These homemade hamburger buns (recipe is shown below) are huge enough to hold a 6 to 8-ounce patty with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion or other items added.  They’re delicious!

It’s been a long time since we’ve posted a new recipe. To keep the discussion on cooking and food to a minimum, I purposely avoided posting many recipes over the past few years when Tom suggested it may be tedious for those who don’t cook much or enjoy spending time in the kitchen.

As we’ve discovered over these past years of world travel, many don’t often cook or, in many cases, may reheat time-saving prepared foods they may purchase at markets or restaurants to bring home for the evening’s meal. There are viable options in this area in most cities.

In more remote areas, cooking becomes necessary with fewer options in the markets and less availability of already prepared meals, unless frozen. In some parts of the world, frozen meats and vegetables are a staple for those acquiring their foods from the small local markets.

It’s essential to place the buns far enough apart before baking to ensure they don’t stick together.  We used a huge pan lined with parchment paper.  But a few buns ended up sticking together, which we separated with a sharp knife after baking.

For example, when we lived in the remote area of Placencia in Belize, the three or four-aisle markets had no fresh meats and few vegetables other than potatoes, onions, and garlic. At that time, we had no choice other than to buy the frozen meats or eat in restaurants. 

In Belize, purchasing frozen chicken was no issue for us, but the beef and pork appeared to have “freezer burn,” and we avoided it entirely.  During that period, almost five years ago, we ate lots of canned tuna and home-roasted chicken parts. At times, we had no choice but to purchase canned vegetables.

As time passed along with the many countries in which we lived and cooked, we could easily find the ingredients we needed to make many of our favorite dishes. 

Before taking this photo, we’d separated the buns that stuck together with a sharp knife, as mentioned in another photo.

However, even in the most populated areas with more traditional large grocery stores, at times, we’ve had difficulty finding specialty items such as Italian sausage, seasonings, coconut flour, Himalayan salt, and others. 

Now that we’re in Nevada, cooking many of our favorites for us and Richard most nights, perhaps dining out a few times each week, there’s is nothing I can’t find either at Smith’s or Whole Foods in Henderson, a short distance from Richard’s home.

Yesterday, we planned to make organic turkey burgers and grass-fed meat burgers without buns, using lettuce to wrap the burgers with bacon, tomatoes, purple onion, guacamole, and low carb ketchup, easy to find here.

Since Richard also consumes a low carb diet, is very slim and fit, working out six days a week after work, our low carb meals have suited him just fine. Of course, although delicious, some of the more labor intense meals don’t appeal to him as a possible choice to cook on his own once we’re gone.

According to many proponents of this product, the Apple Cider Vinegar “With the Mother” I used in the recipe (the full unstrained texture of the cider) is a very healthful product and may be used for many health conditions.

To make the burgers more appealing, yesterday I searched the Internet for a new hamburger bun recipe. I’d yet to find the perfect homemade hamburger bun in the past six years of my low carb, grain, starch, and sugar-free diet.

Alas, my research paid off, and I found a recipe from this site from one of the most world-renowned low carb doctors, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt MD, who has the largest low carb site in the world, which may be found here. I’ve followed his site for years and have seen many valuable suggestions and recipes that have helped us maintain a ketogenic diet explained here.

When I typed into a search box, “low carb hamburger buns,” many of the others I unsuccessfully tried in the past popped up.  But, when I discovered an entry at Dr. Eenfeldt’s site, it sounded as if it was worth a try. Thus, I give all the credit to his years of hard work to send the low carb message out to the world, working with some of the top low carb experts and recipe designers worldwide.

One of the ingredients listed here baffled me, and while at Smith’s, I was unable to find it. As a result, I headed to Whole Foods and found it with ease. Here’s a photo of the item:

This fiber-rich powder is vital to creating the proper density and structure of the buns. It may also be used for gastrointestinal regularity, should that be an issue. Eating the buns made with this product didn’t cause any gastro distress or response.

When I returned to Smiths this morning, when we all wanted a repeat of last night’s meal, I found the above-pictured item in the pharmacy section of Smith’s near the items listed for gastrointestinal health. 

I bought two bottles, one to leave for Richard to whom I’ve sent the recipe and one more to take with us. It may be impossible to find this item in most countries. 

The hamburgers buns are absolutely the best we’ve ever tried. It was amazing to have a burger in a sturdy enough bun to hold it all together!  Others we’d tried would fall apart when handling. 

Although some don’t mind eating a giant burger with a fork and knife, we prefer to eat it in our hands. These delicious buns made the burger easy to handle, and the only difficulty I had was the fact that I’d added a few dollops of guacamole that made the lid slide around when I took a bite.  Next time I’ll slice avocado, which should make it easier to handle.

How hard is this recipe to make?  It’s a one-bowl recipe, adding all the dry ingredients first, pouring in the wet items, and stirring very well by hand until well blended. It was easy to make the equal-sized round balls using moist hands, which I slightly flatted on the parchment paper I placed in a big tin foil pan. 

In all, the prep time was about 6 minutes, with the baking time at 350F (177C) around 65 minutes. The cooking time varies based on your oven. Make sure the dough is no longer moist to stop cooking the buns. It was easy.

Let the buns cool before slicing with a serrated edge knife and slice evenly. If there’s any moisture from under baking it in the center of the bun, pop the bun into a toaster for 30 seconds (not the microwave) or into a toaster oven with the inside face up. Ours were done perfectly, with no need for this additional step.

Here’s the recipe and our photos:

• 2 1/2 cups (300 ml) almond flour (found in most markets and health food stores)
• 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon ground psyllium husk powder.  (maybe found at Whole Foods in vitamin/supplement area, in some markets, and at most health food stores)
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (see photo for what I used)
• 2 ½  cups (300 ml) boiling water
• 6  egg whiteegg whitesegg whites, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).  Line a pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Bring the water to a boil and add the vinegar and egg whites to the bowl while whisking by hand with a fork for about 1 minute. Don’t overmix the dough; the consistency of the dough should resemble Play-Doh.
4. Form with moist hands into 8 pieces of bread into a somewhat flattened ball but not too flat.  Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Make sure to leave enough room between the buns on the baking sheet for them to double in size.
5. Bake on the lower rack of the oven for 75 minutes, The buns are done when you hear a hollow sound when tapping the bottom of the buns.  If the cooked dough on the edges is still uncooked, put it back into the oven for 5 more minutes. Let cool before slicing. It may be frozen in a sealed zipper bag. It will only take 10 minutes to defrost.

Have a fabulous day and dine well!

Photo from one year ago today, July 20, 2016:

Lighted front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh while we sailed on the Mekong River in Vietnam.  It was quite an experience. For more photos, please click here.