Keto egg white PSMF bread/rolls
These buns/rolls are only made from egg whites, but don’t taste at all like egg. They’re very bready and are great toasted with a schmear of cream cheese or butter, I also use them for burgers and ham & cheese sandwiches or on PSMF eating days. I was inspired by Maria Emmerich’s protein-sparing bread to make my own psmf bread rolls recipe. You can also double this recipe to make 1 loaf of PSMF bread.
INGREDIENTS
6 eggs, separated, whites only (avoid liquid carton egg whites, many brands will not whip at all)
40 grams egg white protein powder*
Optional:
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (not necessary but can help whip the egg whites into stiffer peaks)
2 tablespoons Allulose (it doesn’t add sweetness, but browns and smooths out the cragginess of the end product)
1.5 grams active dry yeast (also called quick-rise or rapid rise yeast, it just adds flavor).
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
5 drops Acetyl Pyrazine natural flavoring – gives it a very warm nutty flavor you find in commercially baked cereals/breads
“Everything” bagel seasoning or poppy seeds, onion flakes, etc. to sprinkle on top
Grate a frozen 3/4 to 1 stick of butter into a glass container and put these into the freezer while preparing the bread
-OR-
Measure out 3-4 tablespoons butter powder and set aside. I have used this brand with success.
FOR BREAD:
Double the eggs and egg white protein powder (12 egg whites, 80 grams powder)
DIRECTIONS
1. Before starting, heat your oven to 325 F and prepare your baking trays/loaf pan.
If making rolls: You can use a parchment-lined sheet or silicone muffin papers/silicane muffin tray.
If making bread: Line a loaf pan with parchment.
2. Make sure there’s not water anywhere (in your mixing bowl, on your mixer or your blades/whisk, etc.) and dry everything very well.
3. Crack eggs and separate them from the yolks, reserving yolks for another recipe (like my sugar-free, dairy-free lemon curd).
4. In in the deepest/tallest bowl you have, add in the egg whites and any of your chosen optional ingredients now.
5. Beat the eggs and add-ins for about 8-12 minutes. You want them VERY stiff, not even moving at all. When you turn the bowl upside-down, nothing moves.
6. Carefully add the egg white protein powder (it’s very fine and gets everywhere easily). Whisk it in slowly until you have saturated the powder otherwise it flies all over. Then whisk on high speed again to fully incorporate the powder as quickly as you can without the beaten whites collapsing. Do not whisk with high power for more than 10 seconds. It may lose a little stiffness, but will have peaks. Skip to step 7 if not adding butter.
-IF ADDING BUTTER-
This is an optional step, but makes the bread more soft/melts in your mouth. Add the grated frozen butter or butter powder to your mixing bowl a bit at a time, and fold it in. Repeat until all butter is mixed in. Whisk or beat with your mixer or electric whisk a few more seconds to incorporate fully, but do not whisk too much so as to collapse the batter.
7. Scoop large round mounds of the batter onto a parchment-lined pan or silpat, or use a sprayed silicone baking tray made for muffin tops or buns (this one is my favorite), and top with optional seasoning.
The buns don’t spread much, so you don’t have to space them too far apart. They also don’t rise much at all, so it’s important that you whip the whites into the stiffest peaks you can, and form and heap your rolls as a bit higher than the final shape you’d like them to be.
8. Bake 15-18 minutes. For a loaf of bread (double recipe), bake for 35-40 minutes (if adding the frozen butter in the bread, do 40-45 minutes)
9. Turn off oven after baking and leave the rolls in oven at least 15-20 minutes. Cool completely before slicing and serving. If baking a double batch into a loaf of bread, leave in cooling oven for at least 25-30 minutes.
One batch makes 6 buns.
The buns out of the oven (a double batch makes 12 for this size pan)
After cooling
Double batch made into bread loaf (9″ x 5″ pan)
Freshly sliced white “bread” 🙂
NOTES
LIQUID CARTON WHITES VS FRESH CRACKED EGGS
Using whites from fresh eggs will yield best results, liquid egg whites in the box may or may not stiffen when whipped, I wouldn’t risk it if you’re someone who doesn’t like to waste things.
You need to whip the whites for between 12-15 minutes. You may want to use a stand mixer so you don’t have to monitor or hold a mixer for that long. I have also used the whisk attachment on my stick blender which is faster than a stand mixer, so it takes only about 6-8 minutes for my whites to get very stiff.
