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!
If you made these, shipped them to me, I would fill my Keto freezer! Hope you are almost back to normal! Every time I get your divine recipes, I send you love and light!
my dough came out more like batter. still rose a bit and baked well. looked and tasted great still, just a little bit flat. i used a hand mixer when adding the flour ingredients. could that have the effect of making it a wetter dough? or was it more likely i messed up somewhere measuring? thanks.
I have made this twice. It is the very best keto bread I have ever made (and I have made many recipes – most were uggghh and a few were passable). This time I let it rise about 3.5 hrs in the oven warm. Then I turned the oven on and started cooking while preheating. I didn’t want it to fall with temp changes. I did flip pans around after 10 minute when I put the foil on. (I made a double batch and have a small oven.) It came out even better and rose a little more. I had heard on a podcast that Fox Hill lets their bread rise a really long time. (they didn’t say how long). This bread freezes really good; so that’s what I did. It’s so nice to have good bread on hand for my lunches. My non keto husband really likes it too! Thanks.
How can you call it yeast free when one of the ingredients used in this recipe is dry yeast?
Great recipe! every time I’ve made them they always come out so GOOD! thank you so much for the recipe…keep them coming!
First, love this site and love the texture of this bread. One question I do have is, our bread has a not so pleasant after taste. I don’t think my wife tastes it, but I was curious if you know what’s in this that could cause that?
I did everything EXACTLY as listed and bought everything for it. Why is the dough soooo wet? I cant even form balls but they’re like a sloppy wet mess. 😢
I am allergic to gluten therefore I am also allergic to yeast and whey protein which act as gluten in my body. Yeast and whey protein are cross reactive in people with gluten allergies. Do you have any substitutes you can use in these recipes for yeast and whey protein for people with gluten allergies?
Paola, help! I’ve made this recipe at least 6 times, and every single time, the bread collapses after baking! I even put a thermometer in the loaf this time to make sure I didn’t over bake it (pulled at 195F) and it still collapsed! What could I possibly be doing wrong?
Thanks!
I have the same problem with the bread collapsing after/during baking. It rises beautifully but doesn’t stay that way during baking. Did you get an answer? If so, can you forward it to me as well please.
Can I leave out the whey and psllyum husk?
Made these today. Measured/weighed as directed. Let them rise in closed oven for one hour and cooked them for 30 mins. They remind me of a whole wheat bread in color, texture and taste. Gave my husband one with natural pnut butter while warm. I am at sea level and these were not light and airy, but also not dense either. Next time I will add extra honey to feed the yeast longer and rise for 1.5 hours before baking. I don’t mind the whole wheat flavor, but a little more airy would be ideal for a burger. Best bread-like texture keto bread I have made so far. You are at 7,000 ft and I am at 11 ft. above sea level, so I will tweak this to work for my altitude.
These turned out really well for me, but gave me some serious explosive diarrhea about 6 hours later.
Is it possible to sub the whey with cologen protein powder?
What happens if ou leave out the apple cider vinegar?
Do you recommend any particular Whey Protein Isolate? I’ve never bought it and don’t really know where to start.
Wowwy!!! I gotta say, these were a bit involved for the first attempt, but they turned out great, and, SUPER DELICIOUS!!! GREAT recipe… 😃👍🏻😘❤️
Paola, love your recipes!! I was wondering about substituting vital gluten in any of these bread recipes. We are not gluten intolerant, would it improve the rise at all?
Thanks, Kevin
So awesome to hear Kevin! And MOST DEF!! But vital wheat isn’t an ingredient I personally use, so I can’t give too many pointers. But I suggest you search the comments in the sandwich bread recipe (ctrl+f) and you’ll find a couple threads on it 😉 xo!
Thanks for the reply. I’ll try some experiments with the recipe and let you know the results.
Thanks Kevin! Its always super helpful (as you can see!) when you guys share 🙂
I love the recipe, but I have to ask why you specify golden flaxseed, as opposed to brown? Brown flaxseed has more fat, as I understand it, and I feel like that would be beneficial for a keto dieter.
I made these today and what a game changer! I was worried that my psyllium husk might turn purple, but it did not. The smell of the yeast was terrific as it was baking. And it was a real treat to have a bbq cheeseburger with all the trimmings loaded on. The bun held its shape perfectly. Thanks for a great recipe!
I just made my first attempt at making the keto hamburger buns.
My yeast was nice and bubbly, but once I got to the proofing/rising of the buns, nothing happened. I even gave them an additional 10 minutes.
I did everything the recipe said, but for some reason my buns didn’t rise AT ALL. 😭 help??
Where did you proof them Krysta?! Remember they need extra warmth to rise!
Your yeast might have been old and if it doesn’t bubble in the warm water it’s prob dead. It’s a good check before adding the rest of the ingredients. If there are no bubbled when it’s in warm water after around 10 min you should chuck it and get new yeast. Hope this helps for the next time you try it.
