These gluten-free Keto Rolls are going to change your life, seriously! They’re fluffy and perfect as a low-carb side dish or slider bun!
Are these the most popular keto / low-carb rolls on the internet? Maybe! Since launching Cast Iron Keto in 2017 these rolls have consistently been our #1 post! You love them, we love them, and they just keep making waves.
If you have been craving a sandwich or a dinner roll on the corner of your plate these babies are here to fill the void. This recipe is based on the fathead dough from the popular movie, Fathead. The premise is like that of Supersize Me, except he loses weight instead of gaining it after eating a month’s worth of fast food. He was able to defy conventional wisdom by, if you have seen it guess now…reducing his carbohydrate intake.
The movie takes everything you’ve ever been told about how to lose weight (before you discovered keto) and turns it on its head. Although I do NOT recommend eating fast food as I’m a fan of a whole-food-based keto diet.
Be sure to check out my Keto Cuban Sliders, Keto Ham and Poppy Seed Sliders, and Keto Spinach Artichoke Pull-Apart Rolls that use this recipe!
Ingredients in Keto Rolls:
This recipe only has a few simple ingredients but please, do not substitute any of them as this recipe will only work as written.
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Cream Cheese –We use a full-fat block style cream cheese. Do not use a “spreadable” style cream cheese.
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Mozzarella Cheese – We use a low-moisture part-skim mozzarella. If you use a regular mozzarella these dough will be too wet and the rolls won’t keep their shape.
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Almond Flour – We use a super fine almond flour. Bob’s Red Mill is our go-to almond flour.
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Baking Powder – ONLY use an aluminum-free baking powder. See below in the questions and answers as to why.
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Eggs – Use large eggs, we like organic pasture-raised eggs!
How-to make keto rolls:
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Preheat the oven to 400° F
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Start by melting your mozzarella and cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl in 30 second increments until it is completely melted and combined
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Mix the almond flour, baking powder, and eggs into the cheese until well combined
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Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to chill for 10-20 minutes
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Roll out the dough into 12 or 24 balls – this just depends on if you want large or small rolls
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Transfer the rolls back to the refrigerator for another 10-20 minutes to allow them to set up
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Grease the skillet with butter, arrange the rolls in the skillet
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Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes, allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan
Frequently Asked Questions about this Keto Dinner Roll Recipe:
Q: Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour in this low-carb bread?
A: No, coconut flour requires more moisture than almond flour, but I do have a recipe for a keto focaccia that uses coconut flour.
Q: That’s a lot of baking powder/My rolls taste bitter what did I do wrong?
A: Yes it is a lot of baking powder, but we are making bread…out of cheese. If your finished rolls have a bitter taste, it is most likely due to using a low-quality baking powder, opt for aluminum-free and it won’t be an issue.
Q: Is the dough supposed to be this gooey/sticky?
A: I wish it were easier to work with, but if you chill it both before and after rolling it into balls you’ll have no problem. If I can do it, so can you… trust me.
To make the process of rolling out the keto bread rolls easier here are a few tips:
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Use a food processor or stand mixer to mix – we typically just use a wooden spoon but this works even better!
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CHILL, seriously, depending on the temperature of your ingredients/home chilling the dough for a bit does wonders.
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Make sure your eggs are at room temperature – this will help the dough not to seize up when adding in the eggs.
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spray your hands with olive oil when rolling out the dough balls – this will help them not to stick
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place them on a sheet of parchment paper or directly into the skillet after rolling – no sticking to plates or cutting boards this way
Q: Mine didn’t rise like yours and/or all melted together into a loaf, what happened?
A: Did you use the right ingredients? If you used whole milk mozzarella this could happen, only use low-moisture part-skim mozzarella! If all of your ingredients are correct try chilling them double the amount of time to help the rolls keep their shape.
Q: Do I have to use a cast iron skillet?
A: No, you don’t! You can use a cake pan or any glass or ceramic baking dish. Just be sure to grease it well or even line it with parchment for easy removal. Do not use a baking sheet as the rolls will spread out too much.
Q: What is the nutritional information for these low-carb rolls?
