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 😂
Love this recipe, i wanted something to test for yeast sensitivity, and replace bread: this worked quite well for both.
i was wondering: gluten development comes from the physical kneading of wet dough. obviously, if we take the time for that w the current method, we lose the activated baking soda.
but it’s separate self-contained leavener. unlike yeast bread, we can add it to begin leavening at any time?
so i hope to test a modified method, leaving the baking powder out, forming a slightly wetter dough, kneading it for gluten development – better consistency, hold, crumb? Then folding in the baking powder in the last minute/s.
the slightly wetter dough is to allow the gluten to thicken the dough while still having a thin enough end result to take the baking powder & not compress it during baking – theoretically.
w a mixer, it might be possible to knead air into the dough & assist leavening, and adjust the amount of baking powder – the rise of the current is excellent, but you notice the taste. perhaps some malt for flavour?
obviously, i now have a great deal of fun kitchen time ahead, thank you so much for that!
also, thank you for the metric conversion system on this site: converting by hand is time consuming & often flawed.
Wow Iain!! It sounds like you are a very experienced baker and I will be quite interested to hear how that all turns out. My main concern would be getting even distribution of the powdered leavener – let me know how you go!! N x
I made this yesterday evening using gluten free self raising flour. Yesterday it looked like there had been too much oil but it tasted nice still so I thought maybe if making the bread using gluten free flour it’s best to use less oil than the recipe states. This morning it looked different…not oily looking anymore and is the best tasting gluten free bread I’ve ever had. Even my brother who isn’t gluten intolerant enjoyed it this afternoon. I have smaller loaf pans so made two loaves. Without adding anything else to the recipe this bread is full of flavour as it is. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Thanks for that feedback T – it’s really helpful for readers who need g/f options! N x
I finally made this today with self rising flour, 2Tbsp of chia seeds and 1/2 tsp of rosemary. Amazing!! So glad I found this recipe. Thank you!
Thanks for that feedback D! N x
Working well,and perfect.we are thinking of adopting the recipe and feed many homes in the Northwest Province of South Africa.
I just made this bread and it smells gorgeous but the crust has split from the lower part of the bread. It looks a bit like a raised pie crust. Would you know what I did wrong I followed the recipe using SRFlour. Many thanks xxxxx
Thanks for your reply, I went ahead and used bread flour Country Grain and of course added baking powder and was amazed how good it turned out.
Thanks for a great recipe!
That’s great Vee!! I am happy it worked out! N x
My crust also splits everytime I make it.. I like the bread but wish it wouldn’t split along the top half! Any suggestions anyone?
Thank you so much for this recipe! We found out through allergy testing that my son is allergic to yeast. I’ve made this bread a few times now and he loves it!
I’m glad he’s enjoying it Kyla! N x
Hey! Was wondering how you stored yours in the freezer?
I wrap it tightly in plastic wrap then foil or put it in a close fitting airtight bag or container Nikki! N x
I am so thrilled that I came across this recipe. I am allergic to nearly everything and the recipe I was going to try called for 6 eggs! I have to use duck eggs so that would have been a very expensive loaf of bread.
I tried it with cassava flour and a smidgen of tapioca starch. Came out beautifully. Thanks so much. It’s been over five years since I had bread.
Oh that makes me so happy Rebekah, that one of my recipes could help you like that! N x
I have bread flour is it ok to use it in place of self raising/all purpose flour?
You can use bread flour in place of the plain/all purpose flour in this recipe. You can’t use it as a sub for self raising flours though! N x
I just baked this. Used water instead of milk. Came out amazing baked in round cake tin. Cut within 30 minutes, and was not crumbly.
That’s great to know Ttello! N x
Hey! Was just wondering what size loaf pan you used?
It’s in Step 2 of the recipe at the bottom of the post: Grease a 22 x 13 cm / 9 x 5″ loaf pan, then line with parchment/baking paper with overhang (to lift out). N x
Just made this with unflavored Almond milk. Super simple, let sit for 2 hours before cutting. Edges are somewhat crumbly but who cares,.it tastes delicious!
Thanks for that feedback Mae – very helpful for people who can’t have dairy milk! N x
I just made my first loaf and it turned out so good. I managed to let cool for almost two hours, just in time for afternoon tea, and it was worth the wait. I used 1 cup whole wheat, 3 cups of all purpose flour, and there was great flavour. Tender, soft bread. It was so easy. I will definitely make it again. Can’t wait for the cookbook!
This recipe is so good! It smelled so nice when I took the foil off that I had to work really hard not to eat the whole thing right then and there! Alas, my impatience forced me to slice it and eat it before it was fully cooled and it crumbled apart….. A delicious mess.
Plan to make this first thing in the morning. I was wondering, can you substitute butter for oil?
I’m considering making 2 loaves, one with oil and one with butter and seeing which turns out better.
My loaf just came out of the oven!! It looks and smell wonderful, and we can’t wait to dive into it.. I followed the recipe exactly as it was written – and it baked perfectly.
I tried leaving a picture but wasn’t able to. Anyways, thanks so much for sharing your recipe.
That’s great Marge! Well done! N x
I did follow it but I use self rising flour . in the center still very slightly dough ugh but did use Everything seasoning on top of bread while it dough it looks good and smells good but did put it back for like 10 more min for center to cook more…
Cant wait to try this. We have major flooding coming again and wont be any bread around. Thank you so much for the recipe Nagi.
Oh Susie – stay safe! I hope it’s all ok where you are! N x
Yes. The brand is Cup4Cup multipurpose Flour Gluten Free. I get it at Target but they do have it on Amazon. It measures just like regular all purpose flour
I made the sandwich bread with out yeast but I made it using cup4cup gluten flour. I followed your instructions except After taking the foil off the bread I cooked it 32 minutes instead of 20. It was delicious. Thank you!!!
That is great feedback Claire – thanks for letting me know. Is Cup4Cup the name of the brand? I always like to know which brands have been successful! N x