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Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread, Focaccia or Pizza Crust

July 14, 2014 By elviira 26 Comments

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Basil | Low-Carb,So Simple!

Flat bread, focaccia, deep pan pizza crust… use this batter as you wish to create your personal culinary heaven! This bread or crust is soft, fluffy but firm, and it holds extremely well together. It’s also quick and easy to make and bake.

 

 

 

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Basic Flat Bread | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

 

 

Tips for making the flat bread

The quality of the whey protein very much affects to the texture of the ready bread. Actually, it affects to the rising of the bread as well. I’ve noticed that Bakepro (link in Swedish), a Swedish-made whey protein used to work best, but I think the product is not available anymore. It was of fantastic quality and great for baking. And since that product is not available, I often use unflavored whey protein from Natural Factors. It works equally well. I’ve tried also some other brands, but I haven’t got very great results with those. Moreover, many whey protein brands tend to smell like rotten eggs. These two are almost odorless.

One note about eggs. They should be at room temperature. Always when you bake, use eggs at room temperature since they produce the fluffiest result. Try to find truly organic, free-range eggs.

This bread is best when consumed fresh. The surface of the bread might become sticky if you store the bread longer than a day or two. If you need to store the bread, the best place is in the freezer. It’s a good idea to separate the pieces with parchment paper so that they don’t get stuck to each other.

This bread (or pizza or focaccia) is very satiating, so be prepared that you cannot eat that much than the usual gluten-filled high-carb bread.

Making of this bread is very simple. Let’s take a look:

Place the almond flour in a medium bowl. A one-liter (34 fl oz) yogurt container worked well for me.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Almond Flour in a Bowl | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

Add the whey protein…

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Adding the Whey Protein | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

…baking powder…

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Adding the Baking Powder | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

…and the salt.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Adding the Salt | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

Mix until well mixed. Set aside for a while.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Mixing the Dry Ingredients | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

Place the eggs in a large bowl.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Putting the Eggs in a Large Bowl | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

Beat with an electric mixer…

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Beating the Eggs | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

…until very very fluffy and pale, like this.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Fluffy Eggs | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

Add the dry ingredients.

Flat Bread Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Adding the Dry Ingredients| Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

Mix well, for example with rubber spatula.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Mixing with Rubber Spatula | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

The ready batter should be smooth.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Ready Batter | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

Pour the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Pouring the Batter on a Baking Sheet | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

You don’t necessarily have to spread the batter if you prefer thick bread or focaccia. If you prefer thinner bread, just spread the dough to the preferred thickness with rubber spatula. For me the thickness of the ready bread — when I just poured the batter and didn’t spread it — was approximately 0.85 inches (2.2 cm).

 

Ready to the oven!

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Ready to the Oven | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

 

 

 

Print
Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread, Focaccia or Pizza Crust

Author: Elviira

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread, Focaccia or Pizza Crust

  • 2 cups = 480 ml = 8 oz = 230 g almond flour (for example Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1/2 cup = 120 ml = 1.5 oz = 45 g unflavored whey protein
  • 2 teaspoons aluminium-free baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
  • 5 extra large organic (free-range) eggs
  1. Preheat the oven to 300 °F (150 °C).
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Combine the almond flour, whey protein, baking powder and the salt in a medium bowl. Mix well. Set this dry ingredient mixture aside for a while.
  4. Place the eggs in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until almost white and really fluffy. This usually takes several minutes depending on how powerful mixer you have.
  5. Fold the dry ingredient mixture gently to the eggs preferably with a rubber spatula. Mix until the batter is smooth and the dry and wet ingredients are mixed well.
  6. Pour the batter on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The baking time also depends on the thickness of the bread.
  8. Let cool slightly and cut into pieces. Enjoy fresh.
4.5.2.16
https://www.lowcarbsosimple.com/gluten-free-low-carb-flat-bread-focaccia-pizza-crust/
Images, text and recipe fully copyrighted by Low-Carb, So Simple

 


 

Nutrition information Protein Fat Net carbs kcal
In total: 123.5 g 154.9 g 20.9 g 1972 kcal
Per piece if 12 pieces in total: 10.3 g 12.9 g 1.7 g 164 kcal
Per piece if 16 pieces in total: 7.7 g 9.7 g 1.3 g 123 kcal
Per piece if 20 pieces in total: 6.2 g 7.7 g 1.0 g 99 kcal
Per piece if 24 pieces in total: 5.1 g 6.5 g 0.9 g 82 kcal

 

 

 

My experiments with the flat bread/pizza crust

Warning! This chapter is veeery boring as I don’t have power to create any elaborate, florid text now, so you can skip it altogether. Well, if you suffer from insomnia, you for sure fall asleep after reading the following text…

Just very quickly about the development process of this bread, as I’m already so late with this post. There is a summer break from the day care, and since my over-active three-year-old son is around, there is almost no free time for me. In any case, he is my number one priority, so I’d rather spend time with him now than regret it later that when he was kid I didn’t spend enough time with him.

