Want To Bake But Dont Have Yeast? Make These Yeast Substitutes At Home

It seems like everybody has taken to baking these days. With almost everything shut during lockdown in the wake of Coronavirus scare, we had started missing our favourite desserts and cakes. Some of us started baking when we could no longer hold our cravings, and some of us considered it an opportunity to learn or improve our baking skills, with a lot of time in hand. To avoid going out to the grocery stores, some people are also making their own bread at home. There’s nothing like warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven loaf of bread that you can make in various flavours in your kitchen. While all the ingredients for baking are usually present in our kitchen, yeast is something we don’t normally buy and stock. But, stepping out to get yeast kills the whole purpose of quarantine.

Yeast is what makes our breads rise and turn fluffy. Instead, you can take out other common foods out of your kitchen cabinet that can do the work just fine. If you are not too pedantic about your baking process, you can bake without yeast with these effective alternatives.

(Also Read: Cooking Tips: Make Eggless Doughnuts Without Oven)

Yeast Substitutes You Can Use For Baking

Baking Powder

You must have seen baking powder present in all cake recipes with no mention of yeast. This is the ingredient that makes the cake rise. Baking powder is derived from baking soda mixed with an acidic compound. The resultant powder will squirt a similar carbon dioxide reaction that yeast does while baking.

Baking Soda + Lemon Mix

If you are out of baking powder as well, you can still make it work by making it at home. Baking soda is a leavening agent like yeast. Combining it with an acidic food can give you yeast-like powder, and it’s pretty easy to make too. To yield 2 teaspoons of baking/yeast powder, mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice together.

Baking Soda + Vinegar + Milk

If for some reason, adding lemon juice to your bread doesn’t appeal to you, you can replace lemon juice with vinegar and milk, or buttermilk (if you have it). If the recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of yeast powder, mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with half teaspoon of vinegar and half teaspoon of milk/buttermilk.

(Also Read: How To Make Naan Without Yeast At Home)

You don’t have to wait for the dough to puff up before baking when using these substitutes. But, remember to put it in the oven as soon as you add all the ingredients to the dough. Your bread may not rise as tall it does with yeast, but it will still manage to attain a nice airy texture.