BRANDS OF EGG WHITE POWDER
* The egg white protein powder people have success with is the Jay Robb brand as well as the Keto Chow brand. However, these brands are also the most expensive by far, and seemingly for no reason, since I’ve pretty much just used whichever brand is the cheapest per ounce at the time of buying, and tried all these with no issues:
– BulkSupplements brand
– NOW Foods brand in the orange canister
– “It’s Just” Egg Whites–Nothing else!” brand
– Judee’s dried egg whites
– Lesser Evil brand
…any product containing just 100% dried powdered egg whites will probably do. Some of the brands out there contain sunflower lecithin. I don’t use that ingredient or need it, but others have reported products containing it have worked just fine.
SEASONING
These don’t really need salt. For some reason, the powdered egg white product has a salty taste to it already. But depending on the style of buns or bread I’m making, I may or may not add it.
VARIATIONS
Cinnamon bread – If you make the bread (double the recipe) and add cinnamon and more sweetener, you have cinnamon bread. I haven’t tried cinnamon bread yet
French toast – Beat whole eggs or egg whites with some nutmeg & vanilla into a shallow bowl or a deep plate. Let slcies of the bread soak in this batter for a bit (even overnight is fine), then fry the soaked bread pieces in a nonstick skillet or fry in butter. Viola! I sprinkle my French toast with Allulose and ground cinnamon, of you can try my sugar-free Keto Maple Syrup recipe.
Subs/hoagies – Shape into a long roll and bake on parchment or a silpat for a party sub, or cut into mini-sub rolls
“Rye” bread – Add dill weed and dill & caraway seed + cocoa powder and extra onion powder for a seeded rye bread
LEFTOVERS/STORAGE
The psmf buns/rolls are better, texture-wise after refrigeration.
Don’t slice the buns or bread until you need to eat them. They can get very dry very fast.
I just heat the buns in the microwave for 5-7 seconds and then slice them open and they remain very fluffy inside that way.
The bread can be toasted in a standard upright slice style bread toaster, but I’ve had better success toasting slices dry using a skillet. A toaster oven may also work for this (I don’t have one).
I leave the bread or rolls out on the counter on a wire rack and then store them in the oven with it off for a day or two to “cure” otherwise, the top crust is too soft and can be sticky. If that happens when you store them in plastic, just take slices or buns out to dry about an hour or so before you need to eat them.
Keep refrigerated if not eating within 3 days. Can also be frozen and thawed. I’ve only done this when I’m planning to make French toast with the bread, never tried eating it thawed. Your mileage may vary.
WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE YOLKS?
I make lemon curd, mayonnaise, Hollandaise, etc. I also just buy liquid egg whites in the carton and add those to the yolks for making scrambled eggs, quiches, or other egg dishes.
“Everything” bagel seasoning on bun with an omelet and chicken sausage patties
Great burger buns!
You can also bake a long sub roll and cut it into mini subs, for great sub sandwiches!
The rolls also go great with Maria’s sloppy Joe’s recipe
A double batch of the recipe will make also make 1 large loaf of PSMF bread.
I made a seeded rye bread with dill weed & dill / caraway seed
The bread makes great toast!
…and grilled cheese
I have also made French toast from the bread.
5 Comments
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You could try beating a pinch of cream of tartar into the egg whites. I know it helps hold whipped cream.
Can I sub whey protein powder for the egg white protein powder?
Hi. Although I personally don’t use whey protein powder anymore, yes, you could try using it. I have seen people report subpar results with it though.
Can you please help me?
I seem to overtake all my PSMF breads. With this, the seeds were burned and the rolls still looked white. So I baked it a bit longer. Then the rolls got too brown quickly! I left them in the oven with the door open. They flattened while cooling.
It was such a disappointment, after all that work separating eggs.
What am I doing wrong???
Thank you so very much. Judy
Hi Judy
Sorry to hear that. I would recommend only baking up to 4-5 minutes longer but once they turn golden, that’s it. If you’re not using Allulose, they will not brown that much, if at all and will still be done.
I also recommend scooping the rolls and mounding them up as high as you possibly can, and then smooth them out without pushing down too much. OR using a silicone bun tray—the ones in the photos at the bottom of this recipe are “muffin top” style, Walfos brand on Amazon. They make a sort of thin hambuger bun style roll that you can slice fairly easily.
Good luck!