Have you tried Soul Bread yet? It just might be the most innovative and delicious low carb bread recipe around. These little keto rolls are perfect for making burgers, sliders and other sandwiches.
There are a lot of food bloggers out there these days. It’s something of a booming industry and it is both wonderful and a little daunting to be part of it. Daily I discover new blogs and new recipe developers doing some pretty amazing stuff. I get so many wonderful ideas from them, so much inspiration, and I learn and grow and branch out a little more. And I hope that I too am inspiring others in my own right. But bloggers really shouldn’t be getting all the glory here. There are also some innovative home cooks who are quietly coming up with some amazing recipes on their own. And since they don’t blog about it, it tends to stay on the down low until somebody with a bigger outlet, a blog or a social media following, picks it up and broadcasts it. Such is the case for Soul Bread.
If you are on Facebook, chances are you’ve already heard of, and possibly tried your hand at, Soul Bread recipes. It’s all the rage in many low carb Facebook groups. I just started hearing about it a few months back and decided I had to give it a go. If you aren’t sure what it is, then it’s a very, very low carb bread that’s made primarily with cream cheese and protein powder, along with smaller amounts of other ingredients. It has no flours…no nuts, no coconut, no flax, no seed flours. Unlike the famous cloud bread, you don’t have to whip a bunch of egg whites, so it’s pretty easy to make. And the crazy part is that it has the texture and taste of a very light white bread. It’s heavy on the dairy, obviously, so it’s not for the lactose intolerant.
I want to make sure to give credit where credit is due here, because Soul Bread is very innovative and I wouldn’t dream of trying to pretend I came up with it. Bear with me here as I try to get the chronology of this. It all started in the Original Atkins & LCHF Facebook group, where admin Gloria Koch got to playing around with using protein powder as the “flour”. She had fellow members, Pat Gunder and Joan Snydmiller, play the role of recipe testers and they added some of their own suggestions until they perfected it. And then it really took off, with everyone coming up with variations and new flavours. Joan started a whole Soul Bread Facebook page to share these wonderful recipes. And it was also picked up and shared (with permission) by Ann Moore of Low Carb Diem. So now it’s pretty famous as one of THE best low carb breads.
In some ways, it’s similar to a keto cloud bread recipe like this one.
Being ever the recipe tinkerer, I wanted to play around with it and come up with a sturdy low carb dinner roll/hamburger bun. Specifically, I wanted to have a sesame roll because I have always love sesame seeds on my rolls and buns. I first tried free-forming the rolls on a baking sheet but the batter was too thin and they ended up very flat and a little dry. Clearly they needed the structure of a pan to bake properly, but my muffin top pan had recently died a slow death and was no longer non-stick. So I went with my square brownie pan. This made them a little on the smallish side, but they were perfect as dinner rolls or small burger/slider buns. I used the suggested Isopure whey protein isolate, but I changed the amounts of some ingredients to suit my needs and my pan. I also simplified the instructions somewhat, as I found my first attempt at Soul Bread a little confusing. I found I didn’t need to sift the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients, as long as I whisked them together well enough beforehand.
Really, this is a remarkable recipe and it’s quite adaptable. Hats off to the wonderful Soul Bread Creators, my thanks to them and I hope I have done it justice. These little rolls hold up perfectly to burgers and sliders, they toast beautifully, and they make great sandwiches. Viva la Soul Bread!
Be sure to check out all the amazing Soul Bread creations on the Soul Bread Facebook Page!
Soul Bread Sesame Rolls
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tbsp butter melted
- 2 1/2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 1/2 tbsp whipping cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup plus 3 tbsp unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 plus 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a muffin top pan or a square brownie pan very well. You can also use a muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, avocado oil, whipping cream, eggs, and egg white.
- In another bowl, whisk together the protein powder, baking powder, xanthan gum, garlic powder, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Break up any clumps with a fork.
- Add dry ingredients to the cream cheese mixture and fold in by hand until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Fill the cavities of prepared pan to almost full (for the muffin top pan, you may need to work in batches). Sprinkle tops with toasted sesame seeds.
- Bake 25 to 35 minutes, until golden brown on top and firm to the touch. Remove and let cool in pan 15 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely. *If using a muffin top pan, they won't take as long to bake. Keep your eye on them!
Notes
Total fat: 14.42g
Calories from fat: 129
Cholesterol: 67mg
Carbohydrate: 2.50g
Total dietary fiber: 0.33g
Protein: 9.34g
Kelly says
I just made these today and they are amazing! They taste so much better then the low carb bread at the grocery store. I can’t wait tor try more of your creations. Thank you!
Tina says
OMG Carolyn! I made this in a brownie pan and then cut into cubes and toasted for your stuffing. It tasted just exactly like real stuffing!! Next time I will add a little more broth and up the sage, but it was wonderful as is.
This bread is AMAZING and I plan to make rolls and everything else with it! Finally- a “real” faux bread recipe!!
Thank you! Your site is my favorite!
Tina
Dani says
Hi, I’ve heard of Soul Bread before, and there are lots of recipes out there. However, I was wondering if some of the whey could get subbed out by vital gluten and oat fiber, as well as using yeast, to give a more bread like flavor? Has anyone tried something like this? Please let me know if you are aware of recipes. Thanks!!!
Carolyn says
I’m sorry, I have not tried it that way. I think you will need to experiment a bit on your own.
Kalita Nelson says
So I’ve made this the first 2 times and unknowingly used vital wheat gluten as the flour. Wasn’t bad at all. 3rd time I actually used the whey protein powder and found it to be almost too airy/foamy not sure how to describe it. Still not bad so I think next time I’m going to try it using equal amounts of both powders. This is def better than a lot of shelf brands and much cheaper!
Jackie says
This looks so good! Can this recipe be baked in a loaf pan for sliced bread? Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes.
Claire says
Hi Carolyn, would this work in a loaf pan?
Carolyn says
It should, yes
Mel says
I don’t have whey Protein or egg white protein. What else can I use as substitute?
Carolyn says
This is a recipe that relies heavily on whey protein isolate so there is no substitute.
Shireen says
I made these this morning and followed your recipe exactly. I even had a square brownie pan just like the one you used. I did miss read the recipe because I saw you mention filling the muffin tin to the top and that was actually for your muffin top pan. Anyway I quickly figured out I was going to have to use less better than that in each of my square muffin tin holes. Which was fine that was just me miss reading it. I pulled them out of the oven and after letting them cool I wanted to sample one so I cut it in half and put some butter on it. The texture was great, the color was good, it was soft inside like regular bread feels and it had a really good taste to it as well. I was a bit concerned about the protein powder because I’m not a fan of protein powder but it works in this recipe. My only adjustment that I think I would make when I made them again, i would reduce the garlic powder down to 1/4 tsp. I love garlic but 1/2 teaspoon was a bit much in these rolls. Thanks .
Sarah says
Has anyone tried chilling the batter? I’m curious if it could get firm enough to roll into cinnamon rolls as the texture is much lighter and more like brioche than other keto dough recipes used for cinnamon rolls – my holy grail of baking.
Carolyn says
It’s very liquid so I don’t think you would be able to do cinnamon rolls.
Giuseppe Arvizzigno says
Are these rolls sturdy enough for a big ole grass fed burger? I have made Soul bread…and it seemed a bit cake like…it was better the next day…seems it has to settle a bit
Carolyn says
If you make them bigger than mine, yes, they should! Try a wide ramekin. Grease it very well.