Grain-Free Bread
If you follow my facebook page (if you don’t you should ; ) you probably know that I’ve been playing around with a new grain-free bread recipe. Today, I was inspired and decided it was time to really put this grain-free bread recipe to the test. Time for grain-free hamburger buns.
More Buns than Bread
The recipe really makes buns, not bread. I was making little rolls and really enjoying them. Basic dinner rolls. I played around with the size a little but pretty much always made about 8 rolls. Everyone usually eats 2. Tonight was hamburger night and boy was I craving a loaded, juicy cheeseburger on a sesame seed bun.
Inspiration
For me, cravings tend to result in culinary inspiration. I want what I want but I’m unwilling to feel lousy eating what I don’t normally eat. Tonight I wanted a hamburger bun. It wasn’t a giant leap. As I mentioned I’ve been playing around with dinner rolls. What’s a hamburger bun but a biggish dinner roll. So instead of making 8 dinner rolls, I made 4 big rolls (a.k.a. buns). I added sesame seeds just as I was getting ready to put the buns in the oven, so glad I did.
Grain-Free Hamburger Buns
Here’s the thing, this recipe results in nice crusty on the outside, airy/soft (dare I say light) on the inside rolls. As buns, they hold up. They are sturdy enough to hold a hamburger. The bun did NOT collapse under the weight of my loaded burger. Secret ingredient, psyllium husk powder.
Lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced avocado, ketchup (low-sugar) and a grass-fed ground beef patty with cheese on a grain-free, sesame seed bun. Ta-da! Yes, it’s as giant at it looks. I had to smash it down and cut it in half in order to eat it.
- 1 1/4 cups Almond Flour
- 5 Tablespoons Ground Psyllium Husk Powder
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt
- 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 1/4 cups Boiling Water
- 3 Egg Whites
- Sesame Seeds (optional)
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Boil water - we have one of those electric kettles on the kitchen counter. I turn that on while I'm putting all the dry ingredients together.
- In a medium sized bowl mix the almond flour, ground psyllium husk powder, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, add the 3 egg whites and apple cider vinegar. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, begin to mix the eggs and apple cider vinegar on low speed. As the eggs and vinegar are mixing, slowly add the boiling water. Once combined, this should only take a couple of seconds, turn off mixer.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the egg, vinegar, water mixture and mix by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon until combined. This should take less than 1 minute. It turns into sticky goop that resembles homemade play-dough really quickly. Don't over mix, you want it to be light and airy. Just mix until all the dry ingredients appear to be incorporated.
- Put some water in the bowl that had the dry ingredients (no need to dirty another dish). Dip your hand in the water and then, using your wet hands grab some dough and form a burger bun shaped dough ball on a non-stick baking sheet. I use silpats to line my baking sheets.
- This recipe make 4 good sized buns. Try to use equal amounts of dough for each bun. Make sure you leave room between each burger bun dough ball on the baking sheet, they tend to double in size when cooking.
- If you like sesame seeds, add some to the top of each dough ball before placing in the oven.
- Put your baking sheet on the lowest oven rack, the one furthest from the heat source. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes. For these bigger buns I baked for 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and enjoy.
- I let the buns cool on the baking sheet while I was preparing the rest of the dinner. Once the burgers were done, I cut each bun in half and placed them cut sides up on the baking sheet. I put the buns under the broiler for about 2 minutes (more or less to your taste) to toast them. This step is optional but I think it was worth it.
- Make dinner rolls or hot dog buns. Get creative, you could probably do some kind of pig-in-a-blanket recipe too.
- If you have leftovers they tend to be a little soft (soggy maybe??) the next day. Sliced under the broiler will take care of that or just pop them in the oven for a few minutes. We actually just eat them soft, no re-heat.
- For those keeping track, each bun: 232 calories, 18 fats, 14 carbs, 6 fibers, 8 net carbs, 10 proteins. If you make dinner rolls, this recipe makes 8 good size dinner rolls. Here's the breakdown for the rolls: 116 calories, 9 fats, 7 carbs, 3 fibers, 4 net carbs, 5 proteins.
Here’s a picture of my loaded grain-free hamburger bun sliced and ready to eat. We had a nice big side salad with our burgers. Normally we just eat bun-less burgers. The consensus was, much more filling with the yummy bun.
Oh, FYI, the psyllium husk powder tends to make the buns purple on the inside. Neither good nor bad, just a fun fact. It’s possible that different psyllium will make less purple buns.
Enjoy!
I’m Amy a board certified holistic nutritionist, certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner and certified Life Coach. I help women in midlife understand the changing needs of their body so that they can stop dieting and lose weight permanently. At 56 I live what I teach. Don’t believe the story that your best years are behind you. They are not. Your best years are just starting!