Bread is delicious and addictive, thanks to the opioid-receptor-binding carbohydrates (such as amylopectin) that are present in wheat. Needless to say, regular bread shouldn’t have a place in any healthy diet — not even whole-wheat bread.
Fortunately, there are both paleo and keto-friendly bread options to consider. You can either buy keto bread or make it yourself. We used to buy the bread from a brand called Yez! that I stumbled across when I attended the Paleo f(x) tradeshow in 2019.
A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law’s mother-in-law shared with us a simple keto bread roll recipe that requires only a handful of gluten-free ingredients and a few minutes of prep time.
So my wife decided to give that low-carb keto bread recipe a try. The results were truly amazing, so I’m thrilled to share this easy low-carb recipe with you.
Keto Bread Rolls
Delicious and gluten-free keto bread rolls with only a few ingredients.
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook time
1 hrs
Total Time
1 hrs 5 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free
Keyword: Keto, Paleo
Servings: 6
Calories: 107kcal
Equipment
- Oven
- Bowl with warm water (room temperature)
- Spatula
- Baking sheet
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 5.3 oz organic almond flour
- 1.4 oz organic psyllium husk
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp real salt
- 1 cup water boiling
- 3 pasture raised egg whites
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 splash apple cider vinegar* optional
Instructions
- Prepare a baking sheet and line with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a bowl with warm water.
- Add the dry ingredients (almond flour, psyllium husk, baking powder and salt) into a bowl and mix by hand.
- Add the boiling water, egg whites and an optional splash of apple cider vinegar.
- Mix by hand using a spatula.
- Moisten your hands, form six rolls and place them on the baking sheet.
- Sprinkle the bread rolls with chia or sesame seeds.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for 50-60 minutes.
- To check if they’re done, carefully tap on one of the rolls to see if they sound hollow. If they do sound hollow, you can take them out and let them cool down
Video
Notes
The nutrition facts shown above are from a database and they might not reflect exactly the nutritional information you find on the label of whatever ingredients you use. Case in point, the products we use (linked above) yield a higher fat and lower carb ratio.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Roll | Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 559mg | Potassium: 33mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 136mg | Iron: 3mg
Sourcing the Ingredients
We typically buy all the ingredients on Amazon, or at Costco or Whole Foods (depending on where we can get them at the lowest price).
We always try to buy organic. That’s especially true for the almond flour because growers use a ton of pesticides (including glyphosate) on almond trees.
Substitutes and Modifications
Depending on what ingredients you have on hand and your personal preferences, you can change things up a bit.
For example, instead of chia seeds, you can sprinkle your keto rolls with sesame seeds. That increases both the carbohydrate and fat content of your rolls, albeit only slightly.
Instead of the psyllium husk powder, you can also try ground flax seeds. I’m a huge fan of psyllium husk, so I haven’t tried any other type of fiber yet.
Feel free to experiment with adding herbs and spices, such as garlic powder, onion powder or anything else you feel like.
Tips for the Perfect Keto Bread
The recipe above is incredibly easy to follow and has a wide margin of error. I know that because I was able to make these bread rolls, and I usually perform poorly in the kitchen.
That said, there are a couple of things you can and should do to get reliable results.
- Use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients — especially the almond flour and psyllium husk powder. I usually place an empty container on our scale before turning it on. That way, the scale shows “0” with the empty container on top of it. That makes it easy to correctly measure the dry ingredients.
- If you don’t have baking powder, you can make it yourself by mixing baking soda and cream of tartar in a 1:2 ratio. For example, use 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar to get 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Baking powder and apple cider vinegar are called a leavening agent and they make the bread rise.
- You might prefer using psyllium husk powder instead of whole husks. If you use whole husks, you might get large air pockets inside the buns.
- If you want fluffier buns, consider whipping the egg whites before incorporating them into the dough. Personally, I don’t want to make rocket science out of baking these buns and, so far, they’ve been fluffy enough for my taste.
Other Tips
Instead of throwing the egg yolk away, consider making a yolk-only omelet. The yolk is the most nutritious part of the egg and it consists almost entirely of healthy fat and protein.
If your burns turn out purplish, don’t freak out! The first time my wife made the buns they came out purple and we were wondering why. The reason for that is the psyllium husk powder. Depending on what type or brand of powder you use, your buns might have a brown or purple tint.
Enjoy Your Low-Carb Bread
I enjoy these keto bread rolls by smothering them in salted and pastured butter, like the one from Vital Farms. Our kids love having them for a snack with pastured cream cheese.
I also like adding a bread roll or two as a side dish to my favorite keto dinner plate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most of the carbs in these yummy keto rolls are fiber, which doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar. That’s why we have to differentiate between the total carbs and net carbs. The latter is what you should be concerned about if you follow a low-carb diet.
To calculate the net carbs, take the total carbs and subtract fiber and other non-caloric carbs (i.e., sugar alcohols).
It takes approximately an hour to prepare and bake these keto dinner rolls.
No, you don’t. While you could use a machine to mix the dough, I just use a spatula to mix the ingredients for about 30 seconds.
It only takes 30 seconds or less for the dough to be ready. A good indicator that you’re done is when the dough looks gooey. Once you’ve reached that point, moisten your hands and make little dough balls.
I have used both boiling and very hot water with similar results.
Some recipes call for non-caloric sweeteners such as erythritol (sugar alcohol). I don’t think that’s necessary, but if you prefer a sweeter taste, try adding stevia, monk fruit extract or erythritol to the dough.
Final Thoughts
What I love about these keto buns is how easy they are to make, their macronutrient profile and their taste. I haven’t had real bread in a long time, but from what I remember, these bread rolls taste just like it.
So if you follow a low-carb diet, such as a keto diet, but love bread, then give my keto bread dough recipe a try. I’d make the same recommendation to anyone who struggles with giving up regular bread.
If you decide to make this recipe, let me know how you like it by leaving a comment below. And don’t forget to check out my other keto recipes.
Michael is a healthy living enthusiast and CrossFit athlete whose goal is to help people achieve optimal health by bridging the gap between ancestral living and the demands of modern society.
Mine looks beautiful on the outside but we’re hollow on the inside.
Hey Susan!
Some air bubbles are normal but you could try using less baking powder!
Cheers,
Michael
My fault. Disregard my review. I forgot the psyllium! I measured it and left it sitting on the counter. So sad… I will try again.
Something is wrong with this recipe. I measured the dry ingredients in oz. I added the egg whites and it was very soupy. There is no way I could add any water at all. Could you review please and revise? Thank you so much!
When making these rolls there is obviously something wrong with the recipe. Using 1 cup water and egg whites makes the dough like water. Added 1 more cup almond flour and an getting ready to bake them in a muffin tin. VERY disappointed having to use so much almond flour as expensive as it is and will probably not get anything edible
Hi Barb,
I apologize but I just realized that my recipe plugin incorrectly converted the amounts for the almond flour and psyllium husk from grams. I corrected the issue and the proper amounts are:
– 1.4 ounces of psyllium husk
– 5.3 ounces of almond flour