You Knead These Great Recipes For Bread Making Without Yeast Or Bread Flour

Lockdown has clearly turned us all into bakers - as the basic ingredients needed for baking seem to be in high demand.

Supermarkets have seen empty shelves where the flour and yeast products once were - so, to do our bit - we've put together some great recipes for you to make bread without these ingredients. Whether you're baking bread to teach the kids about home cooking or just because you can't find any bread in the supermarkets - you're bound to enjoy making these flour-free and/or yeast-free loaves of bread.

Making your own bread ensures that you know exactly goes into the food that you and your family are eating daily - which many parents will love the idea of. So read on to find a number of homemade bread recipes - including soda bread, bread without yeast, a quick bread recipe and a YouTube tutorial!

To start with - we have this easy soda bread recipe that doesn't need any yeast or bread flour. With no kneading or waiting to rise, you can enjoy warm fresh soda bread in well under an hour! This is a great last-minute recipe without all the preparation that other breads require.

Ingredients:

250g plain wholemeal flour

250g plain white flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

420ml buttermilk

some extra flour for dusting
 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

Add the buttermilk and mix until a sticky dough forms.

Flour a work surface lightly and tip the dough onto it.

Roll and fold the dough gently a couple of times to bring the mixture together. Do not knead.

Shape the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball gently with your hand. Score the dough with a deep cross dividing it into quarters. Dust the bread with flour.

Place onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 30 minutes at 200C/400F/Gas 6. The loaf should be golden brown.

Leave to cool on a wire rack for a while - and then enjoy the warm bread on the day of baking.
 

If you prefer to watch a video as you go, try this YouTube video by Big Family Homestead, who illustrate how to use 4 simple ingredients to create this no-yeast bread. The host notes that this is not an Irish soda bread, as it uses baking powder, instead of baking soda, but it will still make delicious bread.

Flatbreads come in all different forms depending on where you are in the world. They could be Mexican tortillas, Indian chapatis or Moroccan flatbreads served with falafels. They can be cooked and spiced to taste - for whatever food you are cooking - from accompaniments for stews, to filled wraps, to crisp breads to serve with dips. These also don't include yeast or bread flour.

Ingredients:

200g plain or wholemeal flour

¼ teaspoon salt

100ml warm water

2 tablespoon oil (olive, sunflower or vegetable), plus extra for cooking
 

Method:

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and pour in the water bit by bit.

Mix the water and flour mixture together. Kids can get involved by mixing using one finger so that they don’t get a whole hand covered in dough.

Add the oil and knead the dough – aiming for a soft dough. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour or if it is too dry, add a splash of water.

Knead the dough for 5 minutes on a clean surface.

Divide the dough into 4-6 balls.

On a clean surface, roll each ball of dough one at a time using a rolling pin. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect circles!

You can cook the breads immediately or leave the dough to stand for about 30 minutes. This could be a good time to make your accompaniment - e.g. a filling.

Heat a large frying pan. Take a sheet of kitchen paper and rub a little oil onto the surface of the pan. Cook each flatbread for about 2 minutes on each side – it should puff up a little. Cook until the flatbread has turned lighter in colour and has a few spots of brown - like a pancake. Keep the cooked flatbreads warm by wrapping them in foil or a clean tea towel until the others are cooked.

If you want to make crispy flatbreads - rub them with a little olive oil, chop into strips or triangles with scissors and then fry them for 5–10 minutes, or until crisp.

These simple naan breads are quick and easy to make and require no self-raising flour or yeast. Season however you'd like - with garlic, desiccated coconut or fresh coriander.

Ingredients:

250g plain flour

2 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

120ml milk

2 tablespoon of oil, plus extra for greasing
 

Method:

Sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl. In another bowl, mix the oil and milk.

Make a 'well' in the centre of the dry mixture and pour the liquid mixture into it. Slowly mix together the dough by working from the centre and incorporating the flour from the edges of the 'well', to make a smooth, soft dough. Knead well for 8–10 minutes, adding some plain flour if the dough is too sticky.

Place the dough into an oiled up bowl, cover it with a damp tea-towel and leave for 10–15 minutes in a warm place. Form the dough into five balls.

Preheat the grill to medium.

Roll the dough balls out quite thinly, ideally in a traditional and authentic teardrop shape (this is just for aesthetic purposes). Sprinkle over your topping and press the topping into the dough's surface. Place the naans onto the hot baking sheet and grill until lightly browned. Brush with butter and serve hot.

This beer bread recipe only requires a few basic staple ingredients and it doesn’t use yeast. Although it isn't strictly a yeast-free bread as of course there is yeast in beer. It isn't the chewy bread you’d expect from traditional homemade bread, instead, it’s moist and a little crumbly. Much like sourdough, it has a slightly bitter aftertaste - because of the beer!

Ingredients:

3 cups pastry flour (substitute all-purpose flour if pastry flour is not available)

4 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1 & 1/2 cups from a can of beer 
 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190C or 375F. Then, line a suitable loaf pan with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the melted butter and beer and stir gently to combine. A few lumps of butter will remain -that's okay!

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the top of the loaf comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Let the bread cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool fully on a wire rack. Store tightly, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to one month.
 

Finally, we thought we'd end with this useful tip from the BBC on how to make your own self-raising flour - since the lack of flour has proven to be a hot-topic during lockdown. So, if you have plain flour but no self-raising flour and you need it for another recipe - you can make it yourself. Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to every 150g plain flour, then sift it through to ensure the baking powder is evenly distributed and store in an air-tight container until you need to use it.

Hungry for more? Why not try these egg-free recipes, or these easy recipes for mini bakers.