These keto dinner rolls are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Made with cheddar cheese fathead dough, they are the perfect low carb side dish for all of your favorite meals. They make great sandwiches too.
Okay, stop the presses! Did you know that fathead dough can be made with different cheeses other than mozzarella? I recently made these keto dinner rolls with cheddar-based fathead dough and they were amazing. I could hardly wait to share them with you.
I will admit that it’s not quite the same as traditional fathead dough and it took me a couple of tries to get it right. It’s the same process, however – melting the cheese and adding in the coconut flour and other ingredients. It’s in the spirit of the famous low carb cheese-based dough, most certainly and I never would have attempted it without knowing that melted cheese makes great keto pizza and bread.
It was an overabundance of delicious Cabot Creamery cheddar that encouraged me to give it a try. I figured that even if it didn’t work perfectly, I would have some sort of keto deliciousness on my hands. You really can’t go wrong with these ingredients.
Cheddar-Based Fathead Dough
I really followed the same process as I did for my Chewy Keto Bagels, with a few significant differences. I had once tried making loaf bread with fathead dough and although it was delicious, it never really rose. It stayed flat and much too dense. So I knew it needed something else.
When I decided to try it with cheddar, I added some protein powder to help the dough rise and to give it more volume. It definitely helped some but the first time I made them, the rolls rose and then deflated after they came out of the oven. They had amazing flavor but they were a little too dense to be a good dinner roll.
Still, toasted with a little butter, they were melt-in-your-mouth good!
On the second time around, I added twice as much baking powder for a little more rising power, as well as an additional egg white. The dough was definitely on the sticky side but it could still be kneaded to work the melted cheese in. I had to grease my hands a bit as I rolled the dough into balls.
But it worked! They rose and were fluffier than the first time around. Granted, they are still more dense than conventional rolls but that’s simply the nature of fathead dough anyway. But oh they are so cheesy and garlicky! There is honestly nothing better.
Tips for Keto Dinner Rolls
Use quality cheddar cheese. Most recipes for fathead dough say to use the pre-shredded kind because it contains starch, which helps the dough stay together. However, I used Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar in the block form and grated it by hand. It worked like a charm.
A little butter helps the cheese melt and liquify in the microwave. I did mine on high in 30 second increments and stirred in between. It only took about 1 minute and 30 seconds total.
Add in the remaining ingredients quickly. No need to sift the dry ingredients together, but you should have everything else ready to go. You want to add them all in at once and start stirring and kneading the dough together.
Use a rubber spatula. I find that the best way to make a cohesive fathead dough is to use a good flexible rubber spatula to knead it together in the bowl. Really press it up hard against the sides of the bowl to work the melted cheese into the other ingredients.
Grease your hands. This dough is a little stickier than traditional fathead dough so it helps to have your hands greased when you roll it into balls.
Use parchment paper. Lining your cake pan with parchment helps ensure that the keto dinner rolls won’t stick to the pan. But it still allows them to get nicely browned around the edges.
Brush with garlic butter. Brushing them with butter before and after baking makes them extra luscious and golden brown. And they taste just like keto garlic bread.
Adjust salt to taste. If you’re not a salt lover, you may want to leave out the additional salt. The cheddar and the baking powder both have salt as it is. I personally love salt and salty things so I like sprinkling the rolls with a little coarse sea salt at the end.
Ready to make these delicious Cheddar Garlic Dinner Rolls? They are a perfect side dish with all of your favorite keto dinners. Or make them to use as sandwiches!
More great Fathead Dough Recipes
Cheddar Garlic Fathead Rolls
Ingredients
Rolls:
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese grated (I used Cabot Vermont Cheddar)
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup unflavored whey protein powder or egg white protein powder
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
Garlic Butter
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line an 8-inch round baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the grated cheese and the butter. Melt on high in 30 second increments until the cheese and butter can be stirred together and is almost liquid.
- Add the coconut flour, protein powder, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs and egg white and use a rubber spatula to "knead" together in the bowl until uniform.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. The dough will be quite sticky so lightly oil your hands and roll into 8 ball. Place in the prepared baking pan.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the garlic butter and brush about half of it over the rolls in the pan.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed, golden brown, and firm to the touch. Remove and let cool about15 minutes before removing from the pan and breaking apart. Brush with the remaining garlic butter. Serve warm.
Theresa says
Hi Carolyn I am looking for a keto HawIian sweet rolll recipe. Can this recipe be modified by adding 1/4 C or so of Swerve brown? Or do you have a sweeet roll recipe? Thanks!
Sonny says
Extremely salty. It was hard to swallow from the dough being extremely dry, even with a big glass of water. I will not make again. Love most of the recipes on this site, just not this one.
Carolyn says
If they were dry, then they got over-baked. What cheese did you use???