I just noticed that it says to make sure you use room temperature eggs, or it may not rise at all. I also have been having this problem, but always forget to pull my eggs out early, so I’ll follow up with my results next time I make a batch (which, depending on the outcome of my current ‘proofing’, which is already at 60 minutes, may be tomorrow! LOL )
Cold eggs will always result in a longer proofing time Mark! xo!
p.s!! if you forget to take them out early, just run them under warm water for a few minutes 😉
I let them proof for about 70 minutes total, inside my oven after healing it just a lil. This batch turned out GREAT! By the way, you should try adding 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast flakes… Tastes amazing!
Thanks Paola!
Just put your fridge cold eggs into a bowl of very warm water 5 minutes or so, problem solved.
I put my cold eggs in a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes to bring them to room temperature.
OMG!! I made these last night!! Perfection!! The crumb was amazing! I used Mt. Capra goat whey without any obvious issues. They grilled up beautifully for a yummy pairing with our burgers! Thank you, thank you!!
I’m loving your bread recipes at the moment, I made this yesterday, they weren’t perfect but close enough.
I followed the recipe but I used instant yeast (that’s what I had on hands) but I will get the right yeast next time I go to the store; I will definitely make these again.
Also, next time, I’m thinking of making 6 buns instead of 8, they could have been a little bigger and see how it ends up.
I had an egg sandwich this morning; I’ve been missing that!
Thank you!!
I think you’ll find the instant dry yeast is better for a higher rise. 🙂
This recipe worked great for me – I slightly over-proofed them, so they deflated a bit and would have been even puffier if I hadn’t screwed up, but they certainly had a risen-bread-like quality to them and held up to a burger beautifully. I have discovered recently that I really dislike flax meal, so much so that I googled “I hate flax meal” and found that there is a section of the population that feels, as I do, that anything you add flax to ends up tasting whack. I’m excited to try the recipe again using ground chia seeds in place of the flax and see how that goes – will report back. Thanks for a rad recipe!
I have tried this recipe 3 times following directions as closely as possible and cant figure out why but all 3 times a fail! So dissappointed, lots of waste. 3rd time was closer after I discovered I was not using “golden flax” but still no rise. Can we say hockey pucks! I proof in warm oven, still just can’t get it to rise. Whats the deal with that?????????
Anyone else having this issue with rising?
Hi Paola!
Thanks so much for this recipe and your website- they’ve helped so much with my keto diet! I’ve a few questions for you. My boyfriend has an almond sensitivity, so almond flour is out of the question. I read on your dough recipe that sesame flour was a great alternative, but then saw that the carb count is way too high to be utilized (I’d be breaking keto with just a tbsp). What is a good alternative? I had to use coconut flour, and it just wouldn’t rise much and wasn’t flakey. Other changes I made to the recipes were:
-glucomannan flour instead of xanthan gum (doesn’t sit in our bellies well)
-inulin instead of honey (the yeast took very well to it)
They were still very tasty, but I would really like to achieve something more like a brioche. I would really appreciate your advice on this, as I’ve been struggling to find a solution.
Thanks so much! Also, your pancake recipe with the PB flour is divine!
Hi Paola!!
Can I use egg white powder instead of whey protein? Here in Brazil, the whey protein is ridiculously over price and os so hard to find a unflavored one…
I totally forgot I used salted butter and apparently too much salt since they came out pretty….salty. However, texture and crumb was not bad. I’ll mess with the salt content next time and see how the turn out.
Thanks for the recipe!
replying to myself….they were really too salty for the burgers. Functional, but meh. Then I had the w/ butter or cream cheese toasted the next couple of days and they were great. Loved them.
I’ll mess around with it some more. Great potential.
Check that you’re not using salted butter 😉 xo!
I used salted butter, and the kosher salt called for in the ingredients and found that while the texture is great, they were a little flat in taste. I’m going to increase the kosher salt or switch to RealSalt next time I make these.
Hi. I love the sound of this recipe but am dairy intolerant so whey protein is out of the question. I see where others have used powdered egg. I’m allergic to egg. Can I use egg replacer please?
Would making this on the “quick dough” cycle on my bread machine be overdoing it?
Looking forward to good hb buns!
Honestly I’ve never tried! But since it doesn’t really need kneading I think so 😉
Ok, thanks! Thanks for ALL of your hard work. <3
Will adjust rating after I try the recipe…. CAN I FREEZE THESE? Would like to make a big batch. I’m a single mom and never have any time. Can I double everything and still get the same results? Or should I just have two sets of bowls for everything? Thanks so much. You have some great recipes on your site! 🙂
I’m a single gal lol so I freeze everything lol! They do freeze great 😉
Do you freeze the dough or the cooked product?
Cooked!
I haven’t made these yet, but they are on my list. Paola, wondering if you have ever tried adding warm water to the flax meal before adding to the mixture? I make a low carb yeasted bread from low-carb scams.com that comes out great using reg. Ground flax. Thanks for all the fabulous recipes.