Count on these gluten free, paleo and keto burger buns (with actual yeast!) to be pillowy-soft, absolutely delicious and with a killer crumb. And, per usual, not-eggy at all!
Gluten Free, Paleo & Keto Burger Buns 🍔
Pillowy-Soft! ☁️
These low carb buns are the off-spring of my beloved (soft ‘n fluffy!) sandwich bread. A truly delicious grain free bread in its own right (just read the reviews on that recipe!), and probably the closest recipe to an actual yeast bread on the site.
Though it does have a bit more ingredients, and you can easily whip my keto bagels as buns too (I know many of you do!). They’re a bit quicker, and also a good one if you can’t have flaxseed.
Still, these buns are my favorite. They keep very well at room temp for 4 days and freeze beautifully (think double batches, stashed away for a rainy day). Oh, and you might also be surprised how good this bread is even without toasting.
The Deets 
Making these paleo and keto burger buns is incredibly simple really. But, like with any yeasted bread, it does require you take care of a few details to ensure the best possible outcome.
The nice thing about these buns too, is that they didn’t fall at all post bake for me (hurray!). They’re size vs a sandwich loaf clearly does help with the lack of structure of grain-free flours.
Before rise
After rise
The Method
The yeast in these low carb and keto burger buns ensures a wonderful texture and taste. And note that you won’t get that gummy and wet texture here of most low carb breads. Plus, as mentioned, we’re baking at over 7,000 feet (Mexico City here!!), so if we can make this keto sandwich bread work so can you.
- Weigh your ingredients. This will forever be a staple recommendation for any sort of gluten free baking here at gnom-gnom. As aside from leading to less dirty dishes, it will ensure consistent results time and time again. Remember that gluten free (and particularly keto) baking is notoriously finicky, and measuring by cups is anything but accurate. And if you don’t own a baking scale, measure with cups by dropping the ingredients onto them rather than scooping them out (which often leads to overpacking).
- Ingredients at room temperature. Self explanatory really, but incredibly important (particularly for the eggs). If you add cold eggs to the mix your bread simply won’t rise much (if at all).
- Proof the yeast. This involves mixing dry active yeast with water that’s just warm to touch (between 105-110°F to be precise) and maple syrup or honey for 7 minutes until foamy. And before you scream sugar (!!) remember that the yeast will feed on such sugar to emit carbon dioxide, so it doesn’t affect the carb count. And yes, this is a scientific fact.
- Avoid abrupt temperature changes and air drafts. Like with any yeast bread, you need to cuddle your dough. Make sure it’s able to rest undisturbed in a warm space.
- Baking at high altitude? Yup, so am I (Paola here!!). I’ve tried quite a few combinations, and the one modification I will suggest is to increase your oven temperature by 25°F. You may also need to decrease the baking time by 5 minutes (I baked the bread for 45 mins), but that may change from oven to oven.
Yup! These low carb burger buns are suuuper sturdy (i.e. they can handle outrageous burgers!).
The Ingredients & Possible Subs
The buns do have quite a few ingredients, but you’ll find that most are staple paleo and keto pantry ingredients. In the list below you’ll find details on several ingredients and possible subs. But if possible, please do try and make this recipe without any subs. As out of the 18 permutations we tried, this one really was terrific and the absolute best.
Almond flour. You truly need a super finely ground almond flour here, as if you use meal your bread will turn out dense and oily. Super fine almond flour brands include Anthony’s , WellBees and Bob’s.
Now if paleo, or in keto maintenance, you can lighten up the bread even more by substituting part of the almond flour (1/4-1/2 cup) with arrowroot flour.
Flaxseed meal. You’ll want to use golden flaxseed meal (we use Bob’s), and regrind the flakes in your (very dry!) bullet or blender until finely powdered. Great way to avoid slimy bread. You can technically substitute the flaxseed meal with psyllium husk powder, but we prefer the crumb much more with the flax.
Psyllium husk powder. Same as with your flaxseed meal, you’ll always want to regrind your psyllium husk. We always favor NOW brand as it doesn’t turn bread purple. You can substitute it with more flax, but your bread may lose some elasticity and rise.
