Oatmeal Quick Bread filled with chocolate chips takes less than an hour to whip up. You don’t need a mixer or yeast for this easy and delicious sweet bread.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Quick Bread
I like to serve this Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Quick Bread for breakfast with Ham & Potato Breakfast Casserole or Bird’s Nest Breakfast Cups but then I end up eating it all day because it’s really good.
Both of my girls love it, which is good because they won’t eat oatmeal otherwise, so I feel good about getting *some* into them.
Given the current shortage on yeast (have you been able to find any?), I’ve been making a lot of quick breads.
Helpful Tools
- Mixing Bowls – My favorite mixing bowls with the grippy bottom.
- Wooden Spoons – I’ve had these for years.
- Loaf Pan – 9×5 loaf pans are cheap but TJ Maxx/HomeGoods often has really pretty ones.
Ingredients you’ll need
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
Jump- Flour – I’ve only tested this bread with all-purpose white flour.
- Oats – You can use either old fashioned or quick oats. I use old fashioned.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar.
- Brown Sugar – I use light brown sugar, dark will work as well.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda – Both for rise, in place of yeast.
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Chocolate Chips – Mini chocolate chips work well to distribute through the bread. If you’re not into chocolate chips, you can skip them or include a dried fruit.
- Egg
- Butter – Melted and cooled.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use regular milk or use my buttermilk hack below.
How to make Oatmeal Quick Bread
This section shows you how to make this recipe, with process photos showing the steps to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
Jump- STEP ONE: To a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients – flour, oats, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder & soda, cinnamon, salt, and chocolate chips. Whisk together.
- STEP TWO: To a small mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients – buttermilk, egg, and melted butter.
- STEP THREE: Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir together until everything is just incorporated. It will be slightly lumpy.
- STEP FOUR: Pour the batter into a greased 9×5 loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
What is a quick bread?
A quick bread is a bread that uses baking powder and/or soda as leavening agents in place of yeast.
Some other examples are Cinnamon Quick Bread, Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bread, and Chocolate Marble Zucchini Bread.
They don’t have to be sweet. Beer Bread is a savory quick bread.
What if I don’t have buttermilk?
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use regular milk in this recipe. Or, you can “make” some with this buttermilk substitute.
Add one tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup, and add enough milk until it measures 1 cup. Stir, and let sit for five minutes before using.
- You can use quick oats or old fashioned oats in this recipe. I usually opt for old fashioned.
- Melt and cool your butter before you whisk it together with the egg so you don’t end up scrambling your egg.
- Don’t use a mixer for this recipe – a wooden spoon or spatula is all you need, which will prevent over-mixing.
- If you don’t like chocolate chips, you can skip them altogether or substitute raisins or dried fruit.
Need more oatmeal recipes? Try these:
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cups
- The BEST Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Oatmeal Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Quick Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ⅔ cup old fashioned oats quick oats can also be used
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips
- 1 large egg
- 3 Tablespoons butter melted & cooled
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips.1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour, ⅔ cup old fashioned oats, ⅓ cup granulated white sugar, ⅓ cup light brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup chocolate chips
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter.1 large egg, 3 Tablespoons butter, 1 cup buttermilk
- Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, just until fully incorporated. The batter will be lumpy.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool on a rack before slicing to serve.
Notes
- Either quick oats or old fashioned oats work—old fashioned gives more texture.
- Melt butter and let it cool before mixing with the egg to avoid cooking the egg.
- No mixer needed—use a wooden spoon or spatula to avoid overmixing.
- Skip chocolate chips if preferred, or swap in raisins or dried fruit.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @melissa_pplates so I can see!Did You Make This?
If you made this recipe, I’d love to know how it went in the comments section below.
You can also tag me on Instagram – @melissa_ppplates or share a pic in the Persnickety Plates Community Facebook group. I love seeing what you’ve tried!
Originally published February 22, 2013
I have been using this recipe for about a year. I use it almost weekly and I’ve never used chocolate chips. I use whatever fruit and nuts I have around from raisins and pumpkin seeds to chopped apples and walnuts. If using dried fruit, I soak them in hot water first and drain before adding. They have a great texture. This is a no fail recipe. I always just do 1 tbs vinegar and top up to 1 cup milk as a sub for buttermilk.
I’m so glad you like it, thanks for letting me know!
Totally agree. My husband loves this and I make it often! Now I’m going to try the dried fruit idea, too!
Absolutely fantastic. Easy to make and cooked beautiful.
Thanks, Ryan!
I just made a double batch and added raisins & chopped walnuts. Baked for 45 minutes in metal loaf pans and it turned out delicious. I will share the extra loaf with a family member. I can’t wait to have it for my breakfasts. Thank you for sharing such a delicious and easy recipe.
I’m sure your family will be happy! Thank you for reporting back 🙂
Quick, easy and and tastes good.
I used brown rice flour. Turned my rice milk with vinegar into buttermilk. (Lots of hints in article helped me feel confident with substitutions)
I’m glad you liked it, Sharon! Thanks for reporting back that rice flour & rice milk worked!
Best way to store this bread?
Covered at room temp for about 4-5 days. Or you could wrap it tightly and freeze it. 🙂
Bread is good & moist, and also good for you, a nice change from my go-to banana and pumpkin breads. However, the thought of adding chocolate chips was not for me, so I substituted a generous amount of dried cranberries. Delicious!
Dried cranberries sounds like a great idea! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
This was absolutely delicious! So buttery (I couldn’t believe there were only 3 tablespoons of butter) and using old-fashioned oats is a must; the texture is perfect.
Only change I made, and it wasn’t because I wanted to but because I had to, was to use 2/3 cups mini chocolate chips instead of 1/3 cup regular chocolate chips. I didn’t realize the bag I had in my pantry was minis; otherwise I’d have made it as written. But I did like all of those tiny pockets of chocolate!
I’m so glad you liked it, thanks, Colleen!
I added dried blueberries instead of the chocolate chips and made muffins with batter. Really tender and tasty!!!
Yum, great idea!
Excellent! Great texture, very delicious! I’m making my second one in a week tomorrow. I did substitute cinnamon chips for the chocolate chips, very good!
Thank you, Teri!
VERY GOOD. Thank you! I added tons of walnuts, shredded coconut, ground flax & chia seed. Because my eggs were small, I added another, stirred and had to add more buttermilk. When it cooked spread cream cheese in it. Got rave reviews. I’m going to make this as a dessert & add a plop of whipped cream.
VERY GOOD. Thank you! I added tons of walnuts, shredded coconut, ground flax & chia seed. Because my eggs were small, I added another, stirred and had to add more buttermilk. When it cooked spread cream cheese in it. Got rave reviews. I’m going to make this as a dessert & add a plop of whipped cream.
Sounds like great additions! Thank you for reporting back 🙂