Keto/Low Carb Pizza Rolls

I love love love pizza, so when I went keto, I tried every keto variation out there and some are decent for sure. But I wanted one that wasn't full of cheese, topped with cheese or meat topped with more meat and cheese. So I have been trying to figure out a pizza crust that is more like a traditional pizza dough. I haven't gotten there yet for a nice slice of pizza, even though I have tried over 40 experiments. But these pizza rolls are delicious little soft and moist rolls that satisfy that pizza craving well. This recipe was derived from my cinnamon roll recipe, I definitely suggest watching that video- https://youtu.be/Wg5i6hclYrA

The first part of this recipe is your liquid of choice. I prefer to use an unsweetened low carb milk but you can use heavy cream, water or a combination of those. Then you can bloom the yeast in the warm liquid if you choose. I've used active dry and rapid rise yeast and I've found there wasn't too much of a difference. To activate the yeast I use Inulin which is a fiber usually derived from artichokes. I haven't found any other keto sweetener that has worked to active the yeast. If you don't mind using maple syrup or honey you can use 1 tsp. instead of the inulin. To bloom the yeast I place in a warm area, often I turn on my dehydrator or oven to help warm it up. This is optional for the pizza rolls because I didn't find it made much of a difference in texture of the roll to take an extra hour of time.

The 4 eggs and sweetener in the next step. I have tried less eggs and it just makes the pizza roll kind of dry. For the sweetener in this pizza roll, I have tried several kinds of sweetener. In the beginning I was using a little bit of powdered sweetener but my dough was always so sticky. I went back to the original granular keto sweetener and realized if I was going to cut it back to only a quarter cup I needed to add in extra "flour" to make up for the less sweetener. It doesn't make the dough sweet to me but if you want to minus the sweetener even more you will have to add more of a keto "flour". I suggest a stand mixer or hand mixer to help dissolve the sweetener into the eggs. You don't need a bunch of volume with the eggs, you just want the grittiness gone from the sweetener. Additionally you need the mixer to activate the gelling agents in the dry ingredients enough to form a dough.

Next is melted salted butter. I always use salted butter but if you only have unsalted add an extra 1/2 tsp. salt to the dry ingredients. I have found you can usually swap out coconut oil for butter in most recipes. I did try using avocado oil in place of the butter and it worked but the dough was a little bit stickier and needed to add some bamboo fiber when I went to roll it out.

Next is the dry ingredients which I tested so many different ratios of things and this gives the best texture to the pizza rolls. I found that you need baking powder plus the yeast to keep our baked goods decently risen. When I didn't use baking powder it made a tiny bit denser and flatter pizza roll. I use unflavored whey protein powder (Isopure) which is 0 net carbs per scoop and I have not been able to figure out a replacement for it without having to change the other "flour" ingredients in the recipe. The coconut flour has been said to be able to be replaced by 3-4x the amount of almond flour. I have never tried it because I don't work with nut flours in my bakery to avoid cross contamination as much as possible.

The xanthan gum and gelatin are both essential. You can try to use just one or the other looking up the subbing ratios on google but I have tried and found that it isn't exactly the same outcome. I feel like xanthan gum gives a slimy texture to the dough, for lack of a better descriptor, while gelatin thickens the dough and makes it stiff.

The last dry ingredient is the bamboo fiber, which people have been asking me to experiment with. I started with oat fiber in the same amount and that also worked to make a fluffy pizza roll. Unfortunately I have found that too much bamboo fiber upsets my stomach. I was fine just tasting cinnamon rolls or pizza rolls. When I made a whole pizza though, I ate 3 slices of 8 and that really upset my stomach the next day. So I would be mindful of that if you haven't had it a lot before. I think our body isn't used to digesting it yet, I've heard you can build a tolerance, so I am hopeful it may not effect me forever.

Besides the "flour" ingredients I did add some pizza seasonings to the dough. They are to my tastes though, so feel free to add different spices you like. Oregano is the usual predominate spice in pizza so that's what I added along with granulated garlic, because I love garlic in everything.

Rolling out the dough can be tricky. You can use oil sprayed on parchment on bottom and on top to combat the stickiness. You can also dust parchment and the top with bamboo fiber to roll it out. I just don't prefer the taste of the bamboo fiber so I didn't want to use to much on the outside. I've also found you can use an oiled silt pat on bottom and just a rubber spatula or bench scraper to spread it out. Then I oil the top and my hands to pat it out even and shape it a little nicer before chilling for ten minutes. Chilling helps the rolling of the rolls.

