Low carb bread – we all crave it and we are all looking for the perfect recipe. This might just be the best low carb bread recipe, and it’s so versatile, you can use it for rolls, sticky buns, pizza and more.
Yesterday afternoon I did something I rarely let myself do: I completely blew off work. It was a glorious day here in the Pacific Northwest, not a cloud in the vibrant blue sky, a perfect 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It was CIT – “Carolyn’s Ideal Temperature”, and I just couldn’t let it go to waste, sitting inside working on blog posts and articles and photos. The glorious spring weather was calling to me and I succumbed. I threw on some flip flops and went for a walk, stopping to get an iced coffee along the way. And then I went to get my toes done, something I desperately needed for an event we are attending tonight. I couldn’t let the world at large see my calloused, banged up runners’ feet and toes as they were!
How to make Low Carb Bread
So this bread recipe is going up a little late today. And it’s not one I can just throw up and leave be. This one needs a little explaining, a little talking through. See, I’ve been working on this for a while now, trying to perfect my own version of the low carb psyllium bread (hats off to those who’ve gone before, most notably Maria of Keto-Adapted). Psyllium is like many other low carb ingredients, something that takes a little getting used to. It has its own quirks and idiosyncrasies and you have to learn to work with them or you won’t get the desired results.
One thing I’ve found is that the brand of psyllium powder definitely makes a difference. I’ve tried two: Now Brand and Yerba Prima. I think I like the Now Brand better, as the Yerba Prima gives my bread more of that slight purply colour. It also seems to give my breads a more gummy texture than the Now psyllium powder.
Because of this difference between brands, it can make it hard to write recipes that work for everyone. I know many people experience frustration with psyllium bread recipes being gummy or deflating after being removed from the oven and I think a lot of that is the brand differences. So I tried to write this particular recipe with those differences in mind. In this case, you only add just enough hot water to expand the bread to about 1.5 to 2 times the original size. With Now Brand psyllium, I find you need more water and with Yerba Prima, I find you need less. It does require using your judgement and deciding when enough is enough. This may take a little practice, but when you get good results, it’s worth it.
I also wanted to develop a bread recipe that could be used in multiple applications and I think I’ve succeeded. I’ve used it for my low carb Pizza rolls, loaf bread, buns and yes, some delicious low carb sticky buns. I think it could be used as pizza crust too, but I haven’t tried it as yet. And I am going to be cruel and tease you with the sticky bun photos today, as the recipe with be forthcoming in a few more days. They were delicious and well worth the effort!
Multi-Purpose Low Carb Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
- ½ cup almond flour
- 5 tablespoon psyllium husk powder (about 1.6 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic or onion powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon herbs like rosemary, oregano or basil. Pizza seasoning is great too! (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup egg whites (about 8 to 10 large egg whites)
- 3 tablespoon oil or melted butter
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ to ¾ cup hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. If you are making a loaf, grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan well. If you are making rolls, line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, almond flour, psyllium husk powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Stir in egg whites, oil and apple cider vinegar. Slowly pour hot water over, stirring until dough expands. Start with the lesser amount and add a bit more until dough seems like it has expanded about 1.5 to 2 times. Do not add too much water or it can become a gloppy mess.
Loaf:
- For a loaf of bread, shape into a rough rectangle and place in prepared baking pan. Bake 60 to 75 minutes, until browned and crust feels hard to the touch (it will look done long before it really is. Don't take it out early or it will deflate). Remove and let cool in pan.
Rolls:
- Divide dough into 10 to 12 equal pieces and roll between palms into a rough ball. If dough is sticky, oil your palms with olive or avocado oil. Place on prepared cookie sheet. If you want flatter rolls for burgers or sandwich rolls, press down to 1 inch thickness with your palm.
- Bake 45 to 60 minutes, depending on size and shape of rolls. Rolls should be well browned and quite firm to the touch. Remove and let cool on pan.
allison says
Yesterday I used this recipe to make a pull apart pepperoni pizza bread. It came out just absolutely delicious!! Tasted like a huge piece of Sicilian pepperoni. Gone in half hour!
