Copycat Outback bread is the dark brown molasses bread served at Outback Steakhouse Restaurant. It’s rich, sweet, and slightly earthy with a bitter undertone, perfect with whipped butter.
Eating out is a real treat, especially with a family of eight; you get charged as a party! That’s why we recreate many of our favorite steakhouse favorites like this Longhorn Spinach Dip or Parmesan Crusted Chicken.
This Outback Bread recipe has been a reader favorite on Pinterest and here on the blog, with over a hundred comments and suggestions. Many readers have made these into loaves instead of smaller bread rolls (ideally for one person).
I’ve updated the recipe and added step-by-step photos so that you can make it successfully at home.
Outback Bread Recipe
Outback bread is a sweet molasses bread that is fluffy, deep brown, and enriched with whole wheat flour, which adds a little nutrition.
If you’ve ever been to the restaurant, it’s likely the server brought out this brown bread with butter (it’s complimentary).
It sometimes goes by the names Molasses bread or The Honey Wheat Bushman bread. It’s addictively delicious and goes perfectly with steak or chicken (hence the reason steakhouse restaurants serve it).
It’s the perfect match to Alice Springs chicken (a reader favorite) and is from the same restaurant.
What Kind of Bread Does Outback Serve?
Back in the day, when eating out at the Outback Steakhouse one evening, I asked for the name of this bread, and the server replied, “Honey wheat bread.”
I quickly made my version of this molasses bread or honey wheat bread and included some tips to make it dark black and rich (hint: dark cocoa powder).
If you can’t find the dark cocoa powder, this bread will still be delicious, with a rich brown shade—it just won’t be black.
Molasses and honey both work as sweeteners in the dough, and the dark cocoa will intensify the color and flavor. These steak bread rolls make a dozen of homemade rolls without any food dye, and you know exactly whats in them!
Mise en Place
Equipment:
- Two large sheet pans (or cookie sheets) to place six bread rolls on each pan
- Stand mixer (or knead by hand)
- Bench scraper (to divide and cut dough)
- Wire whisk
- A silicone pastry mat is handy for a non-stick work surface.
Outback Steakhouse Bread Ingredients:
This outback restaurant bread recipe calls for simple ingredients. You can find blackstrap molasses at Walmart or a health store.
- Activated yeast is simply dissolving the yeast in warm water with a bit of sugar to ensure it’s active before using it in bread.
- Sweeteners- honey and molasses make this brown bread sweet, and molasses helps with a deeper brown color, too.
- Flour- I use part bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat flour (hard red wheat berries, ground).
- Egg- enriches and binds the bread dough to make fluffy and tender bread.
- Cocoa powder primarily adds color and flavor. Natural cocoa powder is more acidic, so you may need to adjust the sweeteners.
- Salt adds flavor. I use Redmond Real Salt.
- Cornmeal is used for dredging the bottoms so they don’t stick to the pans when baking.
Substitutes and Variations:
- Molasses- black strap molasses works best for this recipe because it is a sweet bread. If you are using a light or regular molasses, decrease the brown sugar by half and add 1 tbsp less of honey.
- Cocoa powder—Dutch-process cocoa powder or Hershey's special dark cocoa powder will make a darker loaf. Regular baking cocoa powder is just as good one-to-one.
- Whole Grains: Adding oats or seeds makes it wholesome. To add oats, spray the tops with water before rising and sprinkle oats on top. Seeds, like sunflower seeds, flax, or sesame seeds, can be added when kneading the dough.
- Flour- you can substitute bread flour with all-purpose flour without an issue.
How to Make Outback Bread:
To make the Outback Steakhouse Bread, you’ll need to knead the dough well. I like to use my Kitchen Aid mixer, but you can also use a bread machine or knead it by hand.
- Activate the yeast: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the warm water, sugar, and dry active yeast. Let it sit for 3 minutes to proof and get foamy. When it’s frothy, you know it’s active.
- Whisk in the honey, brown sugar, egg, and molasses.
- Add the dry ingredients (2 cups whole wheat flour, bread flour, cocoa powder, and salt). Using a hook attachment, knead the dough at a low-medium speed for 10 minutes.
- After the dough has been kneaded, transfer it to a non-stick silicone pastry mat. Divide the dough into two equal parts and evenly cut each half into six equal pieces to make 12 pieces in total.
- Slightly flatten each piece and roll up, pinching the seams together. Roll the bottoms in cornmeal and place onto a lightly greased pan (sprayed with avocado oil). Let rise for 1 hour.
- Bake in a preheated 380°F oven for 18-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely (otherwise the bottoms will get soggy).
Can I Make This Recipe Into Loaves?
Readers have mentioned that they made bread loaves out of this recipe. This recipe can make two loaves. To do that, line two 8×4 loaf pans with parchment paper. After kneading, transfer the dough to a silicone pastry mat and divide it into two equal pieces. Then, roll up each piece jelly-roll style and place it into the loaf pans to rise until doubled. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350°F.
