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
Nutrition
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YOWZA — I made these today (in a brownie pan) and this bread is amazing. I made them exactly following your recipe Carolyn and just sliced them into squares and used them for BBQ sandwiches. OH my — even my carb son liked them and the low-carbers here loved them. I’m going to make them again, omit the garlic and up the salt and use it as the base for my Thanksgiving dressing. Thank you – thank you – thank you! Your recipes are simply the best!!!
I love soul bread! Just wanted to throw this out there……if you slice soul bread very thin and dehydrate until dry and crisp, then pulse in processor or coffee mill, you’ll have low carb, grain free “Panko” like crumbs!!! I don’t eat pork rinds, which is the “go-to” for many LC peeps. Was super stoked when I figured this out and it actually works! I’ve breaded/fried several things and it’s awesome!
Thanks for the tip!
Thank you for sharing your recipes. This was so Delicious! My picky husband really liked it.
So happy to hear it!
New to low carb/ keto. What is xanthan gum and what is the purpose of it? Also Can I exchange the avocado oil for something else or should I go buy that?
Xanthan gum helps hold things together in the absence of gluten. Use melted butter, that work fine.
I made these today and they’re pretty awesome. I didn’t have the sesame seeds or avocado oil; so I skipped the seeds and substituted olive oil. I baked in a silicon muffin sheet for 30 minutes.
Once you make these, do you store them in the fridge. Also, how long do they typically last?
I store them on the counter for the first few days but after that in the fridge. They don’t usually last that long in my house!
OMG!!These are soon good! Thank you for all of your recipes…I haven’t had any bad ones. I haven’t had bread for a year so this was such an amazing find for me! I made them in my mini loaf pans ad got 12 nicely raised. I made a breakfast bacon, egg &cheese sandwich & linked the plate. THANKS SO MUCH!
So if you don’t get 12 obviously the nutrition changes significantly. If not keto then these alone before toppings are pretty fatty (good fats of course) but if you are a sugar burner then too much fat can be a problem. What amount of fat and carbs do you shoot for a day when just low carb not keto?
This is really a question that depends on the individual. I am very active and I mostly do low carb to manage my blood sugars, not to lose weight. I don’t always count my carbs but aim for staying under 50g per day. I don’t count my fat but I eat a lot of it.
I must be blind or something, but I cannot find the suggestions for high altitude! Can someone help me out with the instructions?? I’m at 6000 ft. THANKS!
Can you please tell me what exactly xanthan gum is and what it does in the recipe please?
Well, to be honest, I didn’t develop Soul Bread so I am not entire sure. But it’s possible you can do without it.
i’ve been making these in a muffin top pan and it took some experimentation but they’re so great it’s worth the effort! i like these for sandwiches but they will only rise as much as the walls of the pan will allow, but it’s doable. i find it easier to slice them top side down.
i was somewhat disappointed in my initial results as they were turning out a bit too crusty for my taste. i solved this by baking the muffin top pan inside a water-filled baking pan. this method produced a much softer, (and i thought) better tasting roll.
i double the recipe and fill almost two muffin top pans (11 rolls). i make these once a week so i have always have some on hand. thanks so much for this great recipe. it really helps keep me on track!
Great tips, thanks for sharing!
Can whey protein powder be replaced by almond meal? I only have cacao flavoured whey protein powder at the moment… Thank you
No, this recipe is dependent on protein powder.
Thank you for the reply, Carolyn! I will go whey protein powder hunting here in Sydney, Australia!
Most of the time I can suggest replacements but not for this one! Sorry.
That’s weird! I look into it!
No worries, I already got it cleared up with Gloria!
I’m not sure what happened to my question but here it is again. Can I use soy protein isolate instead of the whey protein? And what’s the difference if not? Thank you for your time! Marie
Hi Marie, we’ve never tried it, so it’s up to you if you’d prefer soy to whey. Soy is…well… Not something a lot of Ketogenic eaters will eat ?
Hi Carolyn-
I made this today and put it in a loaf pan and it was very flat. Any ideas on what I did wrong?
It taste good though!
No idea. Did you use the suggested brand of whey protein isolate?
I used Isopure.
That can happen if it’s over mixed after the addition of the whey.
Can anyone tell me if these taste eggy at all? I really hate the taste of eggs!
Jenny
There are very few eggs, so no, it does not taste eggy.
Ugh…just back from the city getting all the ingredients and see I have bought Isolate SOY Protein…Is this a no-no or do you think it will work?
Oh dear. I really have no idea but I don’t think soy is very good for you. But it’s worth a try if you are desperate to make it!
i made mine in a muffin top pan, followed directions except i used olive oil and vanilla whey protein powder (all i had on hand). i made sure to fold in the dry ingredients and not over mix. how did you get them to rise? mine came out flat as a pancake. the recipe looks great, but i’d love to get it right!
Just made these in two silpat inspired muffin forms. They turned out perfectly, yielded 11 rolls. I substituted Guar Gum for the Xanthin Gum because I had it on hand. I also used unflavoured Precision All Natural Whey Protein.
Thank you for this recipe!
I just made my first batch of these. They’re FANTASTIC! I followed the recipe as written (except for the sesame seeds..didn’t have any) and I used a muffin top pan. I baked them for 18 minutes. For the small amount of garlic powder in the recipe, it sure lends itself fully to the flavor, not overpowering at all, but you definitely know it’s in there. I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as texture and density from having Whey Protein Powder as the only “flour” ingredient but I did find that they were a little on the dense side, which I like, and the first 6 were just a tad bit on the dry side. Before I baked the next 6 using the rest of the batter, I added about 2 Tbs of freshly grated Asiago cheese that I had left in the fridge. The second batch was a little bit more moist. I don’t know if it was from adding the cheese or maybe the batter resting for the time it took the first batch to bake and cool. All in all, a really great recipe with so much potential for savory or sweet. Thank so much for the hard work you put into bringing us all of your wonderful recipes.
So glad you liked them!