Whey protein isolate. This one is an absolute must, as it will ensure your bread doesn’t collapse post-bake. Keep in mind that this ingredient varies tremendously from brand to brand, and we’ve only tried (and are super happy!) with Isopure’s Zero Carb Unflavored.
Now, the cream of tartar and powdered ginger help to condition the dough to get an even nicer rise. Though note that you can skip them without too much detriment to the final results.
Oh, and feel free to whip up some (5-minute!) keto mayo with the leftover yolks! And, of course, don’t forget the jicama fries!
(Pillowy-Soft!) Gluten Free, Paleo & Keto Burger Buns
Ingredients
For the paleo & keto burger buns
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey, to feed the yeast (pssst! no sugar will remain post bake)*
- 120 ml water lukewarm between 105-110°F
- 168 g almond flour **
- 83 g golden flaxseed meal finely ground
- 15 g whey protein isolate
- 18 g psyllium husk finely ground
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum or 4 teaspoons ground flaxseed meal**
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 110 g egg whites about 3, at room temperature
- 56 g grass-fed butter or ghee, melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 58 g sour cream or coconut cream + 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, at room temp
Instructions
For the paleo & keto burger buns
- See recipe video for guidance on keto yeast breads. And check out the post for deets, tips and possible subs!
- Line a baking tray with a baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add yeast and maple syrup (to feed the yeast, see notes) to a large bowl. Heat up water to 105-110°F, and if you don't have a thermometer it should only feel lightly warm to touch. Pour water over yeast mixture, cover bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 7 minutes. The mixture should be bubbly, if it isn't start again (too cold water won't activate the yeast and too hot will kill it).
- Mix your flours while the yeast is proofing. Add almond flour, flaxseed meal, whey protein powder, psyllium husk, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and ginger to a medium bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
- Once your yeast is proofed, add in the egg, egg whites, lightly cooled melted butter (you don't want to scramble the eggs or kill the yeast!) and vinegar. Mix with an electric mixer for a couple minutes until light and frothy. Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and mixing until thoroughly incorporated. You want to mix thoroughly and quickly to activate the xanthan gum, though the dough will become thick as the flours absorb the moisture.
- Divide dough into 6-8, shaping them into rounds using lightly wet hands. Cover with lightly oiled cling film (saran wrap), cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm draft-free space for 40-60 minutes until the buns have substantially increased in size (see post for pics!). How long it takes depends on your altitude, temperature and humidity- so keep an eye out for it every 15 minutes or so. And keep in mind that you do need a bit extra warmth than traditional gluten doughs (I like placing the tray on top of my oven!).
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C while the dough is proofing. And if you're baking at high altitude, you'll want to bake it at 375°F/190°C.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until deep golden, covering with a lose foil dome at minute 10-15 (just as it begins to brown). Just be sure that the foil isn't resting directly on the buns.
- Allow to cool completely for best texture, but you can get away with waiting just 15-20 mins for fresh warm buns!
- Keep stored in an airtight container (or tightly wrapped in cling film) at room temperature for 4-5 days, giving it a light toast before serving. Though you'll find that this keto bread is surprisingly good even without toasting!
My rolls didn’t rise at all, any suggestions as to what I may have done wrong?
Please forgive me if someone asked this question. I tried to glance through most of the 143 comments, but didn’t see my question.
Anyone tried to freeze these? I made a batch of 8 of these lovely, delicious tasting buns. I could not wait until dinner to add the meat (hamburger) as they smelled so wonderful coming out of the oven! but it is only me eating keto. I can certainly find ways to eat them, but would love to save a few. But if they don’t taste as well, or consistancy changes, I would rather not. THANKS for another wonderful recipe!
I am an experience baker and have made many different kind of bread.
But every time I try one of your low-carb bread recipes, they fail! This one did not rise, post baking, very much…even though I used the “proof” cycle on my oven (which works very well with flour/yeast breads) and barely rose while baking.
I wouldn’t call the rolls “fluffy” and they seemed a bit gummy to me. I know I followed the recipes to a “T”, using a scale to measure ingredients.
If you can provide some reasons why the recipe didn’t work, I would appreciate it. I’d love to be able to have some good tasting bread on my low-carb diet!
