The most simple and delicious low-carb bread rolls you will find! Please read on…
“Your home smells like I’ve just walked in to a bakery” were the words of the plumber this morning as he walked through the hallway and he was right, it did. I could have kissed him. It felt like a huge compliment and even though my washing machine was washing the floor, more than the clothes, I didn’t care. I just desperately wanted him to try a roll to give me his verdict. I didn’t tell him what was in it, as I didn’t want the sudden fear that surrounds those that know no different to a grain filled diet. He gobbled it down and said “that’s a great bread roll, love the crust. Would it be rude to ask for another to take in my van?”. I even cut it in half and added some mature cheddar and butter. He was pleased, I was thrilled. Oh, and yes, the washing machine did get fixed. Unfortunately he would not be paid in bread rolls though.
I have been trialling this low-carb bread rolls recipe for a few months and I think I have it as close to my version of perfection as I can. Of course, nothing can ever be perfect and my version of perfection will be vastly different to yours, but so long as it tastes good and keeps your blood sugars as stable as possible then my job is done! Easy to pop in a packed lunch box and eat on the go.
Who knows, this low-carb bread rolls recipe may just change your life. Ok, that might sound way over the top. But, if you are a bread addict, coeliac or a diabetic and struggle with erratic blood sugars, then this recipe might just be the answer. Or if you simply just follow a low-carb or keto diet and would like the chance to enjoy a simple bread roll then this is for you. They are delicious served cool or lightly warmed in the oven. Best stored in a tin and eaten within 5 days. If you would like to keep them for longer then keep them in a sealed container in the fridge and consume within 10 days- just be mindful that they are likely to dry out quicker.
One thing I am most excited about these low-carb bread rolls is that they are suitable for so many people with varying dietary requirements as they are grain-free, egg free, gluten-free and dairy-free. Also suitable for those who are vegan.
Of course, if you would like to play around with the ingredients and quantities yourself then please do so, and if you have any suggestions then do comment below. Also, please always read the notes in the recipes as I add any handy tips or tricks.
There are loads online. Just type in low carb bread roll or keto bread roll and there are pages and pages. Lots contain a huge amount of ingredients, lots contain eggs, many contain psyllium husk – which is something that I don’t tolerate well so avoid. I have tried to make the recipe as simple as possible, but there might be a few ingredients you wouldn’t usually find in your store cupboard. I bought all the ingredients mentioned from my local Aldi. Let me talk you through them.
Olive oil: you can use any but I generally stick with “light” olive oil for baking. Head over to my olive oil guide to learn more.
Golden linseed (also known as flaxseed): Key ingredient. It will need to be milled (ground). You can either do this in a blender like a nutribullet / food processor / coffee grinder, or buy it already milled. Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Holland and Barrett etc all sell ready milled packs. I really recommend the Aldi ones as I use these regularly. You can use golden or brown or what ever colour linseed / flax you have to hand.
Coconut flour: this gives the bread the slight denseness that you get in bread rolls. Don’t worry, you cannot (I repeat), CANNOT taste the coconut. Promise. This recipe has been trialled on 10 people and none of the 10 could name 1 ingredient, let alone coconut flour! No one believes that they don’t contain strong flour and yeast.
Chia seed: Again, I use milled, and recommend you do too (follow same process as mentioned above in the linseed section of how to mill it yourself). If you don’t have chia then just replace it gram for gram with extra golden linseed OR you could use psylium husk (but you will only want to use a max of 10g as it sucks up so much liquid – you don’t want it to dry anything out) if you have that sitting in your cupboard.
Apple cider vinegar: believe it or not, this gives the bread its taste and is what (combined with the other ingredients) makes your home smell like a bakery. ACV also has many health benefits. It is great for salad dressings (added with some greek yoghurt, chopped chives and pinch of paprika) and can even be used as a homemade cleaning product (see 37 ACV hacks here). I bought a big bottle in Aldi a few weeks ago and it was £1.99, and 1/3 of the price that it is sold at else where. Sold in all supermarkets.
Baking powder: helps puff them up a little!
Water: speaks for itself.
The consistency of the roll itself is a beautiful crust and a soft inside. The inside isn’t perhaps as “dry” as bread, but a wonderful texture non the less.
How many carbs are in each roll?
Drumroll please……..2g carbs PER roll. Can you believe it?? I make 6 rolls out of the recipe.
Each roll weighs approximately 70g in weight.
What do you serve them with?
