Bread Recipe - Without Yeast (2024)

There are all sorts of creative ways to make bread without yeast. You might ask, “Why would I want to know how to make bread without yeast?” Maybe for the sake of preparedness – simply knowing how to make due without yeast…

This is very basic ‘bread’, but it works, and it’s edible.

Here’s how to make it:


The final product is pictured above. I have previously posted the recipe in an article titled, “How To Make Basic Bread From Dough Without Yeast”, however I thought I would add more pictures in this post, along with more details, as well as a request for you to share your own creations and recipes for bread (with no yeast).

This is an edible bread from basic ingredients that have a good shelf life without the requirement for refrigeration or without yeast. The results are not going to be the traditional fluffy bread you’re used to, but it’s not too bad… Surprisingly (given the ingredients) the bread has a consistency crossing between actual traditional bread and a biscuit. Certainly not a light and fluffy bread, but it’s not a brick either.

Bread Ingredients & Shelf Life

Flour. Unopened bags of white flour will generally stay fresh up to one year. As the flour gets older it will eventually develop a bad taste, and then go rancid. For a shelf life up to ‘decades’, store ‘wheat berries’ (not having been milled yet). When it’s time to make bread, you will need to mill the wheat into flour – with a flour mill.

Baking Powder. First of all, I prefer ‘aluminum free’ baking powder for health safety (aluminum is thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s). The shelf life of unopened baking powder is generally indefinite, depending on the storage environment (which needs to be dry so moisture won’t penetrate its packaging over time). Once you open a container of baking powder its potency starts to diminish (from moisture in the air). So if you keep your ‘working’ baking powder in a sealed dry container, its effectiveness ‘should’ last for quite a long time. It’s the opening and closing and then reopening and closing that allows more and more moisture to be absorbed into the baking powder over time which eventually reduces its effectiveness. With that said, their ‘best-by’ dates are generally one year within its original hard-pressed cardboard packaging.

Oil. The recipe calls for extra-virgin olive oil. Pretty much all oils have a general shelf life of about one year – although cool and dark storage conditions will extend that. Eventually, oil will go rancid. You keep store oil in a freezer for longer shelf life.

Water. You either have it, or you don’t…

Bread Recipe (no yeast)


1. Add to a bowl 3 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

2. Begin to mix while adding 1/3 cup of oil (extra virgin olive oil).

3. Continue to mix while adding 3/4 cup of warm water. I start with a wooden spoon and finish working the dough with my hands. If necessary, continue to add more water a little at a time until the mixture holds together and will roll into a ball while barely sticky. If it becomes too soupy, just add a bit more flour. Etc..

(You can be creative and add pretty much anything to the dough for an enhanced bread – maybe some herbs, nuts, whatever floats your boat)

4. Grease an oven-proof dish (8″ x 4″ bread loaf pan, for example) and flatten the dough into the dish. Then flip the dough to get oil/grease on both sides of bread.

5. If you have foil, cover tightly (holds in the moisture). Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes. Then check it. I like to sprinkle some sea-salt on top at this point. You will likely need to continue cooking for another 10 to 20 minutes – just check for a golden top, and it should spring back when touched. I uncover the foil after 30 minutes to assist baking a golden top. Your times may vary depending on your oven and its temperature calibration.



That’s it! Simple. Next time you might add two or three tablespoons of sugar for sweetness…

Note: The bread dough appears to double in size throughout the baking process.

Note: Approximately 2,000 total calories (1,365 flour, 635 oil)


If you’re looking for Sourdough, here’s an article on that:
Sourdough Starter Recipe Without Yeast From Scratch

Classic Sourdoughs: A Home Baker’s Handbook
Bread Recipe - Without Yeast (10)

Bread Recipe - Without Yeast (2024)

FAQs

How did people make bread without yeast? ›

Sourdough makes the bread leaven without yeast, even though yeast makes the process faster and stronger. In leavening rye bread, sour root, or heavy seed, is traditionally used instead of yeast. At that time, the rise of the dough is based on fermentation.

What bread is made without the use of yeast? ›

Soda Bread

This sturdy breakfast bread comes together and relies on baking soda as a leavener. You can swap out the walnuts and dried currants with any chopped nuts, seeds and dried fruit you have in your pantry.