In the spring I was craving for flat bread, something completely different from the usual flat bread I make. I fancied fluffier bread which wouldn’t be that heavy and moist. Maybe something, which I can use as focaccia or pizza crust as well.

I wanted to use almond flour as base and baking powder as leavening agent to ensure fluffiness and proper rising. However, the other ingredients needed some pondering.

Whey protein usually gives firmness and also helps the bread rise. It also makes the baked goods hold well together. So, I wanted to try out how whey protein will work in this flat bread experiment.

Eggs were a natural part of almond flour and whey protein based bread. I wanted to use whole eggs and beat them incredibly fluffy to produce also the fluffiest, lightest, spongiest and airiest result. Well, the absolutely fluffiest result you get if you separate the eggs, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and then fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter. Anyway, I was feeling too lazy to separate anything but just wanted to use the easiest and the quickest methods.

After almond flour, baking powder and whey protein there were not that many ingredients missing from my maximum five ingredients, basically just one. That one was reserved to something to give flavor to my bread. Salt would be the entitled ingredient for this purpose. I always could add more seasonings later when I’m completely satisfied with the texture of my bread. Well, I could even replace salt with stevia to get sweet bread, which in fact would be cake, as the texture of this bread is quite cake-like.

Actually, usually you don’t count salt as ingredient. Since I love simple recipes which don’t meander and look too complicated and long even they use five ingredients, I like my recipes to contain maximum five items. I think I should call my blog “gluten-free, sugar-free recipes with 5 items or less”. That would be more realistic. However, in the future I might want to add some more items but just keep the maximum amount of actual ingredients at five.

For me the biggest turn-off is a recipe which contains, let’s say, some 15 ingredients or more. Even those with 10 ingredients are depressing. I think I would never ever even bother to read through the recipe and the ingredient list if it contains 15 ingredients. Yep, call me self-indulgent and impatient.

But back to the topic. I simply was calculating the needed amounts of ingredients in my mind. My first experiment contained 2/3 cup (160 ml) Bakepro, 2 cups (480 ml) almond flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 4 extra large organic eggs. I used Maldon sea salt flakes and sprinkled 1 tablespoon of those (waaay too much!) on top of the bread before putting it in the oven.

The result was firm and fluffy, almost cake-like bread. Superb texture and taste, I would say. Well, the amount of salt was exaggerated, 1–2 teaspoons Maldon salt would have been enough. Anyway, the bread was slightly too dry for my liking, so I wanted to continue experimenting.

I still made some further experiments with reducing the amount of whey protein, increasing the amount of almond flour or adding one more egg. I also made rolls where I added some sparkling water and separated the eggs. Those rolls were light and amazingly fluffy, and really delicious! Those who have followed me on Facebook might be familiar with my experiment. What the heck, I place a photo of those rolls here anyway:

 

Flat Bread; Roll Experiment | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

They just were so great! The only bad (or not…) thing was, that you had to eat them immediately, as the whey protein made the surface of the rolls very sticky if stored longer than a day. The water was even intensifying this feature (as I have some background in software development, I call it a ‘feature’, not a ‘bug’.)

 

 

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Basic Flat Bread with Crushed Garlic and Olive Oil| Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

 

Tips for variation

Needless to say, it’s really easy to get variation to this bread. If you make flat bread, you can spice up the batter with your favorite seasoning. My all-time favorite seasoning, Garlic Bread Seasoning, is unfortunately discontinued so I use my own mixture of garlic, onion, paprika, basil, oregano, thyme and marjoram. Actually, almost any combo of herbs, spices, onion flakes, crushed garlic, etc. works in this bread. Also, I love to spread a mixture of crushed, fresh organic garlic and organic extra virgin olive oil on top of the ready bread when it’s still hot. You can see a photo of that variation above.

You can even make croutons from the ready bread. Just chop the bread into cubes and let dry. Alternatively, you can fry the cubes in a small amount of butter or olive oil.

