By Caitlin – (March 2016)
This will be a very light, delicate “bread.” It doesn’t hold up well if you make the sandwich ahead of time; it gets soggy. It is best to assemble the sandwich when you are going to eat it.
This recipe can be doubled easily. Just use two baking sheets.
Search online recipes for “cloud bread” and “oopsie rolls” and similar – this is my simple variation.
***************************************************************************
You must line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Substitute with oil sprays, etc., at your own risk.
• 4 eggs
• 4 ounces (half of an 8-ounce block) of cream cheese
o Soften cream cheese by leaving at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, or soften briefly in microwave for no more than 20 seconds, using a glass or ceramic bowl. Do not melt it. You can use cold cream cheese, too, but it will not mix as easily with the egg yolks.
• Pinch of salt
***************************************************************************
1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Line a baking sheet (I use 10” x 15”) with parchment paper. It doesn’t need to be a precise fit; the paper will keep rolling up or sliding around. Do your best! I try to roll it once in the opposite direction to smooth it out and then crease the sides a little to attempt to get the paper to mold to the sides of the pan.
3. Separate the yolks and whites. Put whites into very large mixing bowl. The yolks can go in a smaller bowl with the cream cheese.
4. Add dash of salt to both the whites and the yolk mixture. (You can add seasonings here if you want to experiment, such as Italian seasonings or taco seasonings, for savory bread.)
5. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
6. Briefly beat the yolks and cream cheese until just blended. No need to beat out all of the small lumps of cream cheese.
7. Fold the yolks & cream cheese mixture gently into the whites. Only need to stir a couple of times. Do not beat and do not mix thoroughly; it’s okay to have some lumps of egg white.
8. Place onto baking sheet into 6-8 rounds, or you can smooth out the whole batch onto the full baking sheet. If you make individual rounds they might run into each other a little, but they will be a round shape, like a roll or English muffin-style. If you bake it flat, like thin brownies, you can cut the final product into squares, like bread-shaped pieces.
9. Bake at 300°F for 30-35 minutes until top is golden brown. Check the pan halfway through and turn around in the oven, if needed, for even baking.
10. Remove from oven. Cool completely. You can separate the parchment paper from the pan and lift the bread onto a cooling rack, or you can lift off the rounds from the paper with a spatula onto a cooling rack. Handle with care. I usually cut into 8 pieces from each baking sheet.
***************************************************************************
These rolls like to keep dry. Do not store them when warm – they will stick together. Keep the lid or cover of the container slightly ajar, to keep them dry.
You may want to add small pieces of parchment paper in between each piece of bread when you store them, to keep them from sticking together. I store them in a zippered-type plastic bag, with parchment paper in between each piece and I leave the bag open in the refrigerator. You can cut or tear up the paper you used for baking, to make your separators, if desired.
The egg whites make them puff up while baking but the end result is a bit flatter, about as thick as a piece of bread.
Experiment and enjoy! Excellent for hamburgers, cheeseburgers, tuna salad sandwiches, turkey or ham and cheese, or for breakfast sandwiches, with a fried egg, slice of cheese, and some bacon or a sausage patty.
For more information about the Zero Carb diet, join us in our Facebook Group.