Yep, you CAN make an amazing bread without yeast that’s just like proper bread! 5 common ingredients: flour, baking powder, oil, milk and sugar. It’s a no yeast bread based on Damper, a traditional Australian bread historically made by swagmen and drovers over campfire – except we’re using an oven!
Use for sandwiches, toast, grilled cheese, French Toast – anything you normally make with sandwich bread.
Bread without yeast
This no yeast bread is inspired by the Australian Damper, a traditional bushman’s bread made with flour and water that was cooked over campfires.
Except I’ve brought it into the 21st century to make the crumb fluffier, more tender and tastier, and made it look like sandwich bread rather than a freeform loaf. (Oh, and we cook this in an oven instead of over fire!)
This is THE emergency bread that you make when you don’t have yeast, or you don’t have time to make yeast bread. It has a proper crumb like real bread, rather than being crumbly like muffins which many no-yeast breads are. It’s mixed in a bowl with a wooden spoon – no kneading, no rising. You’ll have this in the oven in mere minutes!
Is it as good as a yeast bread? Yeast gives bread a chew and stretch in a way that bread made without yeast will never have. But this is as darn close as you will get to a yeast bread recipe without using yeast. And it’s off the charts delicious for something that takes 3 minutes to get into the oven!!
What goes into sandwich bread without yeast
Bread lovers might recognise this as a simpler version of Irish Soda Bread. It’s easier because the dough is just mixed up in a bowl (ie no kneading at all) and it doesn’t require buttermilk or baking soda which aren’t pantry staples for everyone.
Here’s all you need to make bread without yeast (let’s pretend I didn’t forget to put the milk in the photo!!!):
Flour – plain/all purpose flour, or switch up to half with wholemeal/wholewheat. Can use self raising in place of flour and baking powder;
Baking powder – this is what gives this bread rise. Skip if using self raising flour, or substitute with baking soda;
Milk – any type, dairy or non dairy, fresh or powder (reconstituted), full or no fat. Can be substituted with water plus 1 tbsp oil or butter;
Oil – Just 1/4 cup gives this bread some much needed moisture. Without it, it’s very dry. Any neutral flavoured oil is fine – canola, vegetable, peanut, grapeseed, rapeseed, sun flower, even a light olive oil;
Sugar – just 1 tablespoon makes quite a difference here to bring out flavour; and
Salt – for seasoning,
No egg. That’s the secret to the real bread-like crumb!
The flour and baking powder in this recipe can be substituted with self raising flour.
How to make bread without yeast
This is just like making your favourite Chocolate Chip Muffins! Mix the dry ingredients, then add the oil and milk. Mix, pour, bake!
Why use a loaf pan? Because the mixture is a very thick batter rather than a kneadable dough (like Friday’s pizza dough or focaccia). So you can’t freeform it like Irish Soda Bread. If you don’t have a loaf pan, make it in a muffin tin – well greased, 20 minutes at 180°C/350°F.
It takes 50 minutes in the oven, so I like to do half the time uncovered to get a lovely golden brown crust, then I cover it the rest of the time (otherwise the crust gets a bit thick and dark).
LOOK at that crust!↓↓↓ It’s tempting to just lift the whole thing off and run away with it! (Swipe the butter while you’re at it)
TIP: Let it cool completely before slicing, otherwise it will be susceptible to crumbling on the edges. On Day 2, it slices 100% perfectly!
Slice it up like normal bread then use it for anything and everything you ordinarily use sandwich bread for. A simple ham sandwich. Or an epic Pastrami or Reuben sandwich. Grilled cheese – or cheesy GARLIC bread. Toast it and slather with jam, Vegemite, peanut butter or whatever you heart desires.
Dunk into soups and stews. You can even make French Toast or Bread and Butter pudding!
Storage
As with all homemade breads, this no yeast bread is at its best on the day it’s made. But even the day after, it’s still very, very good thanks to the touch of oil which keeps the crumb moist. Then on Day 3, a light toasting is all that’s needed to resurrect it.
It also freezes 100% perfectly – which is what I’ve done with the 8+ loaves I’ve made in the past few weeks, trying to nail the recipe. I’m going to be eating this for weeks and weeks – no complaints here!! ~ Nagi x
Watch How To Make It
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Sandwich Bread WITHOUT Yeast! (Dead easy)
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour , plain/all purpose (Note 1)
- 8 tsp baking powder (Note 2)
- 3 tsp white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cooking / kosher salt (REDUCE to 1 tsp if using table salt, Note 3)
- 2 1/4 cups milk , warmed (any – Note 4)
- 1/4 cup oil , any plain (vegetable, canola, sunflower, rapeseed, grapeseed, light olive oil)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
- Grease a 22 x 13 cm / 9 x 5" loaf pan, then line with parchment/baking paper with overhang (to lift out).
- Mix dry: Place flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl, mix to combine.
- Add wet: Make a well in the centre, pour in oil and milk. Mix until flour is fully incorporated – batter will be thick but stirrable.
