I Made My Own Keto Bread, and I Sorta Hate that I Loved It
I’m a bit of a keto purist. I’m not one for spending hours researching and concocting “keto-compliant alternatives” to every carb-heavy food I crave. Need a snack? Grab a cheese stick. Want cake? Eat a piece of ultra bittersweet chocolate. Want waffles? (I always do.) Suck it up and eat bacon and eggs instead. In my mind, keto needs to be simple—or else, you’ll probably fuss too much and quit.
That’s in part why I never wanted to try keto bread. Keto bread is more of a quick bread (think banana bread), requiring no yeast, proofing, or rising. Instead, you mix ingredients together quickly and bake right away. Keto breads are often cakey, not yeasty. Notoriously dense and chewy, keto breads can be a bit of chemistry miracle (depending on how you define miracle).
So, I’d be forgiven if I just stayed away, right? I’ve never really considered myself a huge sandwich fan. Bread just was not something I was missing. Sure, I’d eat it from time to time for breakfast, but that was (let’s be honest) mostly an excuse to eat Nutella. In short, it wasn’t something I craved while eating keto.
Until the day I did. I desperately, and I mean desperately, wanted a piece of toast with melted butter and a smear of peanut butter. Why those two things together? I have no idea, but they called to me.
And I, a keto dieter, had no bread.
I turned to Keto Connect, a pair of keto eaters (recently engaged—congrats, guys!) that I’ve followed for a while on Instagram. When it comes to real-life keto advice, Matt and Megha get it. I’ve been a quiet groupie for some time because of their no-frills approach to everyday keto eating. Yes, they have a wonderful cookbook that features all sorts of keto-compliant food alternatives (the things I railed against earlier), but they also have basic dinner recipes that always satisfy and deliver on macros.
They’re Best Keto Bread was the easiest—and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand —recipe that I found in my research. Plus, again, the no-frills approach to the recipe meant I could satisfy my bread hankering quickly and efficiently
You need six ingredients: almond flour, eggs, cream of tartar, salt, baking powder, and butter. They also list liquid Stevia as an optional ingredient. Stevia and I do not agree (gastrointestinally, that is), so I skipped it.
If you have even a basic understanding of baking, you’ll be able to pull off this recipe, no sweat. The hardest part by far was whipping the egg whites—and I just let my mixer do that. (Well, separating the egg yolks also proved treacherous, but that had more to do with my being impatient than with the task itself.)
What Does Keto Bread Taste Like?
Keto bread has to use a low-carb flour in place of traditional all-purpose or bread flour. That leaves you with basically two familiar options: almond flour and coconut flour. If you’ve been doing keto for a while, you should have one or both of these ingredients on hand.
Both flours are more dense than AP flour, and you’ll notice that immediately. This bread is spongy and dense, as expected, but it manages to develop a respectable crumb all things considered.
Kimberly Holland
The egg flavor is fairly prominent—there are six egg yolks and whites after all—and none of the other ingredients are strong enough to mask that.
When it cools, the bread is spongy, and I wasn’t a fan of it cold. Toast it for better flavor (or eat a slice fresh from the pan), then add toppings.
What’s Not Great About Keto Bread?
Well, for starters, it’s not bread. Not really, that is. But as a keto eater, you’re used to replacements that seem a bit off here and there, right? Still, for a low-carb bread slice (Keto Connection estimates each slice has about 1.25g net carbs), it’s a seriously good option.
I wouldn't hanker to make a sandwich out of this though. It’s incredibly dense. It’s more like a savory cake than a bread. Even with a few simple ingredients, I suspect you’ll feel incredibly full, and possibly uncomfortably so.
As mentioned, the eggs are prominent in the flavor and aroma. Yes, it sort of smells like an egg loaf. Again, as a keto eater, these are all things you’ve learned to adjust for already, so pile on ingredients with a bit stronger personality—smashed avocado, bacon, and a fried egg, for example.
RELATED: These Keto Bagels are Made of Cheese
How You Can Make Keto Bread Better
After making this recipe as it’s written, I tried it again with browned butter. The simple step of browning instead of just melting the butter created a nutty, rich flavor that better masked the flavor of the egg.
The original recipe calls for four tablespoons of melted butter. I used five to make my brown butter, accounting for some moisture (and volume) loss in the cooking process.
You don’t have to take this step. It does add a bit of time and stove-top stirring, but the delicate hint of browned butter turns every bite of the spongy faux bread into a more delightful treat.