If you say brown bread, many people will know exactly what you mean. And no, it’s not just wheat bread! Brown bread is popular at some restaurants like Cheesecake Factory and Outback steak house. Sometimes it’s called chocolate bread, because depending on the recipe it will have cocoa powder in it to help achieve that dark brown color.
Originally, I assumed it was some kind of wheat, pumpernickel or rye bread. I was surprised to learn it was none of the above though. While brown bread often has molasses, honey, and cocoa in it, it’s not actually a sweet like dessert. It definitely has hints of sweetness but the cocoa is unsweetened so it’s mostly for color.
This recipe DOES have whole wheat flour in it, so it could be considered a wheat adjacent bread, but I personally don’t think it really tastes too much like traditional wheat bread. This isn’t supposed to be a copycat recipe and taste identical to cheesecake factory, I honestly haven’t eaten there in a long time so I’m not sure how close it is. But it’s supposed to be just a good brown bread rolls recipe.
The cinnamon butter to go with the bread is not a must, but it also is kind of a must. Honestly, I’d put it on almost any bread. I have put it on my Soft Milk Bread Buns many times and that is also a heavenly combo.
Baking Tips
Because this brown bread is enriched, it will take slightly longer to rise. Mine took almost 3 hours, however my kitchen was a little chilly the days I tested this. Be patient and leave yourself at least two hours rather than the typical 60-90 minutes when you plan to bake this for the first proofing window. Because the bread is already a dark color it can be hard to tell if the bread is done. Tapping on the bread, it should sound hollow and a thermometer should give an internal read temperature of at least 180F.
The egg wash and oat topping are completely optional. You can use milk or water to brush before adding the oats, but they will not stick to this very well.
Brown Bread Rolls Key Ingredients
- Cocoa powder – Use what you have, but I recommend Dutch process. Natural cocoa will have a slightly lighter color and black cocoa will give you a more blackish hue rather than the dark brown.
- Molasses – There are several types of molasses, and I used the most readily available type, light molasses like this – Grandma’s Molasses. It’s a little bit sweet and despite being called light, is a dark color. This is what most grocery stores carry. You can use darker varieties, however they tend to be less sweet and some can be a little bitter.
- Bread flour – The rolls are made from a mix of bread flour and whole wheat flour. I used King Arthur for both of mine.
Ingredients
- 280 g Bread flour 2⅓ cup
- 180 g Whole wheat flour 1½ cup
- 7 g Instant yeast 2¼ tsp
- 6 g Sea salt 1 tsp
- 42 g Molasses 2 tbsp
- 42 g Honey 2 tbsp
- 10 g Dutch process cocoa 2 tbsp
- 25 g Dark brown sugar 2 tbsp
- 255 g Warm water 1 cup + 1 tbsp, ~100°F
- 28 g Unsalted butter 2 tbsp, room temperature
- 1 large Egg beaten
- Rolled oats for topping
Cinnamon Butter
- 56 g Salted butter ¼ cup, room temperature
- 15 g Powdered sugar 2 tbsp
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tbsp Brown sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached, add bread flour, whole wheat flour, instant yeast, salt, molasses, honey, cocoa powder, brown sugar and water. Mix on low until a rough dough comes together.
- Add in your 28g/2 tbsp of butter in two chunks and mix until completely worked into the dough. Continue to let the dough knead until smooth and elastic.
- Remove your dough from the bowl, shape into a ball and lightly grease the inside of your bowl with cooking spray.
- Replace the dough into the greased bowl and cover. Place into a warm spot until dough has nearly doubled in size (2-3 hours).
- Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment.
- When dough is ready, punch down the dough and move to your work space.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.
- I chose to shape these into more of a rectangular shape than traditional round rolls but you can shape however you want. Take each portion of dough and flatten down. Fold in the sides like a letter, then fold the opposite ends in together and pinch to seal. Roll the seam side down and cupping your hand over the dough roll back and forth to create a sort of cylinder shape. Use your fingers to push the short ends in slightly to create a more flat end, creating a rectangle. Place in your lined pan and repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Cover your pan and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes in a warm area.
- While your dough is proofing, preheat your oven to 350°F
- When dough is ready, brush the tops with beaten egg and sprinkle rolled oats over the tops.
- Place in the oven on the center rack and bake for about 25 minutes. Bread will be difficult to tell browning level but if tapped they should sound hollow, and an internal thermometer should read at least 180°F.
- Remove from oven, and remove from pan onto a wire cooling rack immediately. Let bread cool for 20-30 minutes before serving/enjoying. Store in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days. Enjoy!
- Optional – In a small bowl, add your softened butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon and brown sugar and mix until cohesive and smooth. Serve with rolls.
