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.

Equipment you’ll need
- 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. I like that this one has a lid.
Ingredients you’ll need
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card.
- 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
- 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 hack.
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.

Tips & Suggestions
- 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

Originally published February 22, 2013


Delicious! Added some Raisins and used Greek yogurt instead of Buttermilk. Thinned yogurt with a little water and mixed until smooth. Batter was very thick but a bit of milk added worked just fine. My only criticism that it took me a lot longer to prepare all ingredients! Worth the time! Will make again! .
I’m glad you liked it! 🙂
i enjoyed the recipes, I use oatmeal rfecipe always.
Could you use sr flour for the oat bread
I haven’t tested but it should work, just omit the baking powder.
Found this today while looking for a quick easy recipe to make for a sick neighbor and it was amazing! Whipped up a double batch so I could have one for my family as well and it got 5 star reviews from the 4 year old to the husband!
Yay, thanks Jessica!
I love this recipe! It’s like eating a moist oatmeal muffin but sliced instead. I kept it healthy and left out the chocolate chips and added some chopped walnuts. I also used dark brown sugar to enhance the flavor of the brown sugar.
I wanted to try something different. I make Amish friendship bread all the time. This turned out wonderful. I used packets of oatmeal from a variety pack, mostly blueberries. Sprinkled a packet on the top to bake. Very good flavor, nice size loaf. Excellent quick bread recipe.
Thanks, Jane!
Nutritional info is weird 1g = 1975 kcals?
That’s the estimate for the whole loaf. As always, it’s just a rough estimate as a courtesy, you’d need to use your actual ingredients for accuracy.
We make this two-to-three times a month for breakfasts. It’s a favorite of my kids! Very simple to make.
That makes me happy, thanks for telling me!
This is one of the best quick breads I make–I’m a quick bread fanatic! I didn’t think anyone would like it, but was I ever wrong. I also add sour cream to almost all of the quick breads. I do the chocolate chips, but it is very good with a can of fruit cocktail or canned peaches (cut small). They have to be drained very well, pressing out any excess juice, or the bread will be soggy. May have to cook it a little longer under a tent.
Thanks! How much sour cream do you add?
This quick bread is AMAZINGLY good!! Made it exactly as written and it came out perfect! Thank you! Sent the recipe to my grown kids…hope they make it cause it is wonderful!
Yay, thank you!
I made this bread yesterday and it came out beautifully.
I left out the chocolate, because I didn’t have any and baked it following the recipe to the letter.
The batter was runny, but I trusted the recipe and it all came together with a lovely, healthy and tasty bread. Thank you very much for this recipe.
trying
I made a batch in mu mini loaf pan (Nordic Ware 4 loaf pan) & baked for 25 minutes. They turned our perfect! A great way to use a bunch of quick cooking oats that I bough on clearance.
I love that, thanks for letting me know!
I made this recipe exactly as stated and it turned out perfectly. My family loved it and I will definitely make it again. Moist, flavourful and easy!
Thanks, Lynn!
I left out the chocolate chips and mashed 3 very ripe bananas in that needed to be used, it was so good!
YUM!