Keto Pizza Crust (no cauliflower, no yeast)

It seems like just about everyone is reducing their carb intake these days.  It's true, even my husband has been eating low-carb.  It's also true that my husband's favorite food is pizza - which we all know is most definitely not a low-carb food.  That is, until now.

Probably the most popular low-carb pizza crust recipe floating around out there is made with cauliflower that has to be grated, cooked, strained, and squeezed with every ounce of your strength before you can use it. And I bet you didn’t know cauliflower contains a lot of carbs. But the recipe I'm going to share with you today is much easier to make, and it has NO carbs!  Also, it’s a great no-yeast pizza crust even if you’re not counting carbs! Alright, let me show you how to make it.

You'll need 3 simple ingredients to make this crust - eggs, grated parmesan or romano cheese, and...

The magic ingredient.... high quality canned chicken!  

After trying several brands, we decided we like Kirkland Signature from Costco the best.  

See how the chunks of chicken are nice and big?  Some lower quality brands of chicken are mushy and pasty - try to avoid mushy and pasty chicken.  Anyway, drain the water from the can.  This nifty tool will keep your hands dry and clean while draining all that juice from the can.  I also love using this safety can opener to eliminate sharp can edges.

Use a spatula to gently press the chicken to remove any last drops of water.  What started out as a 12.5-ounce can of chicken really ends up being about 7.5 ounces of drained chicken.  

Spread both cans of drained chicken out on a parchment lined sheet pan, breaking up large chunks.  Place in a preheated 350F oven for about 10 minutes to dry the chicken a bit.

After the chicken comes out of the oven raise the temperature to 500F.  Notice how the color of the chicken has deepened.  Allow the chicken to cool for several minutes before proceeding.

When the chicken is cool, combine it with the eggs and cheese.  I like to use a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment to do this, but you can mix it by hand.

See how nicely the stand mixer and BeaterBlade does the job?

Update: one of my readers suggested processing the mixture in a food processor, which makes it easier to spread. This is now our preferred method.

Divide the chicken mixture in half and use your fingers to press it into two 6x9-inch rectangles right on the same parchment lined sheet pan (below).

Update: We now spread each portion on its own half sheet pan so we can press it out as large (and thin) as possible. Bake each crust individually.

When the oven temperature reaches 500F, prebake the crusts for 10 minutes.

Remove the crust from the oven and add the usual toppings.  Tomato sauce....

PS - here's a link to my San Marzano Tomato Sauce. If time is an issue, here’s a link to my Busy Weeknight Marinara.

Mozzarella cheese...

And for this particular pizza, I added some sauteed onions and mushrooms.  Sometimes I like sausage crumbles and green peppers. My husband especially likes pepperoni on his. Add whatever pizza toppings you like!

Return the pizza to the oven for 5-10 minutes until the mozzarella cheese is bubbly and brown.  

Cool for 5 minutes before cutting with a pizza wheel. 

I know you're wondering about the bottom crust so here's a quick shot - not bad, eh? 

Like traditional pizza crust, this recipe is crisp around the edges, chewy in the center, and it gets firmer as it cools.  It truly is the very best non-traditional pizza crust we’ve tried. We really love it and I hope you will too.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/3SWhfRb

• parchment paper https://amzn.to/3r5IbjG

• pizza peel https://amzn.to/3T1FUUF

• pizza wheel https://amzn.to/3U5fPp8

• stand mixer https://amzn.to/3sUVQxb

• beaterblade attachment https://amzn.to/3h06os9

• food processor https://amzn.to/3TgDOk1

• sieve https://amzn.to/3sU2Vhz

• can strainer https://amzn.to/3uyLLbt

• safety can opener https://amzn.to/3siNf5O

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Low-Carb Keto Pizza Crust

makes 8 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 25 ounces canned premium chicken in water, drained

• 3 large eggs

• 3 ounces grated parmesan or romano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F, line a half sheet pan with parchment, and place oven rack in upper third position.

