Keto Baking – 12 basic tricks; To Yeast or Not to Yeast?
Keto baking and its mastering requires more skills and experience than standard baking. Many Ketonians, especially those who recently switched to this healthier way of living, think that without sugar and gluten, our baked goodies cannot be compared to the classic versions of their favourite pastries. However, even for the standard baking, the appearance and taste always depend on butter, eggs and cream.
The Sweet Irony
Isn’t it ironic? In fact, to bake a perfect cake, muffin, bread or souffle, a classic baking enthusiast has to use the top Keto friendly ingredients. Furthermore, even if they are utilising sugar and wheat flour, they always use them as secondary ingredients. Naturally, baking with gluten and sugar gives more possibilities and confidence that the bread or cake will grow. Of course, it will grow with all that sugar and starch that the yeast (single-celled fungus) consumes.
How Does the Classic Bread Rise?
Yeast acts by absorbing sugar. In this process, the single-celled fungus organisms are discharging carbon dioxide and alcohol as a byproduct. In classical bread background, yeast has three principal functions: fermentation, rising and activating the gluten. Most of us are accustomed to yeast’s leavening powers. However, you may not be aware that the fermentation helps to establish and expand the gluten in the dough and also contributes to the ridiculous and addictive effect that later creates bread, gluten and starch addiction.
So, can we use yeast on Keto?
Specifically, if you go through all my recipes on this site, you will not find a single one that contains active yeast. I am not happy with the fermented sugar and this includes artificial emulsifiers and binding agents such as Xanthan gum. If you are fighting with a candida infection or trying to get your immune system as strong as possible, eating yeast bread on daily basis, regardless of gluten content, could create bloating and microorganism imbalance in your digestive system. Never the less, if you really would like to try a Keto bread with yeast, this is one of the safest recipes:
Keto Bread with Yeast
Ingredients
- 120 g (1 cup) almond flour organic
- 120 g (1 cup) sesame flour full-fat
- 50 g (1/3 cup) coconut flour organic
- 2 tbsp psyllium powder organic, finely ground
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 100 g (1/2 cup) Greek yoghurt preferably organic goat yoghurt, full-fat
Growing agent mixture
- 2 tbsp active dry yeast
- 2 tsp raw honey this will be consumed by the yeast, so there will be no sugar left
- 150 ml (2/3 cup) warm water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the flours with salt.
- Preheat the water to 45ºC (115 °F). Add 2 tsp of raw honey and stir. Add the yeast and let it work for 10 minutes. The yeast will bubble or create a foam. If it doesn’t, the temperature was not right, so you will have to start all over again.
- Stir the psyllium powder into the yeast mixture. Let it rest for 2 minutes so it creates the gelatinous texture, then whisk it energetically
- Add the yoghurt to the yeast mixture and stir well. Now, add the dry ingredients. Mix well with a wooden spoon. The dough will be sticky, but you will be able to work it with your hands greased with olive oil.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and store it in a warm spot to rise for approximately one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC (393 °F). Place a baking pan in the oven to preheat. Using some melted butter or olive oil, grease the dough with your hands and tap it in so that it "drinks" the fat. Place it in the preheated baking pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 100ºC and bake for another 20 minutes.
- When the bread is baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool down. Try not to slice it before it cools down completely.
12 Tips for Perfect Keto Baking Without Yeast
For the rest of us who are happy without yeast in Keto baked goodies, I’ve assembled a list of 12 tips and tricks. Based on the feedback from my readers and followers who tried out my bread and pastry recipes, here’s a list of tips to avoid errors and have the top success in Keto baking:
Never bake bread in a glass pan. That thing has destroyed all my bread recipes. Some of you succeeded, but most of you who tried my Keto bread or cake recipes had problems with the glass baking pan. Glass is a bad conductor of heat! It doesn’t heat up promptly but once it has heated up, it will stay hot much longer after it’s removed from the oven. This will destroy any bread or cake!
Baking soda has to be aluminium free, fresh and dry. If your baking soda has been standing on the shelf for a long period of time, even if it was sealed, it will not work properly. Always use a knife to remove the excess soda from the teaspoon. This is a perfect measure.
Making your own baking powder is a great way to avoid industrial unhealthy versions. Just mix your baking soda with citric acid powder in 2:1 ratio and use it freshly prepared. You can even use lemon juice. 2 tbsp of lemon juice with 1 tsp of baking soda will create a foamy mixture. Add it to the wet ingredients for best results.
Psyllium husk powder is my favourite and healthier binding agent. You can read more about it here. Many followers reported problems with Psyllium powder or husk. Different producers have different quality and the only way you can be sure your Psyllium powder works well is to mix 1 tsp with 100 ml water. let it sit for 10 minutes. If it doesn’t thicken into a solid but soft mixture, then your Psyllium powder is not so powerful and you need to add more than the recipe calls. I would add a double dose.
Free-range eggs don’t have the eggy aftertaste. Especially if they are very fresh and 100% organic. If your baked goodies still end up with the eggy aftertaste, play with the spices next time. The best concealer of egginess in baked goodies is the famous nutmeg powder. Furthermore, you can reduce the amount of baking soda because it can boost the eggy flavour in some cases. Vanilla extract, cinnamon, clove, anise, fennel, mastic oil, lemon zest, the list goes on and on…
Always add a pinch of salt to the batter containing cacao. This will boost the flavour and reduce the aftertaste of stevia and some other sweeteners.
If a recipe calls for syrup, there are two techniques. You can pour hot syrup on the cold cake or cold syrup on the hot cake. Never pour hot on hot!
Be patient, never cut the cake or bread while it’s still hot.
If your pan for some reason did not conduct the heat properly, and you end up with a wet bread in the middle. Just slice it up and toast it for additional 12 minutes in the oven at medium temperature. Alternatively, toast it longer and then crush it in the food processor. This will create your ultimate Keto breading crumbs. You can also use it for cookie dough or create a pie crust from it.
To fight the stevia aftertaste, add some citric acid and salt to the stevia blend. Just a pinch, not too much. What Stevia misses to mimic the sugar is the typical acidity!
Always use ingredients that are organic, grass-fed, free-range and as close to original sources.
Invest in a collection of spices, herbs and essential oils. This will help you to create magic out of any Keto cake or pastry!
For a perfect Yeast-free Keto bread…
I recommend from the bottom of my heart to try my most popular Keto Bread by following this simple video tutorial:
