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
- 1/2 cup coconut flour, (I used Bob's Red Mill)
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 5 tbsp psyllium husk powder, (about 1.6 ounces)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic or onion powder, (optional)
- 1/2 tsp herbs, like rosemary, oregano or basil. Pizza seasoning is great too! (optional)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup egg whites, (about 8 to 10 large egg whites)
- 3 tbsp oil or melted butter
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 to 3/4 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.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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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.
Wonderful to hear!
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.
Bake it about 10 min first, then put the toppings on. I’ve found that works best.
Thanks!
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!
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!
You are most welcome!
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!
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.
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.
Thanks for all the great feedback!
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!
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
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.
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!
Love to try this recipe the only thing Is I can’t have almond flour. Do you think I can replace it with flaxseed flour?
No, I don’t think that would work. You should check out Maria’s recipe for a similar bread using all coconut flour.
Sunflower seed flour will work. Grind it from raw sunflower seeds. My son had a peanut allergy but before he outgrew it we had to avoid all nuts for a time. I made Maria’s sub rolls for many years with “sun-flour”. Add a couple tbs of lemon juice (acid) to counteract any green color you might get, this is a reaction between the baking powder and the chlorophyll in the seeds. (I always added twice as much lemon as baking powder in addition to any vinegar). Trader joes seeds were produced in a sunflower only facility but check to make sure this is still true. HTH!
I was so excited to make this that I did it twice this weekend. The first attempt was the standard bread recipe. It was incredibly simple to throw together and turned out great. The only change I will make for next time is leave it in a bit longer than an hour. Yes, the bread was a bit gummy/spongy but I was not expecting it to be an exact replica of a loaf of yeast bread and it certainly satisfied my desire for buttered toast and garlic bread.
My second attempt were sweet rolls and oh my word were they delicious! I made half of the bread recipe, added 1 cup of splenda with fiber, 3 tablespoons of cinnamon and then added 2 tablespoons of sugar free maple extract to the egg whites and I stuck with the 3 tablespoons of melted butter that the full recipe called for. Wowzers is all I can say. I expect they could only be made better by adding raisins….which I didn’t do since I’m pretty strict with carbs. I kept the rolls small and baked for an hour….that seemed to help with the spongy/gummy issue.
I pretty much followed the whole thread on Maria’s site about her psyllium bread/rolls. It’s a long, long thread. LOTS of people had problems making the recipe work. I did initially, too. They puffed up and then collapsed. They had a weblike, gummy interior. They looked baked on the outside but were raw on the inside. You name it. Someone experienced it. Both coconut flour AND psyllium are squirrely unpredictable ingredients. Psyllium is a magical ingredient. But like most magic, it cuts both ways.
Finally, Maria published the actual gram weight of the ingredients—even down to the water. That made all the difference. Once I started making them with that specificity, they started to come out great every time. I realize there are still a lot of variables: oven temp., what brand of this or that. But the actual weight in grams was a very important addition.
I agree. I only had success with Maria’s recipe when I weighed the ingredients because of the unpredictable variations which weighing eliminates. I am anxious to try this recipe and wish there were weight measurements for consistent results because like so many others, I adore all of your recipes Carolyn.
I weighed the psyllium,powder this time and they worked and came out perfect.
Will absolutely have to try this recipe…no doubt I will love it as I do all of your recipes!! I hope the person who mentioned a bread machine posts her results as I, too, have one. As always, you ROCK, Carolyn 🙂
Hi Carolyn! I couldnt wait to make these rolls. I must say it was so easy and fast which is a big plus. I didnt have any problems the dough expanded nicely and wow they puffed up so big in the pan. I used a muffin top pan. Smelled just like bread. I noticed that they got brown and looked and felt done much faster than the recipe. So I took them out and poof they fell. So after reading through here I am guessing I took them out too soon? But they were done and omg tasted just wonderful! Will cooking them longer keep them from falling? I really dont mind though cause they tasted so good! I had a wonderful turkey sammie today and have 11 more Yay!! Again as usual you rock!!
Yes, it sounds like they didn’t stay in long enough. They look “done” far longer than the actually are because the outside browns quickly.
Dear Carolyn,
LOVE your recipes! Especially the healthy candy that tastes like mounds recipe! I tried this bread recipe today. Is the bread supposed to rise a little? Mine did not and it is rather dense, but it has a nice flavor.. I do live at a high altitude (Denver, known as the Mile High city) so I am wondering if I should add more baking powder? The high altitude is frustrating sometimes – in baking I sometimes have to bake items longer or at a higher temperature or else they just don’t get done.
Thanks again for your wonderful recipes! I’ve lost 10 pounds and your mounds “candy” really helped as I didn’t have to give up chocolate – that was my downfall in prior diets.
I had another person have some trouble with it who lives at altitude too, so I think it must be an issue. I don’t live at altitude and have no way of testing it but I think trying another 1/2 tbsp of baking powder would help. Don’t add any salt to the recipe because the baking powder will have plenty.
I live in st George and did not have an issue the first time second batch not as fluffy but still damn good. It was a bit muggy today so that might have been it.
I’ve lived at high altitudes my whole life. My elevation here is over 5000 feet. The air pressure is lower, so things rise too fast before the structure has set, which makes it collapse. You have to DECREASE the baking powder and INCREASE the temperature. I made this with those changes and got a lovely loaf that did not deflate. I used 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder with an oven temp. of 375 degrees. I baked it in an 8″ x 4″ nonstick metal pan, sprayed with coconut oil spray, for 75 minutes. Then I took it out of the oven, which I turned off, put the loaf on a metal rack and put it back in the oven to slowly cool for another hour. Since I was using Now psyllium, I used the higher water amount.
Very good to know, thank you Malainie!
I’m in Salt Lake City and mine has deflated both tries, the 2nd time baking it the full 75 minutes on convection. I think I’ll try your high altitude suggestions.
You are correct, Malainie. I live at 7000′ and made the same adjustments you did with Now psyllium. Got a very nice looking loaf!
What temperature did you put it on for high altitude? Did adding the 1/2p of baking powder help?
Does psyllium husk powder go bad? If so, is freezer storage an option? I don’t know how quickly I would use it since there are only two of us and my husband doesn’t like these types of recipes.
I’ve kept mine in the cupboard for a while, but i think you can freeze it easily enough.
I have made so many of your recipes without any disappointments so this is the first place I look when I want to make something specific or just need change. I have made Maria’s Amazing Bread and it is tricky using psyllium and every brand is different but fortunately my sister did some experimenting first and advised me. I want to use this recipe to make hamburger buns. I just purchased a mini round cake pan which has 6 wells that are 4″ diameter and 1.5″ deep and would like to use it for this purpose – also have muffin top pan. Your rolls look wonderful but not sure of size. Should I divide the recipe into six balls as you did the rolls? Thank you for so many delicious and easy recipes!
I had more than 6 rolls, that’s just the photo. When I make rolls with this, I get about 10.