I love to serve them alongside some green eggs in the morning or have toasted with nut butter, or with some good quality olive oil and balsamic (just be mindful of the carbs!). They make the perfect picnic lunch, with large chunks of cheese and tomato. My daughter loves them with homemade blueberry jam, they can make a great post nursery / school / mid afternoon snack with some butter (I love a sprinkle of sea salt too).
- 1tbsp apple cider vinegar (I will refer to as ACV)
- 2tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup water (**measuring cup)
- 150g golden linseed (also known as flaxseed), milled
- 30g coconut flour
- 20g chia, milled (if you do not have chia then replace with either linseed or 10g psyllium husk- just be mindful that this can dry out the mixture so you need to really be cautious)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- **I do not add seasoning as I do not feel the recipe needs it. However, this is your call. If you want to add sea salt / pepper then please do so to your taste.
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F.
- Make sure that your linseed and chia seed are milled. To do this, pop them in a "nutribullet", coffee grinder or food processor and pulse until a flour like consistency.
- Combine all dry ingredients (linseed, coconut flour, chia and baking powder) in a bowl and mix together.
- In a separate bowl add the ACV, olive oil and water (ensure you are using a measuring cup!). Whisk together well.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid. Using a spatula combine the mixture together well. It will go from wet, to a thick batter. Continue to move it around until a dough forms. Mould it in to a bowl and leave to stand for about 15-20 minutes. It will thicken considerably during this time.
- Break the dough in to 6 and mould in to balls. (If you make less then please note baking time may need to be a little longer)
- Place on a grease proof baking sheet and very gently press each ball, so that it is stable.
- Optional: Add any seeds on top (best way to do this is to dot a little water to the top of the roll and then sprinkle the seeds over it.
- Place in the oven and bake at 180C / 350F for 35-40 minutes. Check occasionally. They should have a deep golden brown crust, with a slight spring once cooked.
I bought all my ingredients for this recipe from Aldi.
You can double the recipe to make more.
If you make them bigger then I would add on 5 minutes and just check one to make sure it is cooked through.
Best stored in a tin and eaten within 5 days. If you would like to keep them for longer then keep them in a sealed container in the fridge and consume within 10 days- just be mindful that they are likely to dry out quicker.
For 100 low-carb recipes, meal plans and lots of info as to the benefit of a low-carb lifestyle (especially for those with diabetes), then you can order a copy of our book here.
If you make this bread roll recipe, snap a pic and tag me in it — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter!
Lastly, Aldi have not paid me for any of this (I wish!), I just do most of my shopping there and have a big soft spot for them as they sell so many health focused / real food ingredients at a more affordable price.
ALL PICTURES ARE MY OWN AND ARE NOT TO BE COPIED AND REPLICATED WITHOUT MY SOLE PERMISSION.
These are SO good! Definitely don’t taste of coconut. Afraid of over-baking, I might have slightly under-baked but they were still fantastic, just with some good butter. I usually do the Diet Doctor ones with egg and almond flour (like these too) but think I might go with these egg-less ones from now on!
These are wonderful! I think that I slightly undercooked them too but still delicious. Sort of like a tasty rye bread consistency. So good warm or toasted with butter! I haven’t had bread in a while but these are so much better than any gluten free nonsense shop bought. We’ve had to ration them in our house! Thanks for the game changer!
Thank you for commenting! I am so pleased to hear you like them. Warm with butter is the divine combo! They shouldn’t dry out so another couple of minutes in oven. E x
Thank you so much! I am so pleased you hear they were a success and hope they become a regular recipe for you. E x
These were so tasty and very easy to make. I thought I’d given up eating bread but lovely that I can have these and very low in carbs. Thanks Emma.
These are simply the best keto/LCHF/gluten free/vegan rolls you will find when on this type of eating plan. They are a cross between a scottish oat cake, digestive and scone and I can’t get enough (within my 25g carb limit). Super easy to make but I would recommend adding some salt to the dry mix although I do add salted butter & marmite to mine when they are cold. They make an excellent melted cheese ‘sandwich’ too when hot out of the oven.
I don’t usually write reviews; however, it would have been frankly wrong not to with this recipe. If I was inclined, I could actually start a blog called 100+ different ways with Emma’s perfect roll recipe.
I’m raving about these rolls not jut because they work for my dietary choices, I’m type 1 and have coeliac so gluten free and low carb is essential but because they taste really, really nice.
