If you’re like me then when you think about Outback the first thing that comes to mind is probably the bloomin’ onion. But my daughters go there for the bread. They both, but especially my oldest, love Outback bread!
You know what I’m talking about, right? Those little loaves of dark brown bread served hot with cups of butter? They are obsessed with that stuff (I mean, it is pretty delicious…) so I decided it was something I needed to learn to make at home.
The recipe I’m sharing today is inspired by this one from Lana’s Cooking. I liked her recipe alright, but felt it was unnecessarily complicated, so I modified the ingredients and instructions to fit my needs. Feel free to do the same with my recipe if needed! I’m a big proponent of ‘you do you’ when it comes to cooking and rarely follow a recipe exactly as I find it.
You might also like: Easy Homemade Sourdough Bread
So anyway, copycat outback bread. I usually make it to go along with soup, and then my aforementioned oldest daughter eats the leftovers for several days after. We always let our kids pick the meals on their birthdays and it would not surprise me at all if she were to ask for pizza, tacos, and copycat outback bread She has very eclectic tastes and adores this bread.
Even though it is the dark brown color of pumpernickel bread, it is definitely not that. Pumpernickel is a sourdough bread made with rye flour and this bread is made with yeast and wheat flour. The rich brown color of this bread comes from cocoa and molasses in the dough. It is also a fairly sweet bread because of the molasses and honey in the recipe, which I suspect is why the girls like it so much.
It really is a crowd pleaser, especially when served hot with lots of butter!
The instructions are pretty straight forward. Just proof the yeast, add in the wet ingredients, then the dry ingredients, and mix. Knead until you get a nice firm dough that holds it shape and then let it rise. Once it’s risen, form it into loaves, rise again, then bake. See? Simple! Not a lot of steps and no fancy or time consuming techniques.
An easy homemade version of the popular restaurant treat.
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cocoa
- 4 cups all purpose flour
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In the bowl of a stand mixer, proof the yeast by combining with sugar and water. Let it stand about 5 minutes, until it's bubbly.
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Add wet ingredients (honey, molasses, and butter) and mix to combine. Add salt, cocoa, and 1 cup of flour and mix. Continuing adding flour 1 cup at a time until it's all mixed in, then knead the dough (either with the mixer on medium or by hand) for 10 minutes, dusting with extra flour as needed to prevent sticking.
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Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with a dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour, until doubled in size. Prepare a large sheet pan by lining with parchment paper and set aside.
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Once the dough has doubled, divide it into six equal pieces and form into small loaves. Place the six loaves onto the prepared pan, cover with a dish towel, and let rise for another hour, until doubled in size.
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Preheat oven to 350°. Bake loaves for 35 minutes, then let them cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Cool completely before storing. Can be kept in an airtight container for up to a week.
Can you make this same recipe in a bread maker? If I don’t have molasses is there a substitute?
You can probably use extra honey in place of the molasses with similar results. I would think you could make it in a bread maker, but I don’t have one so I can’t say for sure.