Steakhouse Honey Wheat Bread (2024)

❤️ Why We Love This Recipe

• Inexpensive to make
• Tastes wonderful
• No preservatives
• Outback steakhouse bread any time you want

🛒 Ingredient Notes

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• Sugar — needed to activate the yeast.
• Yeast — I typically use Fleischmann’s active dry yeast.
• Bread flour – King Arthur brand bread flour is my favorite.
• Whole wheat flour – Use any brand you like.
• Cocoa powder – adds both flavor and color to the bread.
• Instant coffee — any brand you like; I keep a box of the individual cup-sized packets on hand for baking.
• Butter
• Honey – the honey and molasses give the bread a natural, subtle sweetness.
• Molasses
• Cornmeal (for dusting the loaves)

🔪 How to Make Steakhouse Honey Wheat Bread

Proof the Yeast

The first step in making any yeast bread is to proof the yeast. That just means proving that the yeast is alive so it will be able to make the bread rise.

1. To proof the yeast, measure the warm water into a two-cup or larger bowl or measuring cup. The water should be between 105 and 110 degrees.

👉 PRO TIP: The easiest way for me to measure the water temperature is with an instant-read thermometer but if you don’t have one, no worries! Just use tap water that is no longer cool to the touch and feels nicely warm. Like a baby’s bath water 😊.

Add the sugar and yeast. Stir to dissolve. Within 5 minutes the yeast should have begun to bubble and grow.

In the photos above, the yeast had been proofing for about 10 minutes. See how much it grew in that short time? That’s good, live yeast.

👉 PRO TIP: Be sure to always check the yeast packet to make sure the date hasn’t expired. The yeast might still proof even if the date on the packet has passed, but it probably won’t be very lively.

Mix the Ingredients

2. While the yeast proofs, mix the flours, cocoa, instant coffee granules, and salt in a large bowl. Stir it all together with a whisk.
3. Using your fingers, mix the softened butter into the flour mixture.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the honey, molasses, and yeast-water mixture. Stir from the middle, bringing the dry ingredients gradually into the wet. You can start out with a wooden spoon but you’ll need to use your hands to finally bring the dough together.

Knead the Dough

5. Turn the rough, shaggy dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Just start kneading and it will quickly come together in a nice ball. Knead for 10 minutes adding small amounts of flour to the kneading surface only if the dough starts to stick.

That’s the kneaded dough. See how nicely it came together? Doesn’t look anything like that shaggy mess it started out as, does it?

First Rise

6. Let the dough rest for a few minutes while you wash and thoroughly dry the bowl that you used to mix it in. Spray the inside of the bowl with cooking spray.

7. Put the dough into the bowl top side down and then turn it over so that the top gets coated with a bit of the cooking spray.
8. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise. The interior of your oven with the light on is usually just warm enough.

9. Let the dough rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

11. Pour a small amount of cornmeal onto your work surface. Moisten each dough portion very lightly by wetting your hands, removing most of the water and rubbing your hands over the dough. Roll the lightly moistened loaves in cornmeal to coat. Gently pat to remove any excess cornmeal.

Second Rise

12. Place the loaves on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for another hour or until doubled again in size.

Bake the Loaves

13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Uncover the dough and bake for 35-40 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.
15. Serve with plenty of butter.

⚠️ Recipe Tips

• Because this recipe has instant coffee granules in the dough, there is going to be a faint smell of burnt coffee while it bakes. Don’t worry! The bread is not burning. It’s just the coffee interacting with the hot baking sheet.
• If you want your bread to be a darker color like the bread served at the steakhouse, you can optionally add food coloring to achieve that result. You’d need 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of red, one teaspoon of yellow, and one teaspoon of blue. Stir it into the yeast and water before adding it to the dough. I’m perfectly happy with the color of the bread without the added coloring.

❓Questions about Steakhouse Honey Wheat Bread

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