This easy, no yeast bread recipe calls for baking soda and baking powder and requires NO rising time! It tastes like an Irish soda bread but with added flavors such as Parmesan and rosemary. It is dense, soft, and moist inside, and you can cook it either in the oven or in the crockpot/slow cooker. So darn addictive, folks!
I love bread, although I can’t eat it as much as I want or as often as I would like to. But I have been in the mood for some homemade bread lately and didn’t have any luck in finding instant dry yeast at my local grocery stores.
But that didn’t stop me. I quickly learned how to make bread without yeast. And I can’t emphasize enough how easy it was, and how delicious this no yeast bread turned out.
Been missing good bread, or simply want to bake something yummy at home? Well, you won’t regret at all giving this homemade bread recipe a try.
Why is it Called Irish Soda Bread?
It’s because the recipe calls for baking soda to make the dough rise, rather than yeast. For this reason, it is more dense than white sandwich bread.
If you bake it in the oven, it will have a hard and rustic crust. On the other hand, if you cook it in the crockpot, the crust will be firm yet less hard. Either way, the inside is moist, soft, and dense, and has a large, airy crumb.
Because our no yeast bread recipe calls for sugar, it has a mildly sweet flavor – like a dinner roll. Yet it is also fairly savory and nutty, with an added herby flavor from the rosemary (but that is optional)! For a different version, add raisins instead of the cheese and herbs.
Is Irish Soda Bread Really Irish?
Yes, it is indeed Irish! Irish soda bread is a dense, unleavened quick bread made with flour, buttermilk, salt, and baking soda instead of yeast. But different variants also incorporate sugar, eggs, butter, baking powder, raisins, spices, and orange. The recipe was created in the late 1830’s with the introduction of baking soda in the U.K.
No Yeast Bread Recipe: Ingredients and Substitutions
Although traditional Irish soda bread only calls for 4 ingredients– flour, baking soda, buttermilk and salt– our recipe has some added ingredients that makes it richer and more flavorful.
- Flour – we used all-purpose flour, which makes the crumb more tender, although you can use a whole wheat flour to make it more wholesome and nuttier. If you prefer to use self-rising flour instead, which already contains salt and baking powder, you can skip the salt and baking powder for this recipe.
- Baking Soda – this contains almost 3 times as much rising power as baking powder. It is part of the recipe because it reacts with the buttermilk, providing leavening while neutralizing its acidity and tanginess.
- Buttermilk – this is the secret ingredient for a moist bread! The acidity in buttermilk (acid) reacts with the baking soda (base), helping the dough to rise. But for this to work well the baking process should be almost immediate. Don’t have buttermilk at home? No worries! Mix a cup of milk with 1 tbsp of white vinegar or lemon/lime juice and let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes or until it thickens. Or mix ¾ cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt with ½ cup of milk.
- Salt – it adds flavor!
- Sugar – it balances the salt, making the bread mildly sweet!
- Egg – although not necessary, it makes the bread richer. It won’t make the bread dough dry because of the buttermilk.
- Baking powder – it helps this dense loaf of bread to rise more and be puffier, especially if making bread in the crockpot.
- Butter – it will add extra fat, making the bread richer and tastier.
- Parmesan cheese (optional) – this is for added flavor!
- Fresh rosemary (optional) – it adds a fresh and herby flavor to the bread.
6 Tips for Success
- Mix dough and take it to the oven/crockpot within 3-5 minutes max.— Once buttermilk is mixed with baking soda, knead the dough quickly, shape it into a loaf, score an X on the top, and bake or place in the slow cooker right away. Aim for 3-5 minutes, otherwise the dough won’t rise as it should.
- Don’t over-work the dough! Or you will make your bread dry with a less soft crumb. What that means is, knead the dough less than 10 times, or just enough to mix the ingredients.
- Don’t go heavy on the flour. Make sure your working surface to knead the dough is lightly floured. Using too much flour will make the crumb dry.
- Shape bread into a flat ball. This will ensure that the center will cook through without overcooking the ends.
- Score the top of the dough with an “X” that is about ¼-inch deep (oven) to 1/3-inch deep (slow cooker) right before baking/cooking. That way the center of the loaf will bake through.
- Bake this yeast-free bread on a baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet (this method will make the crust crispier). Or, cook bread in the crockpot lined with parchment paper.
Variations
Traditional Irish soda bread is mild in taste, and so is perfect for serving with soups and stews like cabbage soup or Brazilian beef stew (picadinho), simply with a smear of butter, or with jams.
To make it more flavorful, add one or a mixture of the following: herbs, garlic powder, grated Parmesan cheese, or caraway seeds, raisins, spices, orange zest, etc. It depends on how savory or sweet you’d like for your bread to be!
How do you know when Irish Soda Bread is done?
There are 2 ways to find out if this yeast-free bread is baked or cooked through:
- When the center of the X (which of course starts out as raw dough) is no longer wet or shiny.
