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It seems like everyone's baking bread these days. Facebook pages are awash with pictures of homemade crusty boules, neighbors are giving each other soft sandwich loaves, and bread machines are being pulled from the back of appliance cabinets and getting a workout.
But as quarantine bread baking has exploded in popularity, yeast, the key ingredient, has become a scarce commodity. It may be hard to find on grocery shelves, and ordering yeast online — if you can find it — may mean paying double or triple the normal price for uncertain quality.
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But even without yeast, you can satisfy the urge to indulge in something crusty, floury and warm from the oven. Cookbook author Marah Stets says there are several bready items that can be baked without yeast.
Stets has cowritten numerous celebrity cookbooks, including Magnolia Table, from home-improvement designer and entrepreneur Joanna Gaines; Guy Fieri Family Food, from the restaurateur and ubiquitous food-show host; and Eva's Kitchen, with actor Eva Longoria. Stets is also the coeditor of the latest edition of the Joy of Cooking.
She recommends searching online for recipes for these baked goods and experimenting with different techniques. Above all, “have faith that whatever comes out of the oven is going to taste good,” she says.
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Sourdough
Sourdough bread, which is fueled by an organic, living starter, is all the rage. No yeast needed, it tastes amazing and bakes beautifully. People are trading starters, feeding them and even naming them. Stets calls hers Cora and talks about it like a coddled pet. You can find a plethora of information about starters online, but Stets says her go-to spot for information and inspiration is the King Arthur Flour website and the Joy of Cooking. Make your own starter, or get one from a friend; then feed it regularly with a flour-and-water mixture if you plan on using it often, or stick it in your refrigerator, with occasional feeding, until you are ready to use it. “It's a cool science experiment,” Stets says. “Approach it with calm and a sense of adventure, rather than trying to learn an encyclopedia's worth of information."
How to Make a Sourdough Starter
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