The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

low carb breads?

hamletcat's picture
hamletcat

low carb breads?

Has anyone had any success with making a homemade low carb bread that doesn't use nut flours?  I have tried using vital wheat gluten and oat fibre, but the dough sometimes comes out crumbly and a bit dense.  If anyone has any recipes that they could share that work, that would be great thanks. 

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Try bean flour.  Asian/ middle eastern groceries often carry chickpea flour. Soy flour also works. both flours, however, lend bitterness , so use in moderation with some high protein wheat flour (preferably whole wheat).

Happy baking,

Khalid

doughooker's picture
doughooker

I gave up on chickpea/garbanzo-bean flour because I got tired of the bitter taste. Soy flour is better. Almond flour is the best but is very expen$ive.

Michael Haagensen's picture
Michael Haagensen

I have started making sourdouhg bread precisely because I wanted to keep eating good bread but wanted to avoid a blood sugar spike. So I guess my aim is actually closer to seeking a low GI or low GL bread. My strategy has been to start by learning to make normal sourdough breads first (I have been teaching myself with help from videos online since November 2019 - joined this site Feb 2020) and then to start playing around with different flours. First I made a spelt starter, since I understand that the proteins and carbohydrates in spelt are more complex than modern wheat and this means that digestion is slower and this in itself reduces the blood sugar response. When the starter was ready, I used 50:50 spelt and rye to learn the actual bread making process. It's still early days in this process but I am learning a lot and my breads are getting better and more consistent. Now I am mixing in some other ingredients to lower the carbohydrate and through extra fibre further lower the net carb count. 

In my latest attempts the percentages have been as follows:

Poolish

100g rye flour

150g spelt starter (100% hydration)

100g water

Dough

275g water

150g spelt flour

150g rye flour

75g buckwheat flour

40 g flax (finely ground)

40g flax whole seeds (ideally these should be soaked o-night before adding)

80g sunflower seeds

 

I would love someone to work out the carb count on this as the online calculators can't manage all these ingredients reliably. But loaves following these proportions do not give me a high blood sugar spike but a longer blood sugar response that is then further minimized by physical activity.

Michael Haagensen's picture
Michael Haagensen

I started making sourdouhg bread precisely because I wanted to keep eating good bread but wanted to avoid a blood sugar spike. So I guess my aim is actually closer to seeking a low GI or low GL bread. My strategy has been to start by learning to make normal sourdough breads first (I have been teaching myself with help from videos online since November 2019 - joined this site Feb 2020) and then to start playing around with different flours. First I made a spelt starter, since I understand that the proteins and carbohydrates in spelt are more complex than modern wheat and this means that digestion is slower and this in itself reduces the blood sugar response. When the starter was ready, I used 50:50 spelt and rye to learn the actual bread making process. It's still early days in this process but I am learning a lot and my breads are getting better and more consistent. Now I am mixing in some other ingredients to lower the carbohydrate and through extra fibre further lower the net carb count. 

In my latest attempts the percentages have been as follows:

Poolish

100g rye flour

150g spelt starter (100% hydration)

100g water

Dough

275g water

150g spelt flour

150g rye flour

75g buckwheat flour

40 g flax (finely ground)

40g flax whole seeds (ideally these should be soaked o-night before adding)

80g sunflower seeds

 

I would love someone to work out the carb count on this as the online calculators can't manage all these ingredients reliably. But loaves following these proportions do not give me a high blood sugar spike but a longer blood sugar response that is then further minimized by physical activity.