Bread Machine Maple Oatmeal Bread is a hearty sandwich bread with just enough sweetness to create the perfect bite.  It’s wonderful in sandwiches, but it’s also at home on the breakfast table as a slice of toast, or on the dinner table beside a cozy bowl of soup.

The smell of this bread baking will fill your kitchen with warmth and cozy comfort.

Maple oatmeal bread makes a delightful breakfast bread. With a crisp crust and a slight sweetness, this wholesome loaf is also wonderful for toast or alongside soups and stews.

Oatmeal adds a hearty bite to this loaf, and the maple brings just enough sweetness. 

This recipe uses buttermilk, which helps provide extra lift and balances the sweetness from the maple syrup.  If you don’t have buttermilk, regular milk will also work, as well as the other substitutions I provide.  Don’t worry; it’s easy enough to make this delicious bread with common kitchen staples, no specialty ingredients are required!

Ingredients for Bread Machine Maple Oatmeal Bread

This recipe has instructions for making both a 2-pound loaf and a 1-1/2-pound loaf, as those are the two most common sizes.  To make a 1-pound loaf, just cut the 2-pound quantities in half.  I’m baking this as a 2-pound loaf in my Zojirushi Supreme Bread Machine, which makes beautiful horizontal loaves in a pan that uses two paddles for more efficient mixing.  I’ve worked with many different machines over the years, and this one’s my favorite.

Most of the ingredients included are relatively common pantry staples, except for buttermilk.

The buttermilk is optional, and you can use regular milk instead.  The loaf will be sweeter that way, and won’t have the buttermilk tang to help balance things out.  You can also make “quick buttermilk” by putting a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of your measuring cup before you add the milk to measure.  Still use the same volume, just use a bit of cider vinegar mixed in.  That helps replicate buttermilk in this recipe.

I’ve made this loaf with both regular all-purpose flour and bread flour, and both work well.  Bread flour will give you a firmer crumb that slices better, and a slightly higher rise.  You may need to use a splash of extra water with bread flour, depending on the brand you’re using.

I tend to use King Arthur Flour All Purpose because that’s what I have on hand in bulk, and it has enough gluten to make lovely breads but it also still makes nice pancakes.

For best results, use Amber-grade or darker-grade B maple syrup for this loaf. This grade is slightly richer than the syrup often used for pancakes and waffles and is ideal for baking, and has more maple flavor. 

Lastly, I like to brush the top of the loaves with butter right before the baking cycle, and sprinkle them with about a tablespoon of old-fashioned oats.  This is what “oatmeal” bread tends to look like in the store, and it adds a bit of extra buttery crunch to the bite.  My kids think it’s “extra fancy,” and who am I to argue?

Two Pound Loaf Ingredients

To make a 2-pound loaf of Bread Machine Maple Oatmeal Bread, you’ll need the following:

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) buttermilk
• ½ cup (120 ml) pure maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp. (42 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 4 cups (480 g) All Purpose White Flour (or Bread Flour)
• 1 cup (90 g) rolled oats
• 2 tsp. (12 g) salt
• 2 ½ tsp. (7 g) SAF yeast (or 1 tablespoon bread machine yeast)

One and a Half Pound Loaf Ingredients

To make a 1 ½ pound loaf of Bread Machine Maple Oatmeal Bread, you’ll need the following:

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 1 ⅓ cups (320 ml) buttermilk
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) pure maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. (28 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 3 cups (360 g) All Purpose White Flour (or Bread Flour)
• ¾ cup (70 g) rolled oats
• 1 ½ tsp. (9 g) salt
• 2 tsp. (6 g) SAF yeast (or 2 ½ teaspoons bread machine yeast)

Best Yeast for Bread Machines

I always get questions about the yeast used, so I’ll try to get out ahead of this one.  There are three main types of yeast you can buy, and they all work a bit differently.  They include:

• Instant Yeast
• Bread Machine Yeast
• Active Yeast

I make this recipe with SAF instant yeast, as it works well in both bread machine recipes and oven-baked goods.  It can be added directly with the dry ingredients without rehydrating, so it is placed in a well on top of the flour in bread machine recipes.

If you’re using specialty bread machine yeast, it’s also an instant yeast, but with a different strength.  You’ll need to use a bit more (as described in the ingredients list above). 