Unlike other gluten free recipes, they don’t fall apart or bounce like rubber balls the texture is perfect. Unlike many other low carb bread recipes, they don’t contain dairy or eggs and are actually edible! And the potential health benefits from the ingredients is a plus too. Not to mention they are perfect for my blood glucose levels.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I love them! Why? Texture lovely, taste lovely, easy to make, last a few days and taste good, delicious toasted or just as they are, and they are so very versatile.
I’ve made them as rolls round for all the usual favourites including bacon or as sub rolls for sausages – yum – finally! as not had a decent bacon roll since giving up gluten! As rolls they have been taken on picnics, used at BBQs and baked into garlic bread with lots of herbs and garlic butter -just delicious.
More recently I have made the dough into round “Sandwich thins” by rolling out and cutting into 8 circles. Doing this has worked again brilliantly! I often toast them and have topped with anything from smoked salmon, basil pesto and cream cheese, peperonata, goats cheese, tapenade, prawns and good old cheese and tomato. I have used the thin as a base for a toasted open sandwich with mozzarella and Parma ham, fig and goats cheese, whipped feta and olives etc etc etc. Also, sweet with berry compote, nut butters etc etc.
Next experiment is going to be a base for pizza with a stuffed crust.
Emma this recipe is brilliant and has really made low carb, gluten free, grain free, egg free, lactose free so much easier for me so thank you very, very much.
Just wondering if anyone has worked out the calorie content of each roll. Just making my first batch as we speak. Thanks for the recipe. I’m gf, mildly hypothyroid and definitely overweight so this is the start of my healthy weight loss journey.
I just calculated this and they came out as 203 cals each. I’ve been looking for a low carb roll recipe to use my flaxseeds up so super excited!
Lorraine what’s the breakdown to arrive at 203 please? Seems a lot for a little roll.
From the calculations it averages out to about 11.9 g of carbs of protein per roll, still low carb but not 2 g of carb as listed. If you got otherwise, would you mind posting the brands you used with the nutritional information?
Thanks
Hello. Not entirely sure what you are suggesting, as carbs and protein are not the same thing and no where in the post have I indicated how many grams of protein are in each roll. It’s not something I work out.
But to give you the exact breakdown of carbs in the ingredients: 2.37g (linseed) + 0g (water) + 0g (olive oil) + 4.8g (coconut flour) + 0.22g (chia) + 0g (baking powder) + 0g (acv) = a total of 7.39g carbs (for ALL ingredients) DIVIDED by 6 rolls = 1.23g per roll. So, actually it is less than 2g a roll. My ingredients are all typical supermarket bought ones. My baking powder is not rice or corn based (Sodium Dihydrogen Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Calcium Sulphate) so contains 0g carbs. Hope that clears it up for you. Emma
I totally agree with Emma, just from looking at the recipe there is no way one bun would have 12g of carbs. Emma, thank you for this recipe, buns are in the oven and I cannot wait to try them. I really like how simple the recipe is and much cheaper than other ones I have tried before. Thank you. Barbora
Thank you so much Barbora. I hope you enjoy the buns. How did you get on? E x
I’m getting 10.9 grams of carbs also. Can’t understand where you get 2g
Hi,
10.9 for one roll??! Not sure how that is possible unless you are using ingredients that aren’t listed. Feel free to share your calculations.
To give you the exact breakdown of carbs in the ingredients: 2.37g (linseed) + 0g (water) + 0g (olive oil) + 4.8g (coconut flour) + 0.22g (chia) + 0g (baking powder) + 0g (acv) = a total of 7.39g carbs (for ALL ingredients) DIVIDED by 6 rolls = 1.23g per roll. So, actually it is less than 2g a roll. My ingredients are all typical supermarket bought ones. My baking powder is not rice or corn based (Sodium Dihydrogen Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Calcium Sulphate) so contains 0g carbs.
Emma
Confused. 2.37g of linseed/ flaxseed.
The recipe calls for 150g
I’m useless at this stuff. Lol. Sorry. They are tasty though.
Hi Emma. How many calories per roll please? Thanks.
Absolutely love these little rolls and have made two batches now. So happy to be able to have a palatable substitute for bread. I previously bought the Atkins rye crackers and they were so rubbish looked and tastes like cardboard. Well done Emma brilliant recipe xx
I’m new to low carb baking but am learning because my other half has recently been diagnosed type 2 diabetes. He loves bread but appreciates our usual wholewheat approach of many years needs changing so I’m going to try these little rolls. One question, please clarify cup measure. I have a set of cup measures but rarely use them- the one cup is 250ml, is that right for this recipe? Thanks. ps your recipes are inspiring, but I’m yet to try them.