A: As always, you can find all of the nutritional information for all of our recipes at the bottom of the recipe card. For these keto rolls, the net carbs are 3.8 g for 2 rolls. This recipe serves 12 (2 rolls each). And yes, the nutritional info includes the baking powder.
Keto Rolls
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese block – not spreadable – no additives
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese low moisture – part skim – no additives, preservatives, etc
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 1/3 cups almond flour we use Bob’s Red Mill
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F
- In a small pot over low heat melt the cream cheese and mozzarella together. It should resemble a thick gooey paste. Alternatively, melt the cream cheese and mozzarella together in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments until smooth.
- Add the melted cheeses to a large bowl along with the baking powder, almond flour, and eggs. Mix until smooth and refrigerate for 10-20 minutes.
- Roll into 24 balls and chill in the refrigerator for at least another 10 minutes. *see post above for handy tricks
- Grease a 10.5″ cast iron skillet with the butter.
- Place the dough balls into the skillet touching on each side. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until fluffy, golden brown, and cooked through.
Is there any way to get the nutritional information by the ounce? I made these but had a hard time getting them into rolls and several fell apart when removing them from the cast iron pan so it’s hard for me to log my calories when I eat them without weighing them. If there’s an online tool to figure this out, that would be great! The ones I used didn’t give that information. Thank you!!
These turned out great and hubby loved them! For everyone complaining that it’s too salty or bitter – you are not using the proper ingredients! He specifically said ALUMINUM FREE baking powder. I bought this just to make this.
Mine was very wet so I did have to add a bit more almond flour but in the end it turned out great. I made the balls in the morning and chilled them in the fridge until dinner time.
I did everything exactly as described, aluminum free baking soda, the right cheeses, chilled the dough and…. one very large dinner roll. It filled the entire pan. Foccaccia perhaps?
Lynda; I had the same problem today, Jan 16. Did anyone ever give you tips to fix the problem? I uber chilled (50 & 90 minutes for the two times). It is a lot of work to figure out on ones own. Would appreciate any insight you have.
Hi David, we’re sorry you’re having problems here! Other than possibly using different ingredients I’m not sure what could be causing the rolls to not keep their shape. Did you check your ingredients? What brand of cheese are you using? Happy to help troubleshoot!
First of all, according to my better two-thirds, this is the bomb! Lovely flavor and texture. Even though it flattened in cooking we have great use of it as is. We have cut out hotdog and hamburger buns. We toast them in a skillet, so the fat from all the cheese does not drip down and muck up a toaster. Superb texture, holds form as a bun. My problem: Flour and cheese, Great Value; Baking powder, Rumsford double acting, no aluminum in ingredients; Eggs, yard eggs. Uber chilled per original post. Hope you can help.
I’d love to make these for Thanksgiving and lots of company. All I can way do ahead Is good. Do you think they can be frozen as dough balls and later put in the pan to thaw and bake?
Well, I bought the whole mozzarella cheese. Oops. I’m wondering if I can add a few tablespoons of coconut flour to absorb the fat. Has anyone tried it? Or, does refrigerating longer work to keep them from spreading too much?
These were super sticky and messy to make, but oh so very tasty! I was hoping to use them for muffaletta sliders but there is no way they will hold up structurally. Next time I will use cookie scoops to make them in mini muffin tins or silicon muffin tins.
I LOVE these rolls, seriously THANK YOU!
I baked these for 20 minutes at 400 F and they were still raw. Same after an additional 20 minutes. I ended up baking them for over an hour and they were still doughy. I used the exact ingredients and followed the instructions exactly. The only difference was that I had to use a glass pie plate. Any ideas? They tasted great, but I could not use them as rolls. Basically just the edges of the pie plate. It did all bake into one big lump in the pie plate. I’m thinking next time I use a muffin tin.
Hi Tami, I hate that these rolls didn’t turn out correctly for you! First, I would make sure your oven is heating appropriately. It’s not uncommon for oven temps to be off. Also, I’m curious if the glass pie plate didn’t conduct the heat enough to cook the rolls properly. While other readers have had success with using different bakeware other than cast iron, we have not tried that ourselves.