What to use instead of yeast
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Living leavener that inflates a bread dough
It eats the sugars in the flour and gives off carbon dioxide, which the gluten traps. The hours that takes are also where most of the bread flavour comes from.
Instant yeast in place of active dryRan out
3/4 tsp instant per 1 tsp active dry, stirred straight into the flour
No proofing step in warm water, and the first rise runs about a quarter faster, so watch the dough rather than the clock.
Fresh cake yeastRan out
17 g fresh per 7 g packet of dry yeast
Dissolves into the liquid and starts faster. It dies inside two weeks in the fridge, so old cake yeast gives you a dough that never moves.
Ripe sourdough starterRan out
200 g starter per 7 g packet, minus 100 g flour and 100 g water from the recipe
The rise takes 4 to 8 hours rather than one, the crumb opens up, the crust bakes darker, and the bread tastes sour.
What doesn't work: Baking powder. It gasses off in minutes with no fermentation behind it, so an enriched dough like challah or potica bakes into a dense, cakey loaf with no chew and none of the bready smell.
Ferment that flavours and lightens a thin batter
There is no gluten net in a loose batter to inflate, so the yeast is there for the sour, bready flavour and the fine bubbles that break at the surface.
Sourdough starter discardRan out
1/2 cup discard per 1 tsp yeast, minus 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup liquid
More sourness and less lift, and the extra acid makes the blini brown faster in the pan.
Baking powder with buttermilk in place of the milkRan out
1 1/2 tsp baking powder per 1 tsp yeast
Ready immediately with tang from the buttermilk and no yeasty aroma at all. The batter has to hit the pan within 15 minutes.
Kefir with baking sodaRan out
1 cup kefir plus 1/2 tsp soda per 1 tsp yeast, rested 20 minutes
Sour and light, with a looser, more tender blini that browns quickly and tears if you flip it early.
What doesn't work: Whipped egg white folded in on its own. It gives volume in the bowl and deflates the moment it meets the pan, and the batter still tastes raw and floury with no ferment behind it.