Lore says
I wanted more of a rye sourdough taste and I’m not really fond of the sweet-ish coconut flour taste, so I experimented. I looked up sourdough starters but all had gluten in them, to which I’m allergic.
Then I started to search in the ingredients of really cheap German bread, which was “sourdough-style”. There I found citric acid in the ingredients.
So I made the bread without the herbs and spices, only salt and added a level 1/8 teaspoon of citric acid and it did the trick – the bread now tastes exactly like a rye sourdough bread, I fooled a German no-lowcarb colleage with it.
Carolyn says
Wonderful, Lore!
allison says
Great Idea Lore!!! Gotta try it!
Liz says
Made these again last night and it finally worked. I made rolls-came out PERFECT-Jay Robb requires more water and I lowered the oven temp to 300 and cooked them longer. These are beautiful!
Emily says
Hi Carolyn,
Many thanks for this recipe. I am new to the low carb diet and this is the first time I have tried to make any kind of low carb bread. I am also a student in Cape Town and I thought I would comment that I was able to successfully make this bread substituting the almond flour for ground flax seed ( I ground it myself which as far as I have read seems an important step as pre-ground flax seems to cause issues). I also used desiccated coconut instead of coconut flour as that too is more expensive (it was also what I had in the cupboard). I hope these tips might give other students the courage to make bread that also does not break the bank!
One last thing is that my Psyllium husk did not double in size but I resisted adding more water and focused on making sure the ‘dough’ held its shape. As a result while my loaf did rise very well. I doubt that I would have been able to produce 12 rolls out of the same quantities. I understand, however, that this might be due to the kind of psyllium husk I used.
Many thanks for your hard work!
Carolyn says
Great information, Emily. Thank you for sharing!
Annette says
Carolyn thank you so much for this recipe i made it yesterday for my brother who i am having go grain free as i think it will help with his memory issues and dementia. He loved it said it tasted just like regular bread to him. I mad them into rolls they are all gone now making another batch this is a keeper for sure. Carolyn thank you for all that you do….
PS i use coconut secret coconut flour, honeyville almond flour, and bulk psyllium powder from my health food store and braggs vinegar, using avocado oil. i just use the salt so we can add jam to it. will have to try the loaf and find a way to toast it as he misses toast.
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Tarryn says
Thanks for the recipe. I’m still on the learning curve on being successful with it and have one question: what consistency is the dough supposed to have? Does it resemble regular bread dough at all?
Carolyn says
It’s funny dough. It’s not elastic like conventional bread dough so you can’t stretch it out easily. It has a bit of a rubbery, gummy feel, if that helps. But it’s about the size and weight of conventional dough and it should be so sticky that it sticks to your hands much.
Tarryn says
Thank you! Now I have a better idea; the three tries I have had at it, it didn’t look like that much, but the bread that I got from it does taste very good, I just haven’t had a batch poof up much while in the oven yet, and I get a texture like a quick bread. Still, it toasts up really nicely and is delicious with your cheddar cheese spread 🙂
Carolyn says
Okay a few questions. First, what kind of almond flour are you using? Coconut flour? What brand of psyllium? All of these things could make a difference.
Tarryn says
I’m using Yerba Prima (the whole husk type, so I grind it into a powder), Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour, and Honeyville almond flour. Maybe I’m not grinding the psyllium fine enough? I’ve ordered the Now brand (powdered), so maybe that will make a difference.
Carolyn says
You’re using all the same as me except I use the Yerba Prima powder, so maybe it is the issue of not getting it finely ground enough.
Tarryn says
The Now powder should be here in a couple of days, I’ll try it out and let you know how it goes 🙂
tarryn says
Hi Carolyn- I just made a loaf using the Now brand powder husks, and it made a huge difference for me- the dough was more like you described. I did have the slight sink after removing the bread from the oven, and it’s a bit underdone at the very bottom, but I think that’s just me needing to learn how long to bake it in my oven. It tastes delicious just the same. But yes, for me the psyllium husk needs to be very finely ground.
~Tarryn
Carolyn says
So glad that one worked a little better!
