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I would like to use my artificial sweetener Equal to make yeast rolls. Will the yeast activate? I've never tried anything like this before. I would like to know before I invest in the time, effort and waste of ingredients.

Randy Starkey
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The yeast will work just fine in a dough with artificial sweetener. Sugar is actually inhibiting the yeast, not helping it (that's why you cannot make yeast dough that's too sweet). Simply put the yeast in the dough as usual and work it.

If by "activate" you mean you are making a preferment, you don't have to do it at all, if you are using dry yeast. The type of dry yeast which needed to be activated has not been on the market for decades.

If you are using fresh yeast, or insist on a longer-kept preferment for flavor development, simply leave the sweetener out of the preferment, it is not needed. From there, continue working as usual. Neither sugar nor sweetener is needed.

rumtscho
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  • My recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. to 2 packs yeast and 7 cups flour – Randy Starkey Nov 20 '16 at 16:06
  • We'll see how this works out and I'll post my results. – Randy Starkey Nov 20 '16 at 17:17
  • Regrettably, nearly 6 hours later and I've had minimal rise in my bread loaves. It appears Equal doesn't work well replacing sugar in a yeast bread. – Randy Starkey Nov 20 '16 at 23:25
  • @RandyStarkey Without sugar, the yeast feeds off what it can get from the rest of the dough but that takes longer than if you supply it with additional sugar which Equal isn't. If you left the dough sit for 12 hours, you'd probably see it had doubled in size. – Rob Nov 21 '16 at 04:23
  • You don't have to let it sit for 12 hours. Most breads have no yeast at all and work perfectly, without the need for extra long rises. Unless the sweetener is actively killing the yeast (which would be quite unlikely), the bread's rising was unrelated to the missing sugar. – rumtscho Nov 22 '16 at 08:40
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No. Yeast cannot use Equal (aspartame) to gain caloric energy any more than you can.

How much sugar is your recipe calling for to activate the yeast? The calories in a teaspoon of sugar are insignificant compared to those in the rest of the ingredients, especially after the yeast has consumed some of them.

John Feltz
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