For the filling, the rule of thumb is to not use anything too liquidy. So I used tomato paste to make a sauce that was thick but spreadable onto the dough. You can use your favorite pizza sauce but if it's very liquidy I would simmer it until some of the liquid evaporates. I used a pre-shredded whole milk, low moisture mozzarella cheese which worked well and is lower carb than other varieties. You can use any you'd like beside a fresh mozzarella which would have too much moisture. I used a few slices of pepperoni in each roll and rolled them up individually so that it wasn't hard to cut through the dough, mozzarella and pepperoni all at once. But you can chop the pepperoni super small and sprinkle it inside the roll or you can just top each roll with some of the mozzarella and pepperoni slices.

Baking them you have a few options. I started doing them just on a parchment lined baking sheet. They do spread out and get a little flat but are still delicious and that's how my customers have loved them. Then I had an epiphany, I realized they would look awesome baked in a large muffin pan. So I bought a set of 2 six count large silicon muffin pans and they turned out so cute. And I believe they turned out a little bit more moist inside. You can also place them into a greased and parchment lined 9x13 pan, they just may come out a little differently shaped from each other. You can proof them in the muffin pans or 9x13 but I don't think that adds much to the final product.

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DOUGH:

8 oz./1 Cup- Low Carb Milk (Or Water or heavy cream (will add carbs)) Warmed between 100-110 degrees

6 g/2 tsp.- Inulin (Alternatively 1 tsp. Honey or Maple Syrup)

9 g/2-1/4 tsp-. Active Dry or Rapid Rise Yeast

4 Eggs

48g/1/4 -1:1 Alternative Granular Sweetener

112 g/4 oz./1 Stick- Salted Butter (melted) (add 1/2 tsp. salt if using unsalted)

110 g/1-1/4 Cup+2 Tbs.(approximately) Packed Unflavored Whey Protein Isolate

30 g/1/4 Cup- Coconut Flour

88 g/1+1/3 Cup- (scooped not packed) Bamboo Fiber (Oat Fiber)

12 g/1 Tbs.- Baking Powder

12 g/1 Tbs.- Xanthan Gum

25 g/2-1/2 Tbs.- Grass fed Beef Gelatin

1/2 tsp. -Salt

1/2 tsp. -Granulated Garlic- to taste

1 tsp. -Oregano

Filling-

4oz./1/2 Cup- Pizza Sauce-reduced to a thick paste

8oz./2 Cups- Shredded Mozzarella

24 pieces Pepperoni or more

Instructions:

1. Weigh/measure out your liquid and heat to between 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit then add the inulin and yeast, set aside to activate (optional but I think it adds flavor)

2. In a stand mixer beat 4 eggs with the sweetener until no longer grainy

3. While that whips, weigh/measure, sift and whisk together dry ingredients

4. Once you can't feel any sweetener granules, on low speed, stream in the melted butter and milk and yeast mixture

5. Scrape down then add in all the whisked dry ingredients, turn on slow then speed it up to work the dry ingredients well

6. Scrap down and whip one last time until a thick dough forms

7. Set aside to hydrate while you clean up your area and get it ready to roll out the dough

8. Roll out using an oiled large piece of parchment paper or silt pat on a half sheet tray

9. Roll out the dough into an even thickness, in the shape of a rectangle, about 14 inches horizontal by 10 inches vertical, can use a piece of parchment paper on top as well or oiled hands to pat out

10. Once you are happy with the shape and thickness of the dough, chill for 10 minutes

11. While that's chilling, weight/measure and prep all the filling ingredients and preheat oven to 375 degrees

12. Top the dough with the sauce, sprinkle with most of the cheese, leaving some to sprinkle on top and add the slice or chopped pepperonis if using inside

13. Spray and line a 9x13 pan with the piece of parchment paper or spray 12 large silicon muffin pans or line 2 sheet trays with parchment

14. Cut the dough into 12 strips and individually roll each pizza roll up and place in baking vessel of choice

15. Once all are rolled, top with remaining cheese and extra pepperoni if using and bake for 16-24 minutes until golden brown and still soft to the touch

16. Can eat right away or let cool and place in a ziplock bag in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for a month

17. To reheat toast in the toaster for 5 minutes or microwave for 30-45 seconds

Macros for 1 pizza roll: Using 3 Tbs. tomato paste mixed with water and spices

210 Calories

15g Fat

10g Total Carbs

3g Fiber

4g Sugar Alcohol

3g Net Carbs

17g Protein

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