OK> I’m new to keto. I don’t like the eggy bread recipes I’ve tried so far, so I was so excited to try this. Mine did NOT come out soft and “pillowy” like your did. I followed to the absolute letter. Mine came out kind of wet and biscuit like. Could it be I needed to bake a few minutes longer?
Also, I panicked when I mixed the egg, proofed yeast ghee and vinegar. It did not get frothy. It looked curdled. Are you supposed to whip it and get a beaten egg white consistency? Mine just looked curdled and was spraying all over the place. Do you mix, blend or whip at high speed? I forged ahead anyway. They did rise considerably after 60 min. over a warm stovetop. Baked up nice looking, but the texture was not at all what I expected. Mine were more like door stops! Any suggestions?
I just made these and they are yum! My dough was really moist – I weighed everything including the egg whites – so mine are not as puffy – any idea how I should make them lest moist? Add more flour maybe? thanks
Me, too. Mine rose, but they were more dense (less open bubbles inside after baking) than the photos. Yeast proofed nice and foamy. I have a stand mixer, not handheld. I wasn’t sure how high speed to beat the mixture when adding the eggs etc, or how foamy it should be before adding the flour mixture.
The results were good, but as I always do, I’ve made notes of changes I’ll make the next time
Thanks for all the great recipes! I’ve never had anything but yum from them!!! A couple things…I’m dairy free for the most part, so I sub organic egg powder for whey always, with no problem, and after reading in several articles the toxicity of flax, (raw yes, but WAY more when heated), I found organic oat bran Cecily Reading FLOUR) works great, and has no carbs!
Cecily, How can oat bran flour have zero carbs? Oats, it’s flour or oat bran & thus its flour is full o carbs by nature.. 🤔.. perhaps there is a particular brand you’re referring to??🙏
Actually the oat fiber works better than oat bran. The oat fiber is not digestible hence no carbs.
I’m sorry, that is what I use! Thanks!
Hi Paola,
I just made these and they are just out of the oven, so haven‘t tried them yet. But they look and smell fabulous. Like real yeast bread. I haven‘t made your bread in quite a while ( a bit too tempting to have around). ut its burger week here in Halifax, NS and I really want to go out and try one and wld just sub in my own burger bun!
I am hoping they freeze well. I recall the bread did actually.
I am now thinking of adapting these buns to make Hot Cross buns for Easter with the addition of pumpkin spices and may throw in some walnuts or pecans instead of currants. Or som nonsugared cranberries. In any case I used to lve baking the wheat/ yeast version every Easter and am excited to try it with this recipe.
Thanks for all your recipe innovations, love the chili, pastry, icecreams(!!!), butter chicken and anything else I have tried from your site.
Love this recipe! Thank you !!
About the Nutrition Fact, I get readings of Total Carbs: 15.9g and Dietary Fiber: 6.5g using recipe nutrition calculator by SparksPeople (to record all my eats) instead of what was listed here Total Carbs: 9g and Dietary Fiber: 6g. It’s a huge difference! May I know why is that so?
I am using Bob’s Mill Super Fine Almonds Flour & Xanthum Gum, ISOPURE Unflavoured Whey Protein Isolate and NOW Food Psyllium Husk for this recipe.
Thank you.
Are you entering your ingredients by weight or volume? If by volume, the numbers might differ quite a bit!
I always track macros by weight.
These came out great Paola! Thank you for making this recipe perfect.
I made these for the third time today and they were better than ever! I made up 3x the dry mix, and separate it into recipe-size portions, so that I can just add the wet ingredients, proof, and bake. That made it so much easier.
I have to say, following the directions exactly really makes a difference. I accidentally left out the xanthan gum in my last batch and they didn’t rise nearly as well (still delicious, though). I proof the bread in a warm oven and watch it closely, then after baking, turn the oven off and crack open the door to let it cool slowly. No collapse whatever, and the buns look and taste spectacular. I make six buns and slice them horizontally into four slices and use the top and bottom for buns and the inner slices for sandwich bread. You are a genius, Paola!
can I refrigerate in order to slow down the rise? They are made and now I need to leave for a couple hours so hoping I can save them.
Hi pat! You can, they just might not rise as much (but on the plus side you’ll get even more of the lovely yeast flavor!). When you take them out of the fridge, let them proof in a warm spot for a couple hours xo!
