It's not that baking without yeast is any healthier than yeast baking, but if there's an alternative and a way to lighten the dish even a little, it's worth using. And to make the pastry come out airy and bake through well, baking powder or soda is added to the dough. In some cases you can do without them.
The five most commonly used ingredients in yeast-free baking recipes:
| Product | Calories per 100g | Protein g per 100g | Fats g per 100g | Carbohydrates g per 100g |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 398 | 0 | 0 | 99.7 |
| Flour | 325 | 12 | 1 | 67 |
| Eggs | 157 | 12.7 | 10.9 | 0.7 |
| Butter | 734 | 0.5 | 82.5 | 0.8 |
| Wheat flour | 325 | 12 | 1 | 67 |
Instead of yeast for baking bread, for example, you can use a homemade sourdough starter. It does have to be prepared in advance, though. Here's how it's done:
- Whole-grain rye flour is mixed with water to the consistency of sour cream and set in a warm place under a napkin.
- A day later, more flour is added to the starter and water is poured in to the consistency of sour cream.
- After another day, the procedure is repeated.
- After three days the starter is ready to use. You can keep part of it, feeding it from time to time to use later.
It's made not only with rye flour, but also with:
- raisins
- kefir
- hop cones
- wheat
- rye
The starter is made up of bacteria and a certain kind of yeast that has nothing to do with standard store-bought yeast.
The five most nutritious yeast-free baking recipes:
| Name of the dish | Cooking time | Calories per 100g | User Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brushwood cookies shaped like roses from egg dough | 55 min | 637 | +11 |
| Potato cake on shortbread cookies with cocoa | 1 hour | 635 | +34 |
| Potato cake from cookies without condensed milk | 1 hour | 633 | +49 |
| Sweet Potato Cake | 1 hour | 613 | +3 |
| Potato cake from cookies | 2 h 30 min | 611 | +311 |
For other kinds of yeast-free baking you can use slaked soda. Soda is usually slaked in vinegar, citric acid, sour cream, kefir or hot water. This is done only to mute the soda aftertaste. Baking powder is good because it has no unpleasant taste. In some baked goods both it and soda are added.
Another "aerator" — egg whites whipped to stiff peaks. They're folded into the dough gently, with even bottom-to-top motions, right before baking.
From yeast-free dough you can make any items usually made with yeast: pies, hand pies, belyashi, pizza, rolls and so on. Its main advantage is faster cooking.
Tip:
- a sour bread starter can be used too — you'll get a sourish bread