Kathy says
Made this for the third time last night and it turned out the best yet. The first time it turned out ok but was still a bit gummy on the bottom. The second time I followed another poster;s advice and took it out of the pan for the last 30 minutes but it deflated and was very dense. I figured it was because I handled it before it cooled. Last nite I baked if for 1hr 20 min and let it cool in the pan on a rack for onehalf hour. I then turned it out on the rack (no deflation) and put it rack and all back in the turned off oven which was still warm and left it there overnite. This morning when I sliced it, it was done all the way through and no gummy bottom. I like this recipe because it is relatively economical (only half a cup of almond flour and no Swerve) and toasts very well. It tastes even better toasted imo. I used liquid egg whites which are very convenient. I am going to try the cinnamon raisin version of this next.
Tracey says
Can you freeze this bread
Carolyn says
sure.
Teresa says
We made these last night and they were WONDERFUL!!! Thank you so much for all your recipes.
Liz says
I have been trying Maria’s recipe for a year now and canot get it to work-yours was SO close-nearly perfect. the parts that cooked well were BEAUTIFUL-same feel and tase as sandwich bread (I added a tablespoon of erythritol to make a sweat bread. I do not get that huge hole in the middle and it did not fully deflate, BUT…I got a fully cooked loaf on the outside and beautifully cooked top half, but the bottom half was rubbery-like it only rose from the middle up.
Does it need to cook longer? Used Jay Robb psyllium-ground for a long time, Honeyville fine almond flour, and just under 1/3 cup water-but it was boiling water (like Maria’s recipe).
This was SO close I nearly cried!!! I sliced it then cut the slices in half throwing out the rubbery half…the good half is like a REAL slice of sandwich bread. Even the next day it toasted like a real slice of bread…I have to perfect this recipe-I cannot see anything better than this!!!
The buns had the opposite effect-hockey pucks! Did not rise at all-same process and ingredients. I also sift the coconut flour-it comes out lumpy from my container. do the buns need more water since they cook faster?
I have to mkae this work! Where did I go wrong?
Carolyn says
ARGH. Psyllium really is so hard to work with. For the loaf, I suggest free-forming it instead of putting it in a loaf pan. I think that might help in your case to cook the bottom/center more. The buns should not need anymore water so shy on earth they didn’t rise is beyond me!
Liz says
I did play with the dough a little to get the buns into bun shapes and I used less than 1/3 water….this has to work-these are amazing to me!!! I am trying again tonight-pray for a whole loaf!!!
PSee says
I made this bread last week with the Yuba psyllium powder. It came out purple as you said, more importantly, it did not expand at all. I got some of the Now brand psyllium husk powder and tried it again and once again it did not expand at all. I added 2tsp of active dry yeast to 1/2 cup warm water, added 1 tablespoon of honey to the bread mixture and after letting the yeast sit a few min added it to the bread as well. I let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours and it finally puffed up. Just want to know what I could be doing wrong, following the recipe exactly and it doesn’t expand when adding the hot water. Psyllium husk powder is fresh. What temperature should the water be? I am not in a high altitude area. I am stumped!
Carolyn says
I am stumped too! What brand of coconut flour and almond flour are you using?
Lore says
Psee, what is the texture when you combine it all? I get for the first seconds something like a foamy pancake dough, which then rapidly firms up and expands. I always mix the vinegar with the hot water to have it distributed evenly. But I admit, this is the first Psyllium loaf that works for me and I’m sticking to the gram to the measurements I took the first time I made it.
Lore says
I admit, we are now addicts 🙂 And as the consistency of the bread is relatively sturdy, I decided to try to get one of my favourite breads back – Onion Bread.
Onion Bread is something you can get in Germany in each bakery and every time I visited my parents I got some. The problem is, it’s wheat bread. What I did here was to add 4 ounces fresh diced onion which I caramelised in the amount of butter you add to the bread anyway. Then I added the onion with the butter from frying to the dry ingredients and mixed them well, then added the fluids.
It came out absolutely great – the onion does add carbs, but on the other hand it’s really delicious.
Thanks for the recipe, I made a quadruple batch today and froze it in slices for the next weeks.