So I couldn’t have screwed these up worse if I tried….and they still came out delicious!
I didn’t proof the yeast and ended up treating active dry yeast as though it were instant yeast as I didn’t read the directions properly and mixed the yeast in with my dry ingredients…. I didn’t have any cream of tartar, I used molasses cuz that’s all I had and I made 10 buns instead of 8 just because another senior moment hit while cutting the dough 🙂 You know you’ve got a good recipe when you screw it up and it’s still yummy! I’m trying the bread version today…..
Hi, I’ve read this and several other bread related recipes on this site thoroughly before starting to be sure I had the right ingredients. While waiting and waiting for my rolls to rise, I came across this recipe: https://www.gnom-gnom.com/90-second-keto-bread/ Of particular note, you say in it something important that isn’t mentioned any of the other recipes. You state the difference between golden and regular flaxseed, and there seems to be a big one. Not knowing this, I used the regular kind because it was easiest to find. So here I sit with dough blobs which aren’t rising, extremely disappointed but glad I learned this tidbit for a future try at this. Perhaps you could mention this in the ingredient details for each recipe?
Thank you for letting me know it needs extra clarification here 😉
I’ve made this recipe now several times, and I absolutely love the way these buns come out every time!
Today I made a new batch of them because I wanted to demonstrate to my friend who is newly diagnosed with diabetes and will be visiting us this weekend, that you can have some really good bread while cutting out carbs.
But unfortunately, I made a mistake.
I accidentally put the xanthan gum packet in with the water and sugar to “proof”, thinking it was the packet of yeast. When I looked at it a few minutes later, the mixture had turned into an awful mess of slimy globules. I dumped it into the trash, without actually figuring out what had happened.
I mixed up a new batch of yeast and water with some maple syrup on the second go-round, and it proofed just fine, so I moved on with the recipe. I did see the empty xanthan packet on the counter at some point, and I thought I must have put it in the bowl with the rest of the dry ingredients.
It wasn’t until I was cleaning up after putting the buns in the oven to proof, that I saw only one empty yeast packet. I realized that the first batch of water and sugar had had the xanthan gum in it, and that I’d never actually put it in the bread.
I put the bun dough in a bun pan to let them rise. They only rose a little bit. I finally stuck them into the oven and they baked up beautifully, but were pretty flat, instead of well-risen like before. I cooled and sliced them into three horizontal slices, and they were still unbelievably good–perfect texture and flavor, and oddly not dense at all.
Do you think the lack of xanthan gum in the recipe could have caused them not to rise? Could it have been the age of my baking powder (expiration date: 2020)- I’ll test it to make sure it’s still viable. I KNOW this recipe works and is outstanding, just looking for why it failed to rise this time!
I have a question, my dad, whom I cooking for, cannot have any whey. I’m at a lose because your recipe looks amazing! Yet, is there any way, substitutions, or anything I can do to make this recipe work without the whey protein isolate?
Thanks!
I’m not Paola here, but I have had good experiences substituting pea protein isolate for whey protein isolate. In fact, pea PI supposedly makes things even more “bready” than WPI.
Hi Magen
I have read on her website that Whey Protein Isolate is absolutely essential and that Whey Protein wouldn’t work.
But that was all I had so I gave it a try anyway, and it was perfectly good!
I’ve tried to substitute with Soy Protein with success, just note that the type of protein may ‘stand out’ a bit in your finished good. Both were Bob’s Red Mill brand btw. They also carry Hemp Protein and egg white powder which are good replacements imo. Good Luck!
I substitute organic egg white powder all the time with no problems!
Hi, I am new to baking keto and the eggy breads are so not palatable. Excited to try this. Only wondering if this will work with instant yeast, and if so how will the method change? Thank you
I can’t even find words to describe how perfect these buns are. Superb taste, texture and fluffiness. I made them the first time and was so won over that I doubled the recipe the second time and froze them individually and I grab one whenever we go out for burgers to swap the buns!!
I don’t seem to have luck with proofing yeast, I’ve made your sandwich loaf twice and never really gotten it to rise. Is there any way we could use the instant yeast that you don’t have to proof?