- Fill pan: Scrape into loaf pan, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl clean and smooth the surface.
- Bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with foil.
- Return to oven. Turn oven DOWN to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan), bake 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then use excess paper to lift out and transfer to cooling rack.
- Cool completely before slicing – 45 minutes+. It IS more delicate than yeast breads (can't change science!) but slices far better than the usual "cake like" no yeast breads. Slices perfectly on Day 2 and beyond.
- Use for sandwiches, toast, grilled cheese, french toast, bread and butter pudding – anything you use "real" sandwich bread for!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Video Bomber. I cut him from the video edits 😂
This recipe was a big nope for me.. I followed all instructions aside from using non-dairy oat milk. My loaf looked burnt after the first 30 minutes when it was time to cover and put back in the oven. End result was a giant biscuit, very dry, dense, and crumbly. Impossible to slice. I threw it away after having a couple pieces with some honey. :-/
Looks like a great recipe. I didn’t see salt in the recipe ingredient list. My question is this, do we add salt or will the baking powder make it salty enough? Amateur cook here, thanks for your patience!
Thanks, Nagi!
I just found out I have an intolerance to yeast and never have done well with Wheat. Im going to try it both ways. wheat flour and gluten-free flour. Ill let you know how it works.
Leneta
This is the Queen of non-yeast breads! Sooo easy and delicious. The crust is very tender, though, I did cut it the first time the same day, so will wait till the 2nd day next time – the crust may be stronger.
Great bread! I used King Arthur gluten free bread flour and it turned out beautifully. I’m going to use honey instead of sugar next time.
Loved this bread! Went to bake bread tonight, only to find my yeast was dead. I searched for a yeastless recipe, and yours fit the bill perfectly! Easy, delicious, and sooooo moreish 😋. Thank you 🙏🏽
Love it! Made it twice, once with half white flour/half whole wheat pastry flour and once with half spelt flour/half whole wheat pastry flour. Being vegan, I used soy milk which also boosted nutrient content of bread. Used 4 tsps baking powder, then subbed 1 tsp baking soda/1/2 tsp vinegar the rest of the baking powder. Loaf slices better if wrapped and refrigerated after initial cooling on rack. Never had success with yeast breads so I plan to make this bread on a regular basis!
I was very skeptical about this recipe as I’ve tried similar recipes like this so I was bracing for a wreck.
HOWEVER–this turned out GREAT. I’m completely shocked. Even more so that it TASTED fantastic! It’s dense but not as dense as I as I was thinking it’d be. It’s actually got some airiness to it too. It has a lovely crust and a bit crumbly as well. I didn’t wait the thirty minutes to cool LOL, I cut a piece (and it cut easily through!) and added some butter and YUMMY.
I used Oatmilk and two smaller, metal bread pans so I have one to freeze! It was so freaking easy, that’s also a huge plus. Literally mixed the dry then added the liquid (did not do exact perfect levels either) and mixed until all the dry ingredients were mixed in and then plopped them into the pan. It’s brainless–it’s for people who literally can’t bake to save their lives (like me!). I feel like a baker now hahahah.
This is an excellent base recipe with loads of potential for variations. I will be making this again for sure!
I tried it and it ended up real dense. Idk what I did wrong. The middle isn’t like bread but like a solid consistency, if that makes sense. I used self rising flour.
Made this tonight on a whim. Wow, easy, tastes better than some store bought breads. I think i will have a slice or two with breakfastin the morning…..
Can I use whole wheat flour or does an adjustment to amount of flour need to be made
I used 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour which is lighter in flavor and texture than plain whole wheat flour. Worked great. The other 2 cups were regular white flour.
This is the best recipe yet without yeast. Tried so many before without success
It’s good! Kind of tastes like a biscuit like – is this normal or did I do something wrong?
Amazing! Could not believe how good the taste and texture is. Definitely saving this recipe to make again.
I want to try this bread! I’m so excited to have a bread with no eggs and no yeast as I’m vegan and will use walnut milk. But does anyone know if it is shelf stable or how long it would last on the shelf? How do you store other than freezer or is freezer best?
Addendum: I freeze the slices on a flat surface then box or bag them together after frozen, as I am not sure if they would stick together otherwise. P.S. I’m vegan, too, but if the recipe called for eggs I would have tried ground flaxseed. Usually works for me in baked goods.
I’m confused by the measurements. 600g does not equal 4 cups. Which do I use? 600g is closer to 5 cups.
I’ve made this twice now. SO easy and good enough to serve to company. Thank you!
I used whole wheat flour. It split really wide on one side so it was aesthetically perfect but it tastes really good. It is also crusty when slicing.
I love this recipe!!! Easy to make and loved every bite of it! And I am excited to have more of this. Is there anyway that this recipe can be emailed to me to save for family dinners and other occasions? I would love to save this!
I made a big ass biscuit…this ain’t no sandwich bread.