Storing:
Outback brown bread is sweet and just as delicious out of the freezer. I’d leave enough rolls you’d think you’d eat in the day of making and freeze the rest for later, even if it’s the next day to eat them. Freezing bread at the peak of freshness ensures the bread tastes fresh after freezing.
To Freeze, cool the bread completely on a cooling rack. Transfer the bread rolls to a gallon-sized freezer bag (six in a bag) and freeze for up to three months. Thaw a few hours before using. To make them hot and crisp, place them in a 350°F oven for 10-12 minutes to revive the texture and add a bit of a crisp crust.
What To Serve with Molasses Outback Bread
My husband said this bread would be so good with tea. Smear some salted butter on it, and you have a sweet and salty snack! Seriously, this bread is absolutely delicious with just butter.
- Serve this copycat Outback bread with grilled meats or steak. Grilled chicken kabobs are a favorite.
- Alice Springs chicken is another favorite Outback Steakhouse dish.
- Serve with your favorite soup, like White Chicken Chili or Split Pea Soup.
- Toast it, smear it with butter, and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar for breakfast.
- Baked beans and hearty stew go very well with molasses bread.
Helpful Outback Bread Tips:
- You do not need to bulk rise the dough before shaping. This recipe is so easy and takes less than 2 hours from start to finish.
- The two tablespoons of yeast make this a quick and easy bread recipe that rises fast.
- Make this recipe into two bread loaves if you don’t want to make a dozen bread rolls.
- The bread is sweet, with honey, brown sugar, and molasses added. Therefore, it complements bitter cocoa powder and blackstrap molasses. If using sweetened cocoa powder or sweeter molasses, then decrease the sweeteners in the recipe.
- Make sure your water is warm and around 100-110°F to activate the yeast quickly. If the water is too hot, it can kill the yeast.
- Rise the dough in a warm place, like on top of the oven or stove, so that it doubles in size quickly. Don’t turn on the oven or make the environment too hot; you don’t want to cook the dough.
Q&A
What is the Brown Bread at Outback Like?
You might be wondering what is Outback bread and what does it taste like? Outback brown bread is a sweet bread made with bitter blackstrap molasses and unsweetened cocoa powder. The sweet and bitter combination makes it incredibly delicious.
Is Outback Bread Pumpernickel?
No, the rye or pumpernickel taste comes from caraway seeds. You can grind that up or add them whole to whole wheat bread for a rye flavor. However, this Steakhouse bread does not contain rye or that pumpernickel taste.
How Can I Make Outback Black Bread?
To make Outback bread richer and darker, use a Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Plain unsweetened cocoa powder will still make a deep brown bread, just not black.
Have you made this Outback Steakhouse Bread? I’d love to hear your feedback, tips, or experience. Comment below to share everything about it!
Copycat Outback Bread Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer (with a hook attachment)
- 1 Bench scraper
- 1 Wire Whisk
- 1 silicone pastry mat (handy for a non-stick surface)
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 100-110°F)
- 2 Tbsp dry active yeast
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 egg
- 2 cups wheat flour (292 grams)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp cornmeal for dredging
Instructions
How to make Outback Steakhouse Bread:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir the yeast and 1 Tbsp of sugar in warm water. Let it sit for 3 minutes to activate the yeast. When it's frothy, you know it's active.- Whisk in the honey, brown sugar, egg, and molasses.
- Add the dry ingredients (2 cups whole wheat flour, bread flour, cocoa powder, and salt) and knead for 10 minutes on low to medium speed.
- After the dough has been kneaded, transfer it to a non-stick silicone pastry mat. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into two equal parts and evenly cut each half into six equal pieces, for a total of 12 pieces.
- Slightly flatten each dough piece and roll up, pinching the seams together. Roll into a 6-7" long bread roll.
- Roll the bottoms in cornmeal and place them on a lightly greased pan (sprayed with avocado oil). Let them rise for 1 hour.
- Bake in a preheated 380°F oven for 18-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely (otherwise the bottoms will get soggy).
Notes
- For the whole wheat flour, I milled 292 grams of hard red wheat berries to make 2 cups of whole wheat flour.
- If using sweetened cocoa powder or other molasses other than blackstrap molasses, then decrease the sweeteners in the recipe. This bread is sweet and complements the bitterness from unsweetened cocoa and molasses.
- This bread rises quickly with two tablespoons of dry active yeast.
- Cornmeal can be omitted if using parchment paper. It helps the rolls not stick to the pans and adds extra texture to the crust.
- If you want to add oats to the tops, spray the tops of the dough with water right after shaping and sprinkle with rolled oats.
- This bread freezes well. Freeze as soon as they cool to preserve the freshness of the bread. Its best frozen up to 3 months.
Nutrition per serving
