I am persevering in my low carb cooking. Because of the constant NHS nagging since I passed puberty and first went to a GP appointment, I joined their Second Nature program to get some peace, and appear as a Good Fatty on their books, instead of just being a Good Fatty by myself with no proof. 😉

So far the group hasn’t triggered any Slimming Club angst (the Slimming World effect is real)

and the coach repeatedly says this is not about calories or measuring or deprivation, please do not be hungry. She’s actively encouraging adventurous and varied cooking (I do not need help with that) and is being very nice.

My quest for decent low carb bread also continues, and this week I made some rolls that really hit the spot. They held up to bacon, which is a win.

Convenience can be a problem with low carb, as grabbing a sandwich for lunch, or a pasta salad doesn’t work as part of the plan.

If your aim is 20-40g of carbs a day, when you then you check a ‘healthy’ lunchtime option of a Tesco chicken salad sandwich, it can all fall down. 48g of carbs for that one pack. Chicken and bacon pasta? 66g of carbs just for a small lunch. An M&S Caesar salad is 20g, which is better but not great. Many of the ‘healthy’ options still have hidden sugars or carbs added in as fillers and cheap bulking agents. Difficult if you work in an office with limited lunch facilities, although the choice is definitely better than it used to be if you work in a large town or city.

I work from home, and sometimes the effort of making something quick from scratch for lunch every day gets wearing even for me with my love of cooking. Yes, I really do get bored of egg based options and the ‘what have I got ready that I can chuck in a salad’ question.

Being able to grab a meat/cheese/salad filled roll is fast, and leaves me more time for a lunchtime nap. I’m over 50 with a chronic illness, these rest times are important!

I took a recipe for low carb bread that I am familiar with and like a lot for toast, and tweaked it. Once it had proved for 15 minutes I shaped it into rolls and let it prove for another 45 minutes.

They rose a little, and I baked them at 180C Fan for 25-30 minutes, turning the tray around halfway through so they browned evenly.

The addition of oat fibre made a big difference. Flax seeds add a bouncy oily texture that some find hard to deal with, me included, and the oat fibre seemed to negate that. Not having that bounce was very nice. It made the roll feel more like ‘normal’ bread. I warn you, it does smell odd when you are mixing, but when it’s baked it smells like bread.

When I made the original Ketoserts recipe with mostly almond flour it felt more like a dense cake and not bread. Very nice, but not quite what I needed. You can play around with the mix of seed flours as well. The sesame seeds add a very nice gentle sweetness, and the sunflower adds a wholemeal texture. Flaxseeds give it some stretch and bounce but if you don’t like that, try altering the ratios. I also found ready ground sesame seed flour and that has come in very handy indeed. I brought down the amount of vital wheat gluten as well because that too can add a very odd bouncy texture. I may even try reducing that further or having the same amount of VWG and oat fibre but for now…

Of course they are not the white crusty roll most people love, but they work for me! I also think if I use half and half milk/water as the liquid, it might keep a softer crust like a burger bun. More experimentation ahead!

Low Carb Bread Rolls

3 tbs sesame seeds, ground to a powder (pulse or you’ll get tahini) = 30g of powder

3 tbs sunflower seeds, ground to a powder (pulse or you’ll get a sunbutter) = 32g of powder

3 tbs flaxseeds ground = 27g of powder (if you pre-grind, keep it in the fridge or it will go rancid)

46g blanched almond flour

100g vital wheat gluten

25g oat fibre (this is not oat flour, it’s from the fibre husk of the oat)

3 tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt – don’t skimp, it needs it

8g instant yeast

250ml warm water, (105-115°F/ 41°-46°C)

Chuck all the flours and powders in a bowl, then add in your water.

Stir and mix and press it all together until it becomes a sticky slightly shaggy ball of dough. Give it a good knead to make sure everything is mixed in.

Cover and leave it for 15 minutes to let the water get absorbed and the fibres swell up a bit.

Divide into 4 or 5 pieces – depends on what size you want the rolls – shape into rolls, place on a lined baking tray, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and leave to rise. I didn’t cover mine, I just put them in the cold oven and closed the door so there were no draughts.

After 40 minutes or so they should have risen a bit and be puffy to the touch.

Place in the preheated oven at 180C, turning the tray halfway through.

Place on a rack to cool – they will still be squidgy inside. Let them cool off properly, as this is not a bread you eat warm out of the oven.

Enjoy having a bacon roll!