If you’re a regular here, you know that yours truly was diagnosed with diabetes and that I’ve gotten into “everything” low carb (that so many refer to as keto, but the keto diet is horrible).
So far, all our experiments have turned out less than perfect. Most of the low carb flours are hard and chewy, and as we all know, baguettes are crisp on the outside with the inside melting in your mouth. But we knew we couldn’t possibly make a low carb version that produced a perfect baguette, all we wanted to do was get close. When you go low carb in breads, the breads are thicker and grainer and chewier. Their resistant starch makes them tougher and the amount of fiber is greater.
Introducing:
Note the use of the fashionable word “keto.”
We’ve used King Arthur flours in the past. Love their company (it’s owned by the employees), and they make a good product.
Since this substitutes 1:1, we used our French Baguette recipe (with the poolish) and discovered right away that it is thicker and tougher than the King Arthur white flours.
Opening the Tupperware container the following day, we did not find a bubbling mass inside; just a clump of dough. (This is where I ask bakers out there, should we try adding more water? )
We added the poolish to the rest of the ingredients and mixed it up with our new KitchenAid Stand Mixer.
We’ve only recently taken up baking, and it seems we burned out our old mixer. KitchenAid make some of the best, long lasting products around. Just click the picture to learn more (our affiliate link to Amazon).
When finished, I wet my hands and took the dough over to my bread board to kneed. It was really lumpy and in need of kneeding.
Then into a lightly greased Tupperware container, sealed at the top, and placed into the oven. I’d poured boiling water into a pan that sat on the bottom, and we performed the four proofings, with a bit of manipulation in between each proofing.
Examining the Differences
This dough responds and reacts like a whole wheat. It’s bulky, tough, and resistant. Taking off the cover, we noticed right away that it did not rise like white flour, which seems to double in size with each proofing, and settles back down with a bit of manipulation. Additionally, while proofing the dough of a white flour “blends” nicely. If when you covered it for the proofing there were visible folds, they are gone after 45 minutes, the dough having blended together.
This “keto” dough did nothing of the sort.
Again I’m asking the experts out there: perhaps a bit more water? When I’m done writing this (while it’s being proofed), I’m going to go to the King Arthur baking site and see if they’ve got any suggestions for this new flour. They have a wonderful website where you can learn from experts and toss them a few questions. In fact, there is a page dedicated to this new flour: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2020/11/27/introducing-keto-wheat-flour
And you’re probably asking: Why didn’t he go there in the first place?
I’m an autodidact. I love screwing around and learning that way . . . on my own. Then, after a thorough investigation on my own, I’ll go take a looks and see what I missed. This is how I learn best.
Back to the Bread Board
I laid out the dough and played with it. It is some tough stuff! I even tried to roll it out. That did not work.
This dough really misbehaves. You can stretch it out, and it bounces right back.
So, I decided to make just one baguette and turn the rest into tortillas.
Fat chance!
Here is a video of how this dough behaves. For one thing, it was way too tough to actually flatten out into a tortilla, and the moment I opened the tortilla press, you’ll see how it starts to bounce back into its original shape.
Removing it from the press we found it kept right on shrinking back into a tiny somethingorother. I tried rolling it out and it didn’t want to hold its shape or size, so a low carb pizza dough it’s not.
Finally it became this:
And while the baguette sat in the baguette pan (rising) and the oven pre-heated, I fried this bugger up into a fried somethingorother.
This pan, by the way, is made by Misen. It’s a carbon steel pan and you’re not supposed to use anything harsh on it. Just clean the food off and re-season it. We’ve used this pan to make tortillas and pocket bread. You should know that Misen makes some great stuff. My kitchen has a lot of Misen and when we found out they had an affiliate program, we jumped right in. They now have a non stick pan that hasn’t got those dangerous chemicals and lasts centuries longer than what you’ll find elsewhere. Check it out: Misen.
This morning I cut it in half, like a bagel, toasted it and put peanut butter on it to have with my coffee. It was pretty good (even though it misbehaves).
When the oven was ready, I put in one and a half baguettes. I did not score them because of all the folds already in the dough. No matter how I worked with the dough, I could not get the folds out. The dough just does not want to combine together. (Again I wonder if it’s a moisture problem.)
Eight minutes and I turned them around and just seven minutes more and they came out looking beautiful (see the photo at the top).
I sliced one up and buttered it and, what a shock. It was great. And so far it was the closest to a French baguette we’ve gotten in our low carb baking. Tonight, I’m making low carb spaghetti, with spicy Italian sausage, and the baguette will be garlic bread.
Low Carb Pasta
My Sicilian Grandmother, were she alive today, would disown me for eating low carb pasta. In that part of my family, there was no such thing as “overweight.” Everyone was just right. As much as I love the Miracle Noodles, they just don’t taste right in marinara sauce. And the noodles I do use aren’t much better. They’re made from resistant starch and they are hard and chewy. But they actually do taste like traditional pasta. Just click the link to learn more.
And Now I’ll Go Visit King Arthur
Should I find answers to how to make this flour behave, I’ll be back and post them under this. So long for now.
YES! NEED’S MORE WATER!
This is basically what I learned at the site. For fluffier rolls and breads, and a pizza crust that behaves, gotta increase the water by about 25%.
