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 tablespoon butter melted
- 2 ½ tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 ½ tablespoon whipping cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoon unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ plus ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon 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
Deanna says
Hi. I’m allergic to whey protein. Can I substitute anything for that? Thanks
Carolyn says
Oooh, this one is tough. Egg white protein doesn’t work, it makes them way too rubbery. I think you may have to choose a different bread recipe. I am sorry!
Patricia Ruth says
So delicious! Hard to stop with just one. Also, thank you for telling us the brand of whey protein because I had no idea what to buy. I waited until I got it through Amazon and the bread is sooo good. Thanks!
Brenda says
Hallelujah! Some folks don’t miss bread on Keto but I sometimes do. I am so excited about this recipe. Thank you for doing the hard work on figuring it out,
Katherine Arnold says
I’ve been doing keto for almost 2 years, and I had never never heard of soul bread until I found your post. Now i see it’s everywhere, but it’s new to me. I just made this recipe for the first time. Omg. I’m in heaven. I’ve been buying bread from the Great Low Carb Co, but it’s nowhere near as good as this. So easy. So delicious! I’m going to make another batch, dry it out, and see if I can somewhat recreate my traditional thanksgiving oyster dressing.
Carolyn says
So glad you like it!
Vincent Buttiglieri says
can i use bone broth protein instead of whey protwin?
Carolyn says
No, this requires whey protein.
Filmibuff says
I especially bought a square brownie pan for these. I have tried so many breads in the past and this has to be the best ever! No eggy taste and it rose well and I can slice through it beautifully, I used the isopure unflavoured whey which is one of the recommended ones on the soul bread page. I will be making these again and again and again. Everyone in my family loved it.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Vanessa says
Set out to make this and realized mid way I didn’t have enough whey protein left. So used about 2/3 whey and the rest almond meal. Came out deliciously! I always add a package of yeast to my soul bread recipes for a real bread flavor (doesn’t help with rising just bread taste), so between the yeast and a bit of almond meal had a great bread flavor and texture. Adds to carbs by about 1.2 per piece I calculated.
marina says
hello
pls help! how much is your 1 cup in grs? i used 225/1cup? it turned out very plasticky like as if I’m eating rubbery eggy tasting something. used all same brand ingredients. thank you
Carolyn says
Depends on what we are talking about here. 1 cup of almond flour is only 100g or so. But 1 cup of water is 236g.
Melinda says
I made this bread for the first time this morning. I used the high altitude adjustments as previously mentioned. I also did not have all the exact ingredients. I used EVOO instead of avocado oil and used my coconut creamer that I use for coffee instead of heavy cream. I also did not have any regular cream cheese but did have Kite Hill plain and the bread turned out great. I have nothing to compare it to, but it is light and fluffy and rose well. Mine took about 35 min at 350 with the other altititude adjustments. Can’t wait to make a grill cheese!
Carolyn says
Good to know, thank you!
Lisa says
Followed the recipe exactly and mine are more if a light crumb cornbread texture not bread-so that’s not a bad thing. Next time I will leave out the garlic powder and add some sweetening for cornbread.
Sa says
Can I use psyllium husk powder instead of xanthan gum? And if so, how much?
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried that but I bet a tablespoon would do it.
Jean Hufford says
I’m in heaven!!! Love, love, love these! I made them in a muffin top pan and they turned out great…a tiny bit dry but I need to adjust the baking time for that better. I also baked on convection which bakes faster. The flavor and texture are spot on. Next batch I’m going to add a little nutritional yeast for the “bready” flavor and switch up with some different seasonings and add-ins…cheese, ,bacon, onion, the sky’s the limit! Yayyyyy for Soul Bread and Yayyyyy for Carolyn!!! Thank you 🙂
Beth says
Made these for dinner tonight – Yum!!! Turned out great and the rest of my family approved as well. Thanks so much!
Linda says
Hi!
Wow, they look very tasty!
I have unflavored casein protein, does anybody know if this would work instead of the whey?
Thanks!
Carolyn says
I really don’t know, I’ve never tried that. But it’s worth a try!
Lulu says
Hi! I just made these and they are pretty darn good ! Thank you!
I try to save my Little Big Bread for morning toast or sandwich at lunch so having something super low carb with dinner once in a while is great.
I’m going to gradually try adding lightweight things like finely grated parmesan, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes or olives , and Italian herb mix. Onion powder with dill might be nice too.
Anne D. says
Could this be made dairy free with coconut cream?
Carolyn says
No I don’t think so. This really requires both the cream cheese and the whey protein.
Jessica says
Hi there, this recipe looks great! I was wondering however, if I could possibly use pea protein powder in place of the whey protein powder?
Carolyn says
Very possibly but I haven’t tried it so I can’t guarantee it.
Jessica says
Ok 🙂 thanks for the quick reply. Time for trial and error.
Mel Powell says
Hi! I have all the ingredients and really want to make this today but I don’t have a muffin top pan or a brownie bar pan. Can you suggest anything else? I’m hoping to make burger size rolls. Thanks.
Carolyn says
A muffin pan will be fine.
Susanne says
Nutrition Facts
Servings 12.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 291
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 15 g 23 %
Saturated Fat 7 g 37 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 91 mg 30 %
Sodium 284 mg 12 %
Potassium 375 mg 11 %
Total Carbohydrate 20 g 7 %
Dietary Fiber 3 g 13 %
Sugars 3 g
Protein 22 g 44 %
I configured this nutrition analysis on “MyFitnessPal”. according to their analysis it i nowhere near the 2.17g carbs that you show, I don’t understand. I am new to this low carb stuff and I am dieting as well, I’d love to have some bread, but everything is 200+ calories and about 2/3 my allotment of carbs! Help, please.
Carolyn says
My fitness pal is notoriously inaccurate. I use a software system that pulls from the USDA database. My guess is MFP is subbing an incorrect ingredient, possibly for the whey protein. Some whey protein powders contain sugar.
There is absolutely no way the ingredients in my recipe would add up to 20g carbs. Cream cheese has 1 to 2g per ounce, so for 8 ounces, that would be at most 16g for the whole recipe. Unflavoured whey has about 3g per 1/4 cup so that would be another 15g at most for the ENTIRE recipe. All the rest of the ingredients have either NO carbs or very tiny amounts. So let’s say 34g total carbs for the entire recipe. Divide that by 12 servings and you get less than 3g carbs.
Go check each individual ingredient in MFP and I think you will find something got messed up in there.
miranda says
Hai, yesterday I tried to maken buns and it worked out great! I used about 140 g of powder, my powder makes the bread denser, a little more oil, a little more whipped cream and bought a brownie bar pan ( with round holes in it), every round had 1 1/2 spoon (the ones for dinner) full of dough in it. I baked them for about 15 min and they were really soft and browned and didn’t sink. Oke, they weren’t really round, but tasted great! Thanks for this recipe.