Easy Yogurt Buns: A Quick No-Yeast Breakfast Recipe
Soft, tender, and ready without yeast or proofing, these easy yogurt buns are made for slow breakfasts and hurried weekday mornings alike. The dough comes together by hand in just a few movements, requires no mixer or kneading, and can be adapted with different types of flour.
Use yogurt and self-rising flour, and they become genuine two-ingredient buns. If you are working with regular all-purpose flour, you will also need baking powder and a little salt.
A Small Morning Story
Are these buns? Doughnuts? Bagels?
Let’s call them buns.
They entered my life only a few days ago, yet it is already clear that they are here to stay.
These yogurt buns should be made in the morning. Unassuming in appearance — which, at breakfast, is more of a virtue than a flaw — their slight homemade untidiness only adds to their charm. In a matter of minutes, they make even the most ordinary morning feel more human.
Even, say, a rainy Tuesday morning in November.
The dough is mixed by hand just before baking, with a few free and easy movements. No waiting for yeast to wake up, no lengthy kneading, and no carefully planned baking schedule: simply mix, shape, and bake.
What Are Yogurt Buns?
Yogurt buns are a type of quick bread made without yeast. Instead of rising during a long fermentation, they are leavened with baking powder or baking soda.
Their texture sits somewhere between a traditional bread roll and a tender savoury scone. They are softer and less chewy than yeast-raised buns, but substantial enough to slice, butter, and serve with breakfast.
They are not really bagels — the dough is not boiled before baking — and they are certainly not doughnuts. Still, their pleasantly irregular shape leaves room for interpretation.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
These quick yogurt buns are:
▪ made without yeast or proofing;
▪ mixed entirely by hand so this is a great recipe for camping or spending time outdoors;
▪ easy to adapt with differet flours;
▪ suitable for both sweet and savoury toppings;
▪ best served warm from the oven;
▪ wonderfully forgiving in appearance.
They are especially useful when you want freshly baked bread for breakfast but have neither the time nor the inclination to prepare a traditional yeast dough.
I also find this recipe ideal for use in a student dorm, where you have limited utensils and kitchen appliances, limited cooking experience, and, understandably, little desire to spend a lot of time preparing food.
Easy Yogurt Buns
This recipe ideal for use in a student dorm, where you have limited utensils and kitchen appliances, limited cooking experience, and, understandably, little desire to spend a lot of time preparing food.
Method
Making Dough
1. Whisk together all the dry ingredients. It may look a little funny, but it is important to distribute the baking powder evenly throughout the flour.
2. Add the yogurt and mix to form a dough. It will be slightly sticky and not completely smooth — don’t worry, this is normal.
3. Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Shaping
1. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
2. With damp hands, roll each piece into a ball. Gently stretch the centre and make a hole, as though shaping a doughnut.
3. Place the doughnut-shaped buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Brush each bun with beaten egg or milk, then sprinkle with the seed mixture.
5. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until beautifully golden brown, adjusting the baking time to suite your oven.
How Yogurt Makes the Buns Rise
The secret of their lightness lies partly in the lightness of spirit of the person baking them — and, more reliably, in chemistry.
Baking soda is alkaline. When it comes into contact with an acidic ingredient such as yogurt, the two react and release carbon dioxide. The tiny gas bubbles become trapped in the dough and expand during baking, helping the buns rise.
Baking powder works somewhat differently because it already contains both alkaline and acidic components. It begins releasing carbon dioxide when moistened and usually reacts again when heated.
This is also why chemically leavened dough should normally be baked soon after mixing: once the reaction begins, you want as many of those bubbles as possible to remain in the dough.
Which Yogurt Works Best?
Use plain, unsweetened yogurt with a relatively thick consistency.
Greek yogurt produces a firmer, easier-to-shape dough and usually gives the buns a tender, slightly tangy crumb. Regular natural yogurt can also work, but because it contains more liquid, the dough may require a little additional flour.
Avoid flavoured or sweetened yogurt unless you are intentionally making a sweet version. Added sugar and flavourings can alter both the taste and the texture.
Very thick products such as skyr or quark may also be worth experimenting with, although the exact flour-to-dairy ratio will probably need adjusting.
Yogurt buns are at their best on the day they are baked. Once completely cool, keep them in an airtight container. Before serving, reheat them briefly in the oven or toaster so that the outside becomes warm and the crumb softens again. They can also be frozen once cooled. Defrost them at room temperature and warm them before serving.
Flour Substitutions and Variations
One of the pleasures of this recipe is that the dough leaves room for experimentation.
Whole-Wheat Flour
Replace a small portion of the regular flour with whole-wheat or light whole-wheat flour for a fuller, slightly nutty flavour.
I have used approximately 40–50 grams in place of the same amount of regular flour. The crumb becomes a little denser, but the buns remain soft.
Whole-wheat flour absorbs more moisture than refined wheat flour, so allow the dough to rest for a minute before deciding whether it needs more yogurt or flour.
Rice Flour
A small amount of rice flour gives the crumb a slightly more delicate texture. I have replaced around 40–50 grams of wheat flour with rice flour with interesting results.
Rice flour contains no gluten, however, so it should not replace all the wheat flour in this recipe. A large proportion can make the buns dry, crumbly, and difficult to shape.
Self-Rising Flour
Self-rising flour is the simplest option and turns the recipe into a true two-ingredient dough.
Because self-rising flour already contains baking powder and salt, do not add them again unless your particular recipe has been specifically tested that way.
Other Flours
Light spelt flour may be used for part of the wheat flour, although it can produce a softer and more fragile dough.
A gluten-free flour blend should not be treated as an automatic one-to-one substitute. Gluten-free baking requires a separately tested ratio and may also need binders or additional liquid.
How to Serve Yogurt Buns
Serve the buns warm, preferably soon after baking.
Butter is not merely recommended here; it is essential. Let it soften and begin to melt into the warm crumb.
The buns can also be served with:
▪ berry jam or marmalade;
▪ honey;
▪ cream cheese;
▪ sliced cheese;
▪ smoked salmon;
▪ eggs;
▪ fresh herbs;
▪ nut butter;
▪ seasonal fruit.
For a savoury variation, herbs, seeds, grated cheese, or a little garlic powder can be added to the dough. For a sweeter breakfast bun, try cinnamon, dried fruit, or a small amount of vanilla and sugar.
Easy Yogurt Buns
Materials
- 260 g all purpose flour
- 240 g Greek yogurt I use 2% fat
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 20 g sugar
- 1 egg or 20 ml milk for greasing
- flax, sesame, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds for sprinkling
Instructions
Making Dough
- Whisk together all the dry ingredients. It may look a little funny, but it is important to distribute the baking powder evenly throughout the flour.
- Add the yogurt and mix to form a dough. It will be slightly sticky and not completely smooth — don’t worry, this is normal.
- Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
Shaping
- Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
- With damp hands, roll each piece into a ball. Gently stretch the centre and make a hole, as though shaping a doughnut.
- Place the doughnut-shaped buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Brush each bun with beaten egg or milk, then sprinkle with the seed mixture.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown, adjusting the baking time to suit your oven.