 

Tips for making pizza from this batter

You can use the batter to make a deep pan pizza crust. I have noticed that 300 °F (150 °C) is just the right temperature for flat bread. However, pizza needs higher temperatures. Therefore I use 350 °F (175 °C) if I make pizza.

When I make pizza I pour the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and then spread the batter so that it’s approximately 0.3 inches (0.7 cm) thick. Then I prebake the crust for 5–10 minutes, remove it from the oven, add the toppings, put the creation again in the oven and bake it until the cheese is melted and got golden color.

As a rule of thumb, the thicker the crust, the more you need toppings. Otherwise the pizza is just too dry and bland, at least in my opinion. Maybe I have eaten too much pizza with overly thick crust when I was kid. I still remember those chewy and dry pizzas my mom used to make. Well, she is a fantastic cook but we seem to share different opinion what makes a perfect pizza.

The last photo in this blog post is about pizza where I added ham, salami, red chili pepper and naturally plenty of cheese and oregano as toppings. On the crust, I made a simple tomato sauce by adding natural, unsweetened tomato sauce, tomato paste, onion powder, dried oregano and liquid stevia together and mixed well. When I was shooting the photos and arranging the pizza slices on the blue plate, the best-looking slice fell down on the floor and got completely mashed! So, I just had to throw it away…

 

 

Tips for making focaccia from this batter

In the first photo of this blog post you can see focaccia, which is simply topped with cherry tomato slices. I’ve placed fresh basil leaves on top of ready focaccia.

When you make focaccia, just follow the directions for the flat bread. Before putting the bread in the oven, add your favorite toppings, like herbs, onion, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped olives, bell pepper slices, etc. Bake as directed. It’s as simple as that!

Enjoy!

 

Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread / Deep Pan Pizza Crust; Pizza | Low-Carb,So Simple!

 

 
P.S. Remember to check my other popular bread recipes: this one with only 3 ingredients, and this fluffy bread with only 4 ingredients!
 

 

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Filed Under: Appetizers, Breads, Breakfasts, Snacks & Savory Treats Tagged With: almond flour, bread, breakfast, carbs under 5, whey protein

Previous Post: « Sugar-Free Lemony Melon Ice Pops (Vegan)
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie

    December 9, 2016 at 18:34

    Greetings, Elviira! I’ve tried a couple of the bread recipes, which turned out very well. However, I’m not sure if it was the protein powder or the nut butter that gave the bread a slightly “sticky” texture. Any thoughts on what might have caused this?
    Here’s where I don’t intend to offend or be misunderstood … you have so many bread recipes, and like everything else, when I get too many options, I have a hard time choosing! 🙂 I’m wondering if you have a favorite sandwich/hamburger bun/savory/artisan replacement recipe? Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!

    Reply
    • elviira

      December 9, 2016 at 21:11

      Hi Julie! Thanks for your comment and also many thanks for trying my recipes! It’s the whey protein which makes sometimes sticky texture in this bread. You can actually use less whey protein to try to reduce the stickiness.

      My favorite is this bread: https://www.lowcarbsosimple.com/simple-and-fluffy-glutenfree-lowcarb-bread/. Even it uses whey protein, it has never turned out sticky for me. To be on the safe side, you might want to use half whey protein and half egg white protein (i.e. egg white powder). You can also create “buns” out of the dough by baking it in mini loaf pans. I’ve done it often and the mini loaves tend to rise wonderfully! Hope it works for you too!

      Reply
      • Julie

        December 9, 2016 at 22:21

        Thanks for being so incredibly kind and patient, Elviira. I wish you the best and more!

        Reply
        • elviira

          December 10, 2016 at 07:02

          You are very welcome, Julie! All the best for you, too!

          Reply
    • NoniB

      July 17, 2017 at 02:52

      Just found this site while searching for GF/low-carb bread recipes and got all excited when I noticed ‘whey’ because I have about half a gallon of fresh whey every time I make Greek-style yogurt (the only type I make). However, I doubt my liquid whey will be an acceptable alternative to dry whey powder eh. I end up using my whey as a soaking medium for chicken (think ‘buttermilk fried chicken’) for which it does very well. If you folks know of any GF/LC recipes that use liquid whey, I’d looooove to see them!

      Reply
  2. Locarb

    October 29, 2016 at 17:57

    Hi

    Have you tried Valio’s whey protein? Or does it have to be only baking whey protein (en osaa sanoa englanniksi, tarkoitan että onko sen oltava juuri leipomiseen tarkoitettua heraproteiinia)?