If all you have is active yeast, that is used a bit differently.  Active yeast is added to the water (instead of on top of the flour) as it needs to rehydrate for about 10 minutes before it works.  To use active yeast, add it to the water, stir, and wait 10 minutes, then proceed with the recipe (knowing that you’ve already put the yeast in the water, so it doesn’t need to go on top of the flour). 

Don’t use the delay timer with active yeast, but you can delay baking with instant yeast and bread machine yeast if placed on top of the flour.

Making Bread Machine Maple Oatmeal Bread

Add your wet ingredients first, followed by dry, adding the yeast last.

Set the crust on “light” or “medium, whichever you prefer.  Breads with added sweetener tend to burn if you use “dark.”  Some machines don’t let you select a crust type, so if yours doesn’t have this setting, don’t worry about it. 

Program the bread machine for the “basic” cycle. Press Start and let the bread machine work its magic. Due to the perishable nature of these ingredients, this recipe cannot be used with Delay Timer because it contains buttermilk.

Check the dough after a few minutes of mixing – it should be springy and firm. If, during the kneading process, it seems too stiff, drizzle in a little water.

Remove promptly once the cycle ends, and allow to cool on a rack before slicing.

You now have your very own loaf of maple oatmeal bread worthy of breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

As I mentioned, I like to “fancy up” this loaf by brushing it with butter right before it bakes and sprinkling on a tablespoon of old-fashioned oats.  The butter helps the crust stay soft, and the oats add crunch (and remind you that you are indeed enjoying oatmeal bread).

That’s optional, but if you do choose to do it, you’ll need to catch your bread maker right before the bake, at the end of the last rise.  For most machines, it’s best to do this when there’s about an hour left in the cycle.

Melt a tablespoon of butter and then brush it on with a pastry brush, and then sprinkle on a tablespoon of old-fashioned oats.  Close the lid and let the machine bake as it otherwise would.

Yield: Makes a 2 pound loaf (1 1/2 pound in the notes)

Bread Machine Maple Oat Bread

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Maple oatmeal bread is easy to make in the bread machine, and it's perfect for sandwiches, toast and beside a hearty bowl of soup.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours 40 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) buttermilk
• ½ cup (120 ml) pure maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp. (42 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 4 cups (480 g) All Purpose White Flour (or Bread Flour)
• 1 cup (90 g) rolled oats
• 2 tsp. (12 g) salt
• 2 ½ tsp. (7 g) SAF yeast (or 1 tablespoon bread machine yeast)

Instructions

1. You start by adding in your wet ingredients, then make an "island" with the flour on top.  The other ingredients, such as salt and yeast, are then set in wells on top of the flour, so they don't get wet until the machine starts mixing. This allows you to set a delay timer if you want, and it also keeps the yeast from activating before its time.
2. Select the "basic white" setting on your bread machine, and I'd suggest the "medium" or "light" darkness for crust color (if your bread machine allows you to choose). Dark settings tend to burn breads with added sweetener.  Turn it on and let it run.
3. Watch the machine for the first few minutes to ensure that the dough is coming together. If it's too dry, add a tiny bit more water until a dough forms.
4. Allow the cycle to complete through the bake phase, and then remove the bread from the machine to cool completely before cutting.

Notes

Oat Topping

As I mentioned, I like to "fancy up" this loaf by brushing it with butter right before it bakes and sprinkling on a tablespoon of old-fashioned oats.  The butter helps the crust stay soft, and the oats add crunch (and remind you that you are indeed enjoying oatmeal bread).

That's optional, but if you do choose to do it, you'll need to catch your bread maker right before the bake, at the end of the last rise.  For most machines, it's best to do this when there's about an hour left in the cycle.

Melt a tablespoon of butter and then brush it on with a pastry brush, and then sprinkle on a tablespoon of old-fashioned oats.  Close the lid and let the machine bake as it otherwise would.

One and a Half Pound Loaf Ingredients

To make a 1 ½ pound loaf of Bread Machine Maple Oatmeal Bread, you’ll need the following:

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 1 ⅓ cups (320 ml) buttermilk
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) pure maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. (28 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 3 cups (360 g) All Purpose White Flour (or Bread Flour)
• ¾ cup (70 g) rolled oats
• 1 ½ tsp. (9 g) salt
• 2 tsp. (6 g) SAF yeast (or 2 ½ teaspoons bread machine yeast)

Bread Machine Recipes

Looking for more bread machine recipes?

• Bread Machine Cinnamon Raisin Bread
• Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
• Bread Machine Brioche
• Bread Machine Challah
• Bread Machine French Bread