Merry Early Christmas – and a Recipe

First…

Well, I’ve managed to find pretty much every excuse on the face of the earth to avoid making a batch of Trim Healthy Mama approved bread or rolls. Not because I don’t want to be 100% … okay, 85% on plan, it’s just that even though some gluten free breads were much better than others, none were like ‘real’ bread. And a keto/low carb/low calorie bread? Yeah…

Still, I decided to dive in tonight and give it a try. First, I broke out my brand spanking new digital food scale, similar to this kitchen scale (affiliate link) to whip up a batch of Nili’s Baking Blend (recipe about 2 minutes and 15 seconds in). And then I decided to try this roll recipe…

 

Mixing up all of the dry ingredients

All finished.

Ready for the oven…

In all honesty, given the ‘aroma’ of the raw dough, I’m not holding out a lot of hope for the finished product. In fact, I’m imagining an eggy textured, nasty tasting glob of ‘uck.’ Yes, uck. If Aria doesn’t like something, it’s ucky. And the dough smells ucky!

I’ll be back when they’re finished baking…

And a little over an hour later, the verdict is in.

They’re fairly small. And when you ‘thump’ them to see if they’re done, which – apparently – doesn’t sound like a loaf of homemade glutenous bread, you might wonder if you could break windows or cause concussions with them.

Fortunately, they’re lighter than I first thought.

I made ten rolls (two is one serving) – and meant to take a single bite out of the first one so I could try and take a cool photo. Except I wound up eating the first one, which would be four sort of regular bites, or six dainty bites.

Are they better than I expected? Yup. Much better. At least fresh out of the oven. Do they have an eggy taste? Nope. Not at all. Texture? Slightly, but that could have been because the roll was still pretty warm and the butter made it a bit soggy. I added some sugar free grape jam to the second one and that was good too. In a while, I’ll go out and try a cold one. (*still good!)

One of the things I really like about this recipe is that the rolls don’t have a biscuit-y texture. I could make five larger rolls and use them for sandwich or hamburger buns – and they’d hold up instead of crumbling.

Next time, I’ll add a packet of rapid rise yeast. It likely won’t make them rise a bit more than they already do – and that isn’t much, but at least I’ll get the yeasty flavor that’s missing from this batch. Even without it though, they’re surprisingly good.

I don’t know what the nutritional counts are, but on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, one fifth of the recipe (in this case, two rolls), would be considered a Fuel Pull – low enough in both carbs and fat that you can enjoy them with any kind of meal, or just as a snack.

If you decide to try this – or any other Trim Healthy Mama-friendly baked goods, remember, they’re preservative free and should be stored in the refrigerator.

***Editing to add, about twelve hours later, I’m still impressed with these rolls. My kitchen is really chilly in the winter so I just left them on the plate, covered with plastic wrap – and in the oven to prevent a couple of curious cats from checking them out. Today, the texture is still good, so close to ‘real’ rolls that once I add a little yeast, it would be hard to tell the difference. Last night, the crust seemed a bit tough but now they’re just as soft and nice as can be. 

Honestly? I didn’t think it would be possible to come up with a low carb bread substitute I would like. But I am thrilled to say – I was wrong! 🙂

Second…

Merry Early Christmas!

I’m doing my very first newsletter swap with Jo Grafford. She’s got a new Christmas story out, Angel Cookie Christmas, and you can pick up your copy today by clicking on the book cover (also an affiliate link). Or read it free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription. 🙂

Willa Murray receives a gift of an angel cookie ornament with a note signed by Mrs. Claus. It bears a cryptic message about watching for an angel in disguise who will soon cross her path. With her job as a lead actress in jeopardy (since the theater owner’s niece wants the position for herself), she shrugs off the strange gift and heads home to Pinetop, Arizona for a long overdue visit with her folks.

One of the first people in town she encounters is the annoying and cocky blast from her past, Angel Castellano, who’s been bragging since age eight that he plans to marry her some day. He’s grown into a much taller and handsomer man than he had any right to. He’s also the owner and head chef of a dinner theater in desperate need of a new entertainment director for the upcoming Christmas pageant, a position he is quick to offer her. Plus he makes the world’s most amazing gingerbread cookies shaped liked angels, which he clearly is not despite his name — cookies that bear a startling resemblance to the ornament she was gifted before leaving the city.

For the first time in months, Willa begins to hope there might be something more for her to look forward to than life as a has-been actress in full-blown spinsterhood. Perhaps the elusive Mrs. Claus was right and Willa’s very own Angel has been hiding in plain sight all these years.

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2 Responses to Merry Early Christmas – and a Recipe

  1. Merry Early Christmas to you, too, Kristy! The rolls sound yummy. I don’t think I could stop at just two. I like Aria’s term, “Ucky!” Too cute!

    • Kristy K. James says:

      Thanks, Lynn! I’m going to try and limit my self to two rolls per meal – and probably only once a day (or every other day). The ingredients in this recipe probably provide a lot more fiber than regular breads so eating too many could have some – unpleasant consequences. 🙂

      I love the term ucky too. She comes up with some fun things. This afternoon she was trying to sing along with Paul McCarntney’s Christmas song. The only part she actually sang to was, “Simply having a wonderful Christmastime.” Part of it sounded like a foreign language but she was sure trying.

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