Carolyn says
So glad it worked out
1
Brenda says
Amazingly good. Made buns for burgers and they’re PERFECT. My summer is saved. Also made a pizza crust using 2 portions rolled between parchment and cooked on a pizza stone. Saving that for later, but nibbled the edges and they were nice and crisp.. Thank you so much.
Carolyn says
Wonderful to hear!
Lori says
I’m curious about the pizza crust. Did you bake it just as a crust or put toppings on it and bake it that way. I’d like to try it as pizza crust.
Carolyn says
Bake it about 10 min first, then put the toppings on. I’ve found that works best.
Lori Kaumans says
Thanks!
Debbie says
I followed the recipe without changing anything and it is a beautiful loaf of bread. I baked it for 65 minutes and probably should have baked it another 5 minutes. It did sink slightly in the center but was cooked through and not gummy. This is the best tasting psyllium bread I have made and as close as can be to wheat flour bread. The flavor is very good – I didn’t add any herbs, garlic or onion powder – just basic bread. Next time I will try adding herbs and maybe baked it in a smaller pan (8 x 4) to make it a little taller. Thank you for a recipe that can be many things!
nicole says
Wow! This turned out incredible. As much as i don’t like to make recipies where you have to hold on to yolks or toss them, this was well worth it. I added 1 yolk to the eggwhites for fun. Used whole foods brand psyllium and the half cup of hot water was perfect. Also threw in some onion flakes, garlic powder, basil, and oregano flakes. Here’s where it gets crazy and worth every ounce of it…sprinkled salted and spicy pumpkin seeds on top of my rolls! Heaven! I have made mini sandwhiches with sliced avocado and raw cheddar cheese. I also sliced these in half and spread cold kerrygold butter on top, devine! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for this recipe!
Carolyn says
You are most welcome!
Angela says
This looks great. I love Maria’s recipe and I will definitly be trying this one! Such gorgeous photos too…makes my stomach grumble with hunger!
Kathy says
I made this today and I can’t believe it – success! I kept waiting for the epic sinkhole but it didn’t happen. I used Now psyllium which a local health food store sells in bulk. It looked like flakes to me (though the owner said it is labeled as powder when he receives it) so I ground it up in my nutrabullet to a finer consistency. I used BRM almond flour which I also ground finer and sifted and their coconut flour too. I used the 3/4 cup water. I baked it for an hour and 20 minutes and it was in no way overdone. I think Lore’s advice to take it out of the pan for the last thirty minutes is good as it was a little gummier at the bottom. I will try that next time. I think alot of the problems people are having is that they didn’t bake it long enough. I could see baking it for an hour and a half as Lore did.
Lore says
Thank you for the recipe, the bread (I made a loaf) came out just wonderful. I thought it was a little soft after one hour baking and toppled it out of the loaf pan and gave it another 30 mins in the oven without pan. Perfect.
I’m in England so I can’t use the recommended brands. I used Costco coconut flour, Supermarket almond flour and whole Psyllium husks that I grinded in the Vitamix to a powder from justingredients.
The measurements were: 78g coconut flour, 51g almond flour, 45g psyllium powder, 4g baking powder, 360 ml egg whites (slightly warmed to body temperature in the microwave), 120 ml boiling water and I used melted coconut oil.
cookedfor an hour at 180C and then without the load pan another 30 mins.
Carolyn says
Thanks for all the great feedback!
Susan L says
Well, I have this in the oven as I type this…. Fingers crossed it works for me…. I really want some bread for my BLT tonight!
Susan L says
Well, poo…. It rose really tall, but when I took it out of the oven it deflated…. I don’t know what happened…. The same thing happened to me every time I tried Maria’s recipe… I just don’t get it
Carolyn says
I think it’s simply not getting cooked long enough. Your oven may not be hot enough. I’d let it bake 10 more minutes.
Jes says
I tried this as a bread and as rolls. My bread could have stayed in longer but was still really good. I think the outside is deceiving because it does look done before the inside. I cooked my rolls for longer than an hour. I used melted coconut oil as the butter/oil. Both were delicious!! I just know to cook them on the longer side and to not rely on the outside appearance. I definitely found my favorite low carb bread and roll recipe!