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Sweet Brown Bread (Cheesecake Factory Copycat)

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This Sweet Brown Bread is made with whole wheat flour and lightly sweetened with honey and molasses for a delicious loaf that is perfect with pretty much any meal!

If you have ever been to the Cheesecake Factory, then you have most likely experienced the brown bread that they bring to every table with your meal. For the longest time my family assumed it was some kind of offensive whole wheat loaf that was far too healthy to be tasty. Being the mom, I took one for the team and devoured the brown bread myself.

Little did they know, the brown bread was actually a fluffy, tender, lightly sweetened delight. Being the selfish person I was, I didn’t feel compelled to share this information.

However, they figured it out eventually. And now I’m required to parcel out the precious slices- which means that no one gets enough bread to be entirely satisfied. Which leads us to where we are today. A copycat recipe of the Brown Bread from Cheesecake Factory. Now you don’t need to wait for a special occasion or share with your newly enlightened family members. You can make this in the comfort of your own kitchen!

What is the Brown Bread at Cheesecake Factory?

It’s a soft, baguette shaped loaf with a rich, slightly sweet flavor from cocoa powder and molasses. At Cheesecake Factory, the dough is shaped into smaller loaves for perfect, appetizer sized slices. We opted to make larger loves to serve with a meal or to make toast! It’s up to you. If you split the dough in half, you’ll get two larger sized loaves like we have here.

What do you eat with Brown Bread?

Everything! Soup? Yes! Jam, yes! Plain old butter? Yes, yes, yes! It’s good with everything. We love it- and I know you will too! It is only slightly sweet, so it goes great with a meal or for sandwiches too.

How do you make Brown Bread?

We used our stand mixer to mix the ingredients for this loaf- but you can do this by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer. After kneading, you let the dough rise before shaping into loaves for a second rise. We baked these loaves for about 30 minutes, but if you are making smaller loaves, you might to check them around the 20 minute mark. After the initial bake we brushed the loaves with melted butter and sprinkled with oats and baked for another 5 minutes. This is a totally optional (but delicious!) step. This is really a very simple bread!

I WOULD LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK!  If you make this Sweet Brown Bread recipe, will you leave a comment and star rating below? Your feedback is super helpful for SHK parents and other readers who are thinking about making the recipeThank you!

sweet brown bread sliced on a cutting board
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3.9 from 35 votes

Sweet Brown Bread

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Rise Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 50 minutes
Course: bread
Cuisine: American
Servings: 3 loaves

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine the water, yeast, molasses, cocoa powder, oil, honey, salt, and 2 cups of the whole wheat flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until combined. I recommend using a dough hook if you have one.
  • Add one cup of flour at a time with the mixture running until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add the whole wheat flour first, then the bread/all-purpose flour. You may not need to use all of the flour. Knead in the mixer for 5 minutes. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but not sticking to the sides of the bowl.
  • Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl, then cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel.  Let rise until doubled in size. This will take 1-2 hours depending on how warm the room is.
  • Once the dough is doubled in size, remove from the bowl and divide it into two or three evenly-sized pieces. Two pieces will make large loaves.  Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silpat mat. Shape the dough into oval shapes and place onto the baking sheet. If you are making three loaves, you will need to use two baking sheets to make sure they have space to rise without touching each other.
  • Cover the loaves with a light dish towel and let rise again until puffy and doubled in size, about an hour. Right before baking, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake the loaves for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and lightly brush with the melted butter, then sprinkle with the oats and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until browned and cooked through.  Cool before slicing.
Keyword : brown bread

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Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

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3.86 from 35 votes (35 ratings without comment)

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19 Comments

Hi! There seems to be a mix up in the ingredient list and method- it says to mix in oil but doesn’t note molasses. And there is no oil in the ingredient list. Can you clarify? I’m so excited to try it out!

In the instructions, you say to combine the oil… but in the list of ingredients, there is no oil listed. Can you clarify? Can’t wait to try!

Hi, step 1 says to add oil but there’s no oil in the ingredient list?
I’m half way through making it so I put in about a tablespoon of oil so see how it turns out.

Mmm! Hi! In the recipe says to add oil in the first step. But there it is not listed in the ingredients.. I’m confused now. Can you clarify please.

Hi! In the first step it says to add oil but it isn’t listed in the ingredients. How much oil and what kind should I add? Thanks!

I did make in my bread machine. I cut the recipe in half And I used 2 teaspoons of bread machine yeast. It turned out fabulous.

T he bread sounds yummy and I will make it today, but I am interested in the nutrition information. Is that possible?