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Copycat Outback Bread Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Rise Time:: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 33 minutes
Servings: 12 bread rolls
Author: Alyona Demyanchuk
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.  

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
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
  • 2 cups wheat flour (292 grams)
  • 2 1/2 cups bread flour (384 grams)
  • 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp cornmeal for dredging
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

How to make Outback Steakhouse Bread:

  • activating the dry yeast for Outback 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.
  • smooth kneaded brown molasses bread like Outback's
    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. 
  • divided dough to make Outback Steakhouse bread rolls
    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.
  • Baked Outback bread at home
    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

Serving: 1bread rollCalories: 236kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 6gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.3gTrans Fat: 0.002gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 204mgPotassium: 124mgFiber: 2gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 20IUVitamin C: 0.04mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 2mg