- When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
How to make no yeast bread (Oven/Crockpot)
This no yeast bread recipe is quite easy to prepare, as you can see below:
- In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. If you’d like to, stir in Parmesan and rosemary.
- Whisk egg on the side of the bowl and combine with softened butter (SEE PIC.1). It will be crumbly at first. Then quickly stir in buttermilk, mixing just enough to form a homogeneous dough (SEE PIC.2)
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface and quickly knead for 5 to 8 times maximum. Shape into a flat round or oval shape! Score an X on the top center (about ¼-inch deep if baking or 1/3-inch deep if cooking bread in the slow cooker).
- Transfer right away to either a baking sheet or cast iron skillet lined with parchment paper, or to a lined slow cooker (SEE PIC.3)
- IF COOKING IN THE CROCKPOT: Brush bread with buttermilk and cook on high for 2 ½ hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (SEE PIC.4). For a browned crust, brush crockpot bread with olive oil or melted butter and broil bread on the middle rack on top of a lined baking sheet for 3-5 minutes or until lightly brown.
- IF BAKING: Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top has browned. For a moist and softer crust, brush bread with extra buttermilk before baking and also every 20 minutes while baking.
How to store bread
After no yeast bread has cooled, wrap with parchment paper and place into a sealed bag, squeezing out as much air as you can. It keeps at room temp for up to 2 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Other Yeast-Free Bread recipes:
- Brazilian cheese bread (pao de queijo)
- Banana bread recipe
- Cauliflower bread
- Corn bread
- Chapati bread
- Tapioca breadsticks (biscoito de polvilho)
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PIN & ENJOY!
No Yeast Bread Recipe (Oven/Crockpot)
Equipment
- oven
- crockpot
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour plus extra to flour surface. Use a gluten-free flour if you are celiac (see other substitutions on the notes)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar (OPTIONAL if you prefer a bread that is savory only. I like mine with sugar because it tastes like a dinner roll)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 TBSP baking powder
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (OPTIONAL)
- 1 sprig rosemary chopped (OPTIONAL)
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
- 1 cup buttermilk (see substitutions on the notes) , plus extra to brush
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. If you’d desired, stir in Parmesan and rosemary. Whisk egg on the side of the bowl and combine with softened butter. It will be crumbly at first. Then quickly stir in buttermilk, mixing just enough to form a homogeneous dough.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface and quickly knead for 5 to 8 times maximum. Shape into a flat round or oval shape! Score an X on the top center (about ¼-inch deep if baking or 1/3-inch deep if cooking bread in the slow cooker). Transfer right away to either a baking sheet or cast iron skillet lined with parchment paper, or to a lined slow cooker.
- IF COOKING IN THE CROCKPOT: Brush bread with buttermilk and cook on high for 2 ½ hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For a browned crust, brush crockpot bread with olive oil or melted butter and then broil bread on the middle rack of the oven on top of a lined baking sheet for 3-5 minutes or until lightly brown.
- IF BAKING: Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top has browned. For a moist and softer crust, brush bread with extra buttermilk before baking and also every 20 minutes while baking.
Recipe Notes
- Flour – we used all-purpose flour which makes the crumb more tender, although you can use a whole wheat flour to make it more wholesome and nuttier. If you prefer to use self-rising flour instead, which already contains salt and baking powder, you can skip the salt and baking powder for this recipe.
- Buttermilk – this is the secret ingredient for moist bread! The acidity in buttermilk (acid) reacts with the baking soda (base), helping the dough to rise. But for this to work well the baking process should be almost immediate. Don’t have buttermilk at home? No worries! Mix a cup of milk with 1 tbsp of white vinegar or lemon/lime juice and let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes or until it thickens. Or mix ¾ cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt with ½ cup of milk.
- Mix dough and take it to the oven/crockpot within 3-5 minutes max-- Once buttermilk has been mixed with baking soda, knead the dough quickly, shape into a loaf, score an X on top, and bake or place in the slow cooker right away. Aim for 3-5 minutes, otherwise dough won’t rise as it should.
- Don’t over-work the dough! Or you will make your bread dry with a less soft crumb. What that means is, knead the dough less than 10 times, or just enough to mix the ingredients.
- Don’t go heavy on the flour. Make sure your working surface to knead the dough is lightly floured. Using too much flour will make the crumb dry.
- Shape bread in to a flat ball. This will ensure that the center will cook through without overcooking the ends.
- Score the top of the dough with an “X” that is about ¼-inch deep (oven) to 1/3-inch deep (slow cooker) right before baking/cooking. That way, the center of the loaf will bake through.
- Bake this yeast-free bread on a baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet (this method will make the crust crispier). Or, cook bread in the crockpot lined with parchment paper.
John / Kitchen Riffs says
Although we usually have yeast in our freezer (you can store it for years!), we LOVE no-yeast breads like this. This is so nice — thanks.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
I loved your idea to use some baking powder instead of yeast… especially with yeast a little hard to find! And using the Crock Pot is bonus fun!!
2pots2cook says
Oven baked is my preference 🙂 Pinned to make !