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 😂
Sheila Foley says
Hi I made the no yeast sandwich bread and it went down a treat I was told no more bought bread keep making that bread they all loved it so thank you for helping me out
Elaine says
Love seeing Dozer. Makes me happy. Love your recipes. Easy yummy. Thanks. Take care.
Michelle says
Hi Nagi, I’d love to try this recipe but I only have half & half in the house, can I substitute that for the milk?
So looking forward to making this bread! Looks delicious!
Nagi says
Hi Michelle, yes that will be fine. Enjoy! N x
Phuong says
//Hi Nagi.
I was wondering, how long would this bread last and how can we preserve it
Thank you
By the way, I love your recipe!
Gracie says
It Tastes great and it’s not complicated at all and so quick! Thanks Nagi!
Stella says
Thank you Nagi for great recipe! Success! Stella C 👍
Yan Tan says
Nagi I made the sandwich bread today. Everything turned out beautifully but the dough rose higher on one side and it cracked horizontally. What did I do wrong?
Nagi says
Hi Yan, that could happen if your oven heats unevenly. If you find this to be a common issue, rotate the bread halfway through cooking – N x
Fiona says
Hi Nagi, I made this bread last night and tasted today- it’s really good! Could I add tomatoes or sundried tomatoes to the recipe or would I need to make further adjustments? I’m so happy I’ve come across your blog- your massamam and green curry recipes have been much loved!
Kate says
Can you use melted butter instead of the oil ?
Nagi says
Hi Kate, oil is better to use in bread – it produces a moist crumb that won’t dry out 🙂 N x
Christian Taylor says
Ok! I made it with Cassava flour to be gluten free. Absolutely amazing. You use cassava flour cup for cup like wheat flour, but you will want to add a little more liquid (I added about 1/8 – 1-4 c extra milk.
Nagi says
That’s great to know Christian, I’m sure there are plenty of readers who will find this useful!! N x
Thomas says
Hi Nagi, love all your recipes! Would you be able to add seeds into this bread (pumpkin, sunflower etc) and how much?
Nagi says
Hi Thomas, I would add up to 1/4 cup, love to know how you go! N x
Thomas says
I added in the seeds and used half wholemeal flour, but it started crumbling apart when I sliced it. Probably needed more milk added to compensate.
Carolyn says
Like your simple, easy-to-made sandwich bread recipe. Can I add mashed banana into the ingredients?
Nagi says
Hi Carolyn, I haven’t tried to be honest, would love to know if you try! N x
Carolyn says
Dear Nagi, thks your reply. Did not try. I used multi grain soy milk, brown sugar n a bit of vanilla essence for flavour. I find the bread quite dense. Otherwise it is ok cuz the whole process is so simple.
blueberreyh says
I tried this recipe but unfortunately for me the bread turns out like dense hard. 😢
Nagi says
Hi Blueberreyh, that doesn’t sound right at all! You definitely used the full 8 teaspoons of baking powder? N x
Fiona says
Hi Nagi
I’m gluten and yeast intolerant, any suggestion on how to adapt this recipee ? Can I just substitute the flour to GF flour?
Suzzane says
Hey Nagi, love your recipe! The bread smells and looks really great! It is, however, a bit too salty. I’m sure it’s an error on my side — I mixed in two portions (double all ingredients) and used Kosher salt, but I can’t pinpoint the problem. What do you think might be the problem, and is there any way to salvage it?
Nagi says
Hi Fiona, I haven’t successfully done it with GF flour sorry – it always turns out too dense. N x
Chef Christian. says
Hi. Have you tried using Cassava your? My French buddy (He knows his bread) uses only cassava in all his restaurant baking. Always turns our perfect. 100% gluten free!
I’m going to give it a spin this week using your recipes!
Laura J Payment says
I would love any recipes using cassava flour as we try to not eat grain and can’t have yeast, egg, gluten or dairy 🙁 Thanks!!!
Becky says
I recently found out I was Egg, Yeast and Dairy Sensitive. Have to cut these items out of my diet for a minimum of 3 months before I can start trying them again.
This bread was a life saver for me. I thought I would try a few adjustments – used Almond Vanilla Milk – decreased Baking Powder to 5 tsp – decreased Sugar to 2 tsp and only used 1 tsp of salt. It turned out perfectly. Now can enjoy toast and a peanut butter sandwich.
Thank You.
Robyn says
Hi Becky
Was your bread crumbly? I used almond milk too and it was good but very crumbly
Gene Cleaves says
You might be able to go gluten free if you added something like Guar Gum to replace the binding of the gluten
Nagi says
Hi Gene, I haven’t tried with this addition sorry – I’ve always found gluten free flour to be unsuccessful. N x
Debbie Scott says
Hello, I am going to try the yeast free bread it looks amazing. I was wondering the calories say 176 or 7% is the 176 calories per slice or per loaf please?
Nagi says
Hi Debbie, it’s 146 calories – Nutrition per slice, assuming 16 slices about 1.25cm / 1/2″ thick. N x
Dawn says
Pretty good.
The flavour was definitely influenced by the bicarb, but it was not unpleasant.
The result was a heavy loaf with a cake-like texture rather than a standard bread texture (so very much in line with what the article lead me to expect). It went nicely with the carrot soup and I look forward to using some later in the meatballs!
I prefer a more standard yeast bread, but this was stupidly quick and easy for when time, yeast or counter space to knead dough are not available. Also, due to an old wrist injury, kneading dough is not a task to be undertaken lightly. I think this recipe is going to be a useful back-up to keep on file. Thank you 🙂
Crystal says
My family has fallen on hard times so we don’t always have the money to buy our usual store bought loaf so I decided to give your no yeast bread recipe a try. I’ve never made bread in my life! It’s good but mine came out pretty dense. Is it supposed to be? If not how do I fix it? Also, thank you for sharing this! Your recipe was the only one I could find that I had all the ingredients for! You saved us from no bread in the house and lunch meats/cheese going to waste!
Ai says
I baked this with mixing whole meal and white wheat flour, it came out pretty good, love it, no need Baker Delight chia seed bread “which 2 for $9, Can you let me know if I bake 2 loaves and add 1/4 cup of chia seed, will be ok and how long & temp setting in the oven, thanks Nagi, A hug to Dozer please
Nagi says
Hi Crystal, it should be airy but slightly dense – does the texture of yours resemble the photos in this post?? N x
Chelsea says
Hi! I ran out of white sugar a few days ago and really don’t want to go to the grocery store unless i absolutely have to (weak immune system). Can I use brown sugar or powdered sugar instead?
Nagi says
Hi Chelsea, you can definitely sub brown sugar here – stay safe ❤️ N x
Jigs says
first time is always the sweetest… the imperfection of the bread; cracks and shape made it soooo special! Can’t wait to slice ans eat tomorrow for breakfast