourdough recipe also proves overnight and offers a yeast option.
How to Store
Storage: keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. This is a yeast bread and doesn’t last quite as long as sourdough.
Freezing: freeze the whole loaf, well wrapped, or do individual slices. Freeze for at least a month. It tends to dry out a bit after freezing for any longer but makes excellent toast.
Expert Tips
- Don’t over-knead: the kneading time is always shorter with spelt based breads due to the lower gluten content. Over-kneading will result in a cake-like loaf.
- Check your yeast: if you’re not sure if the yeast you’re using is still active, wait about 15 minutes after step one. If the mixture hasn’t bubbled up, you need new yeast.
- Refrigerate yeast: on the same note, dry yeast should be stored in the refrigerator for the longest shelf life. Don’t store it in the pantry, as it can get too warm and won’t be active enough for bread baking.
More Spelt Bread Recipes
Spelt Pretzels
Sweet Potato Flatbread
Spelt Sourdough Bread
Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
If you make this Honey Oat Bread or any other bread recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Honey Oat Bread
Ingredients
- 250 ml water room temperature
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast or 1/2 cube fresh
- 100 grams rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 400 grams spelt flour
Instructions
- Add the water, honey, and yeast to a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add the oats, salt, and about a third of the flour (~150g or 1 cup) to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine.
- Add the remaining flour and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and set aside to rest for 10 minutes, to allow the oats to hydrate.
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5-6 minutes, or until a soft, smooth dough forms. Add a light dusting of flour as needed to prevent too much sticking but avoid adding too much.
- Place the kneaded dough back into the bowl and cover. Set in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in size, about one hour.
- Grease or line a standard bread tin. Mine is 25.5 cm (10 in.) long but a slightly shorter one won't make a difference to baking time.
- Gently punch the risen dough down to deflate. Turn the dough out again onto a lightly floured work surface. Press into a rough square, about 24cm (9 in.) across or whatever the length of your bread tin is.
- Tightly roll the dough into a log, pressing to seal with each roll to ensure good contact. Place into the prepared bread tin seam-side down. Cover again and set aside to rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
- While the bread is rising, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
- If you want to top the bread with oats as pictured, brush with milk or egg wash and sprinkle with extra rolled oats.
- Place the risen bread into the oven and bake for 38-40 minutes, or until a dark golden colour. The internal temperature of the bread should be 90°C (194°F) when ready.
- Cool the loaf for ten minutes in the tin before removing and cooling fully on a rack. Store in a sealed container for up to three days or freeze for up to a month.
Video
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Newsletter
This post was originally published in August 2019 and was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. It has been updated with some improvements to the recipe as of March 2022.
Janet says
Dough doubled in size during the first rise in only 50 minutes. I tend to overproof so I proceeded to shape and place in pan for the second rise. After 45 min. was not quite double in size. I proceeded to bake. Bread looks a bit flat and is very heavy. What do you think went wrong?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Janet, sounds like it may have been a proving issue. That being said, spelt-based bread is generally a bit heavier than white bread if that’s what you’re used to making.
Laura says
The old version of this recipe was my favorite but since the update the dough often comes out too dry. Any chance you’d go back to the original?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Laura, the only change to the recipe was to use regular rolled oats rather than the Bob’s type. I would just reduce the amount of flour you’re using by 50 grams or so. Hope this helps!
Donna says
What does 100 g and 400 g mean please I’m in the USA and I don’t understand that and I try to Google it and it doesn’t give me cups it only gives me pounds.
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Donna, there’s a button above the ingredient list that says ‘American’ and if you click that, it’ll show the recipe in American cups.
SD says
Thank you because I totally missed that! About to make this bread now!
Laura Mary Martin says
Perfect, nourishing bread, great for toast and sandwiches.
Nicole says
Hi! Wondering if you can use a stand mixer to knead the dough? Thanks for the recipe
Alexandra Daum says
Definitely! About the same amount of time as you would by hand (depending on how skilled you are at kneading – you don’t want to overdo it in the stand mixer), it would be no problem. I hope you like the bread : )
Denise says
Just a comment regarding use of a standing mixer and bread dough. 2-3 minutes in a standing mixer with a dough hook is equivalent to 8-10 minutes by hand. If you used the same time your dough especially with Spelt would be overworked. Took me a while to sort that out!
Also, just made your Simple Spelt Bread recipe yesterday, and it really is very good. Going to try the Healthy Honey Oat Bread next. Thank you!
amy says
Do you think I could substitute the oats for poppy seeds to make a poppy seed loaf?
Alexandra says
I’m concerned that it might make the dough a little bit wet, but it should work okay to use poppy seeds. I’m not sure in what amount, sorry, I’ve never baked with poppy seeds. I hope it turns out!
Maddie says
What time and heat would you suggest for bun-sized baking? I am looking to make individual rolls that can be sliced in half for jam or cheese.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I haven’t tried it, but I think 30-35 at 190C (375F) should do it. It’ll depend on the size they end up but look for a golden exterior.
rob says
Fantastic recipe, Alexandra.
I ran out of spelt flour half way, switched to bread flour, ran out of that, and so finished with a bit of rye flour. Then, since I don’t have a loaf pan, I made it into a boule.
All those changes and the bread remained great. In other words, this is a miraculously recipe: fool proof & delicious.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
That’s wonderful, thanks Rob! So glad you enjoyed the bread.
Laura says
Can the yeast be replaced by sourdough starter? If so, what quantity of starter would you recommend. Thanks!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Laura, I’d recommend my honey oat sourdough linked in the post instead.