    Reply
    • elviira

      October 29, 2016 at 18:15

      Hi, I don’t use Valio products at all since I completely hate the company. I don’t even want to think how many Finns they have made ill… and they don’t give a s**t about that. But the whey protein doesn’t have to be meant for baking, any pure whey protein will do. Currently I use Northforce Natural Pure Whey Protein Powder, I have bought it from Prisma. It’s a Finnish product, I think the company is located in Kuusamo. Hope this helps! (And just say if you prefer my reply in Finnish and I will reply in Finnish 🙂 )

      Reply
  3. Flaoua

    September 17, 2015 at 23:03

    Thanks a lot for this recipe, which looks totally awesome 🙂
    I was wondering, how many individual pizza crusts can you bake with this recipe ? Because 1972 kcal is quite high if it’s for just one pizza crust :/

    Reply
    • elviira

      September 19, 2015 at 14:50

      Great that you like it 🙂 In this case one pizza crust is covering the whole baking sheet, so it’s indeed pretty big. You can divide it as many parts as you want to.

      Reply
  4. MP

    July 14, 2015 at 12:53

    I don’t use Almond Flour, but was wondering if you have ever tried Coconut Flour?

    Reply
    • elviira

      July 14, 2015 at 18:26

      I haven’t tried this recipe with coconut flour, but otherwise I use coconut flour much more than almond flour, simply because it’s more affordable. I haven’t calculated how much coconut flour you would need in this recipe, the measures are so much different from those of almond flour.

      Reply
  5. Danielle

    June 17, 2015 at 03:53

    Just wondering instead of whey protein can I use flaxseed meal instead?

    Reply
    • elviira

      June 17, 2015 at 04:57

      Hi Danielle, that’s an interesting idea. I wonder if flax seed would need some fluid to absorb, otherwise the bread might turn out too dry and crumbly. By the way, I have this flatbread recipe where I use heavy cream with flax seed (you can use also for example almond milk): https://www.lowcarbsosimple.com/flatbread/. That might be also interesting to you.

      Reply
  6. Ron

    April 2, 2015 at 22:23

    I have low * high for a print “BUTTON” is there one.

    Thank you for keeping up the good work.
    RonB

    Reply
    • elviira

      April 2, 2015 at 23:41

      I just started to use a new plugin for recipes, just a sec and I’ll edit the recipe that the print button is better visible also in this recipe 🙂

      Reply
      • elviira

        April 2, 2015 at 23:52

        There we go! The print button is now in the upper right corner of the recipe. Hope you like it!

        Reply
  7. Jeanette

    August 12, 2014 at 17:06

    Can I leave out the whey protein?

    Reply
    • elviira

      August 12, 2014 at 18:25

      Hi Jeanette, basically yes, but the texture will be somewhat different (crumblier, more moist, doesn’t hold that well together) and the bread doesn’t rise that much.

      Reply
  8. Carol

    July 28, 2014 at 19:24

    Great recipe – I love all of the extra tips too. The more uses for a recipe like this (flat bread, pizza crust, etc.) the better!

    Reply
    • elviira

      July 28, 2014 at 23:50

      Hi Carol and thanks for your comment! Yes, you can vary this recipe very easily. As one of my readers pointed out, you can also make a thin pizza crust if you don’t beat the eggs. Never thought that myself!

      Reply
  9. Maram

    July 26, 2014 at 00:42

    I can’t thank you enough for this recipe!! I’m in LOVE as a pizza lover & being on low carb was tough without pasta/pizza/bread … Tried this recipe & the flat bread recpie & the were a big HIT, these 2 are to keep in my secret recipe box :), love your blog & will different recipes for sure, thanks again

    Reply
    • elviira

      July 26, 2014 at 06:29

      Hi Maram, thank you for your kind words and for trying out my recipes! I know that pizza and bread are those that the low-carbers are usually missing most, and it’s great to hear that my recipes have satisfied your cravings!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        July 26, 2014 at 12:22

        I ‘m making them again today 🙂 totally addicted

        Reply
        • elviira

          July 26, 2014 at 16:17

          Fantastic 🙂

          Reply
          • Maram

            July 28, 2014 at 23:55

            I’m addicted, I added some green olives to it & made the yummist pizza

          • elviira

            July 29, 2014 at 06:05

            That’s great to hear! I also added green olives when I made this as pizza a couple of days ago!

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