The Best Baking Recipes When You’ve Run Out Of Yeast

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write: The two most-coveted items of 2020 are toilet paper and yeast. In addition to haggling over those precious rolls, the first months of the pandemic saw us cooking up breads and sweets at rates that rivalled the holiday baking season. While flour is now back on shelves, fresh yeast can still be much harder to score. And if anyone has extra, they’re not sharing.

Manufacturers say a batch of yeast has to develop for at least ten (!) days, so it’s not as simple as ramping up production or changing the package style to feed our quarantine obsession with making gooey cinnamon buns and bubbly focaccia. We just have to wait — as no yeast equals no rise. (Although if you do have old yeast in the back of the cupboard or fridge, it can still be fresh past the best-before date.)

If, however, that yeast should have been tossed two kitchens ago, you may have to put off those sweet breakfast buns for a bit. But don't worry, you can still get your baking fix: Here are five easy and delicious recipes that don’t need the boost. 

Let's just hope there’s never a butter shortage.