How to make savoury low carb dough

Use: flatbread, herbed flatbread, stuffed buns, sausage rolls, cheese straws, savoury bagels, pizza (regular thin base), crackers, mini hamburger buns, meat pies and bread.  

In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, warm the water and butter together on medium heat. You don’t want the water to boil before the butter has melted properly, so take things nice and slow.

Mix the 2 cups flour, salt, paprika and psyllium husk powder in a separate bowl, making sure the psyllium is mixed in evenly.

As soon as the butter has melted and the water starts to boil, add the dry ingredients to the saucepan and stir until the mixture forms a ball of dough. Turn the heat to the lowest setting and cook the dough ball while moving it around in the saucepan for about 1 minute. You want the dough to have an elastic but firm-to-the-touch consistency.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and place the dough ball in a mixing bowl. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Now, break the eggs into the mixing bowl with the dough ball, add the grated cheese and mix with an electric beater for about 1 minute. Scrape all the dough from the sides and beat and work into a soft dough ball. Sprinkle with a little of the extra flour and use your hands to shape the dough into a non-sticky, slightly glossy ball for 10–20 seconds. This is literally just to shape the dough; don’t try to knead it like you would with glutinous doughs.

Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and pop into the freezer for 5 minutes or into the refrigerator for up to three days. Then simply shape it and bake it according to your chosen recipe.

An extract from Low Carb is Lekker Two by Ine Reynierse, published by Struik Lifestyle.