Check to make sure your flaxseed is the golden kind. I just used regular, not knowing how big a difference there is, and my rolls didn’t rise. I stumbled across this where she mentions this detail: https://www.gnom-gnom.com/90-second-keto-bread/
The best gluten free bread.
Paola,
Dairy is a bit of an issue for us. That is to say, anything derived from cows milk. We can handle the butter and the sour cream, since that is just the fat off the top. But whey protein isolate is a no-no.
Do you see any issue with using Pea protein isolate instead? Will with this modify the consistency, structure, or taste too much? Would there be another ingredient we might need to tweak or add to accommodate for Pea protein?
hi there, i am going to embark on this recipe today, but i am wondering, before i get going, is the recipe complete? i have the ingredients assembled in front of me and it doesnt look like i will get 8 buns out of less then 10 ounces of dry ingredients. where did i go wrong?
Hey!
Im wondering if the .5 egg means half an egg? And if the 1.5 egg whites is an egg 1/2? Let me know please!
Hi Abby! I’m intrigued where you’re getting the 1/2 egg? Im reading 1 egg and 3 egg whites? Xo!
OK totally makes sense now! I had adjusted the recipe for just 4 buns and thats where the confusion came from. I will re-attempt without doing the adjustment, they did turn out really yummy! Just didnt rise as much..because I didnt have the right egg ratio. Thanks so much!
That would be 3 T of the packaged egg whites
Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe. Just wondering if you have tried this without the coconut cream or sour cream or what the function of this ingredient is? I under the additional vinegar will decrease the pH and work with the baking powder but there is plenty of moisture coming from the butter and water so Im a bit confused. Thank you in advance for your help!
ps. i have checked the full bread thread you have as well on this topic
Hi Aneta! Helps with texture and taste imo. Can use water if you want, but i like the touch xo!
Thank you so much for the quick reply. Trying to deal with some allergens. Any chance you have a substitution for the almond flour and use only coconut? Would you have an idea of the ratio?
Coconut won’t work at all… sunflower seed flour is the closest sub I know of (but I haven’t tried it myself here si can’t guarantee) 😘
Made these today, turned out perfecty!
Can’t wait to try all your other recipes. They all look amazing! Thanks so much for sharing!
What is the sub ratio for replacing flax with physllium? I cannot get golden flax here only the brown. I want to make these tomorrow!
I really need to know do I sub the flax with the physllium 1:1? I cannot get golden flax where I live. I want to make these tomorrow.
I believe you can use more psyllium husk or maybe extra almond flour. Read the full blog post, sometimes the answers are already in there.😊 Good luck!
I bake these buns every Sunday, to last me my working week, I freeze one for the 5th day, they taste just as great on the last day as they do on the first day. I love your yeast proof recipes, you are so clever Paola. Just bought your book, very excited 😆
Came out WAY too wet to shape. Any idea what I may have done wrong?? I s there some way to correct consistency if this happens next time?
Hi Paola
Love so many of your recipes!
Question:
My buns seem to flatten out as they prove and then bake… unlike yours that seem to stay rounded. I am following your recipe to a T with the accept ion if collagen powder instead of whey. Wondering if they are too moist? Can I increase the flours slightly? These are truly amazing with an incredible crust.
Thank you.
This is sort of a necro-post, but I wanted to comment because this is something I learned this year, and it’s germane to the issue.
Unlike whey protein isolate, collagen protein is not a complete protein. Your hair, skin, and nails love it, but it doesn’t do much for the protein needs of your lean muscle mass.*
This being the case, it’s not going to provide the same protein scaffolding to support the structure of your bread the way a complete protein would. If casein sensitivity is your issue, try a plant-based protein instead. Pea or hemp seem to give decent results. Plant-based proteins aren’t complete proteins either in the way that animal-based proteins are, but they’re a lot closer than collagen gets.
* For people tracking your protein macro, omit the protein provided by collagen supplements and pork rinds (also collagen!) from your daily total. If you count those, you may accidentally be shorting yourself of protein your muscles need. There’s nothing wrong with collagen at all, just don’t use it to fill out your daily protein goal.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Can leave out apple cider vinegar? any substitution?
Thank you and looking forward
I made mine with rice wine vinegar & they turned out perfect with a nice delicate flavour & good texture.
Can you leave off psyllium husk powder. It upsets my stomach