What happens if you don't put enough yeast in bread? ›

Just remember: the less yeast, the longer the rising time (and/or the warmer the rising temperature). Start by cutting the yeast in your recipe by 50 percent and if the results are reasonable, lower the amount even more next time.

How do you make bread rise without yeast? ›

You can substitute yeast with equal parts lemon juice and baking soda. So if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of yeast, you can use half a teaspoon of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of baking soda. Keep in mind that the bread will not need the typical proofing time and the dough will begin rising right away.

What was used in bread before yeast? ›

Prior to the introduction of these “commercial” yeasts, the primary yeast source for bakers and housewives was the yeasty foam or dreg waste collected from completed beer fermentations, and were sold directly by breweries (Frey, 1930).

What was bread like before yeast? ›

Early humans made bread by mixing crushed grains with water and spreading the mixture on stones to bake in the sun. Later, similar mixtures were baked in hot ashes. The ancient Egyptians are credited with making the first leavened bread. Perhaps a batch of dough was allowed to stand before it was baked.

Does Ezekiel bread have yeast? ›

Ezekiel bread ingredients typically include the following: organic sprouted wheat, filtered water, organic malted barley, organic sprouted rye, organic sprouted barley, organic sprouted oats, organic sprouted millet, organic sprouted corn, organic sprouted brown rice, fresh yeast, organic wheat gluten and sea salt.

What are the ingredients in Ezekiel bread? ›

Organic Sprouted Wheat, Filtered Water, Organic Sprouted Barley, Organic Sprouted Millet, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Lentils, Organic Sprouted Soybeans, Organic Sprouted Spelt, Yeast, Organic Wheat Gluten, Sea Salt.

Does sourdough bread not have yeast? ›

In a nutshell, sourdough is slow-fermented bread. It's unique because it does not require commercial yeast in order to rise. Instead, sourdough bread is made with a live fermented culture a sourdough starter, which acts as a natural leavening agent.

What do I do if I dont have enough yeast? ›

If you are lacking yeast in your pantry or dry goods storage, try combining baking soda and lemon juice. The chemical reaction between these two ingredients will help your recipe rise.

Does bread without yeast need to rest? ›

Resting the dough, even without yeast, can still be beneficial. While yeast contributes to dough rising and fermentation, resting allows the gluten to relax, making the dough easier to handle and resulting in a better texture.

What happens when you use too little yeast? ›

It will take longer to rise, but will be all the better for it, taste wise, as a result. If a recipe suggests using 25g fresh yeast, use 15g instead. You could use as little as 5g fresh yeast for a dough that uses 500g flour.

Can you knead dough without yeast? ›

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl; stir in milk and olive oil until a soft dough forms. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times. Shape dough into a ball; cover with an inverted bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

Why is my homemade bread not light and fluffy? ›

The over-kneading dough is a common bread making mistake, which makes gluten too tight for bread to rise, resulting in chewy bread instead of fluffy. Kneading correctly is most important to strengthen the gluten and give your bread a perfect texture.

Can you make your own yeast? ›

Combine flour and spring water in a medium bowl; stir well. Cover loosely with a cloth and let sit on a kitchen counter for 2 to 3 days, or until bubbly. To use and feed your starter; take out the amount needed for your recipe and then replace that amount with equal parts flour and spring water.

How did ancient people get yeast for bread? ›

Researchers speculate that a mixture of flour meal and water was left longer than usual on a warm day and the yeasts that occur in natural contaminants of the flour caused it to ferment before baking. Bread was the most important part of the ancient Egyptian diet.

How did pioneers get yeast for bread? ›

In the 19th century, bread bakers obtained their yeast from beer brewers from which they made sweet-fermented bread.

How did people in the 1800s make bread? ›

Breads, muffins, puddings and other baked goods were made in a "beehive" oven, the precursor to a modern brick oven. The oven's 3-by-5-foot interior had to be heated over a period of about four hours by a well-tended fire, which then had to be cleared out in preparation for baking.

How did they make bread in the olden days? ›

Mostly they used "Starter Dough" or "mother dough" A single batch of leavened bread that had naturally acquired the right yeast would be split. You would add flour and water to the starter dough and after it rose you would bake some and leave some for starting the next day's bread.

References

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