Hi Brenda, sorry to hear about his diagnosis and I hope he is ok. I would suggest 240ml, that is what I use. I think 250ml would make the mixture too wet. The important thing to do is be able to form a dough that you can then roll in to rolls. You don’t want it to be so dry that it cracks. Hope that helps. Enjoy the recipes. Best, Emma x
These are great! Sadly My fitness Pal has the recipe come out at nearly 17g carbs per roll?? Any ideas?
Thank you. I don’t know how My Fitness Pal works, I avoid apps for nutritional calculations and prefer to look at the packets and work it out from the ingredients I use. If it is US based app then perhaps it’s because they work on total carbs rather than net carbs. Personally, I would suggest looking at Sainsbury’s or another supermarket site to work the carbs out as you can look up each ingredient and the nutritional info.
The exact breakdown of carbs in the ingredients I use: 2.37g (linseed) + 0g (water) + 0g (olive oil) + 4.8g (coconut flour) + 0.22g (chia) + 0g (baking powder) + 0g (acv) = a total of 7.39g carbs (for ALL ingredients) DIVIDED by 6 rolls = 1.23g per roll. So, actually it is less than 2g a roll. My ingredients are all typical supermarket bought ones. My baking powder is not rice or corn based (Sodium Dihydrogen Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Calcium Sulphate) so contains 0g carbs. Hope that helps. Emma
Using Nutrachek app and making 8 rounds and the ingredients I have it works it out as 3.1g of Carbohydrates per round. I swapped from MyFitnessPal to Nutrachek as myfitnesspal was never accurate especially with carbohydrates!
These are a winner!!
Great little rolls, I can taste the coconut a little,but I don’t understand why you do not tag as GLUTEN FREE….? Which they are…. you would have a lot more visits I am sure… 🙂 Well done. Another Graham
Thank you. Every recipe on my site is gluten and grain free 🙂
I tried to make these, but the inside of my rolls remained raw and sticky, even though I had them in the oven for about an hour or a little more. Not sure what I did wrong.How many ml of water do you suggest we use?
250ml water, is a UK standard cup. If you make them again, I would suggest adding the water little by little until you have a malleable dough. You don’t want them to be too dry. Leaving the mix to sit on the side is important when using flax / linseed, so if you find it is a little too dry after being left for 15-20 mins then you can add a little more of the liquid if needed. Occasionally people find the inside a little moist, but it shouldn’t be raw. Did you taste them? Sorry if this isn’t too helpful! It might just be that you need to use less liquid and increase the cooking time, depending on your oven. Best, Emma
I have never succeeded with a keto diet. After baking these lovely little rolls, I think this time I will. Thank you for such a great recipe.
For years I’ve been trying keto on and off. I never get over the keto flu, feel awful, and quit after a few weeks. My health is now so lousy (M.E.) I’m having another go, (four weeks so far) this time with the addition of your rolls. I eat them every day, (finally something as a vehicle to carry the egg/avocado/nut butter etc.) and I have had no keto flu at all! I am thinking that as they have so much fibre, they’re keeping me clean, and maybe the toxin build up is one of the reasons some of us feel so poorly on keto. I’m writing to say a huge thank you. Because of you, and all of your marvellous recipes, this time I will stay on the regime and hopefully I will eventually get some relief. I am very grateful to you. X
Dear Barbara
Sorry for my slow reply, what a joy to read your kind message. I am thrilled that the rolls have been such a success and so helpful for you. They are wonderful and your message has inspired me to make some tomorrow!
Best wishes, Emma xx
Apologies. I’ve figured it out. The flaxseed entry was all wrong. I got 2.9 carbs now. That will do. I’m in Ireland so product’s are different here.
Again. Sorry.
I have been on you site for over an hour, scrolling with joy through the plethora of mouth watering recipes you’ve created & I simply wanted to extend my thanks. I’ve been put on the pk (paleo keto) diet by my doctor & it was really starting to wear me down, even though in many ways I do feel better. Your recipes have given me hope that I can have health & enjoyment out of my food – ‘have my low carb cake and eat it too’! I can’t wait to get cooking. Thank you.
Hi Anya, thank you so much for your message, I am sorry for my slow response. Wishing you all the best and I do hope you enjoy my recipes. Best, Emma x
I subbed the coconut flour for almond (cos I had it in) and use veg oil as I was out of olive. They came out nice but REALLY oily. Next time I’ll try using just one tbsp of oil or maybe butter.
Could you use Coconut oil in place of the Olive Oil?