2. Drain canned chicken and spread out on parchment paper, breaking up large clumps.

3. Bake chicken for 10 minutes, then remove from oven to cool for several minutes.

4. Increase oven temperature to 500F (see note below).

5. Combine precooked chicken, eggs, and cheese well (do this in a stand mixer, or even better, use a food processor).

6. Divide chicken mixture in half and press each out into a large rectangle on two parchment-lined half sheet pans; bake for 10 minutes.

To make pizza: top crusts with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and your favorite pizza toppings (meats should be precooked).  Bake in 500F oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

Note

• Cook’s Illustrated has spoken with parchment paper manufacturers and they report it is safe to use parchment above the suggested temperature range (even as high as 500F) for up to 30 minutes. The paper will not release toxic chemicals or catch on fire, but it will turn very dark brown and become quite brittle

adapted from ketoconnect.com

Lyle's Golden Syrup Cookies

Lyle's Golden Syrup is one of my all-time favorite ingredients - it has a rich, caramelized flavor just can't be beat and I'm thrilled to see it gaining in popularity.  Here's the flavorful syrup is paired with oats, butter, and vanilla to make chewy cookies.  Incidentally, leftover cookies freeze beautifully (just in case you're tempted to eat too many in one sitting).  

Start by whisking together all purpose flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 

In a medium saucepan, heat butter, sugar, and golden syrup together until melted and smooth.

Mmmm.

On a side note, Lyle's Golden Syrup is available in cans, squeeze bottles, and jars (see here).  The squeeze bottles are the least messy, like honey.  

Stir in pure vanilla extract - be sure to use the good stuff!

Now stir in old fashioned oats and the flour mixture.

Stir until no traces of dry oats or flour remain.

For this recipe, I use a #50 scoop to ensure all my cookies are the same size (affiliate link).  I have a number of scoops in different sizes, but this is the size I use for the majority of the cookies and mini muffin recipes that appear on this blog.  

NOTE:  when buying portion scoops, check for "#__" on the sweeper arm.  This scoop is a #50 (that means 50 scoops will equal one quart).  WARNING:  some vendors sell their scoops by diameter size (example:  50mm).   DO NOT order a 50mm scoop if you want a #50 scoop.  The diameter of a 50mm scoop is almost 2 inches, while the diameter of a #50 scoop is much smaller at 1 1/4 inches.    

Pro Tip:  whenever I bake a cookie recipe for the first time, rather than commit an entire tray of cookies to unknown variables such as baking time, baking temperature, and baking surface, I do a small test batch first to refine those unknowns (all of which can make or break your recipe).

First I preheat my oven fully and check my oven thermometer to ensure the interior temperature is accurate, then I bake for the suggested time directed (you'd be surprised how often the directions are wrong).  In addition to verifying baking time and temp, I check to see which baking surface produces the best results.  Here you can see I baked one cookie on parchment paper and one on a small quarter-sized silicone baking mat (like this one).  

Let's check out the results below, shall we?

The differences aren't always this clear, but for this particular recipe, it's obvious the cookie baked on silicone turned out much better than the one baked on parchment paper (and obviously, the suggested oven temp was too hot - thankfully I didn't ruin an entire tray of cookies discovering that fact).

Back to baking surfaces, silicone almost always wins my baking tests - not quite as dramatically as shown here, but I encourage you to give it a try and discover your own results.  

Alrighty - pour yourself a glass of cold milk and enjoy! 

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• lyle's golden syrup https://amzn.to/3B5OA54

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3ovS9fE

• #50 scoop https://amzn.to/3gugJcy

• magnetic measuring spoons https://amzn.to/3suac74

• small silpat liner for test baking https://amzn.to/3rCjXBd

• large silpat liner https://amzn.to/3SJkxsC

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/3Lhy06R

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Lyle's Golden Syrup Cookies

makes 18 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tablespoons lyle's golden syrup

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup old fashioned oats

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and baking powder, set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat butter, sugar, and golden syrup until melted and smooth; remove from heat and stir in pure vanilla extract.

3. Add flour mixture and oats and stir well to combine.

4. Place cookie dough in an airtight container and chill for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 325F and place rack in the center position.

6. Line two half sheet pans with silpat liners (parchment doesn't work well for these cookies).

7. Use a #50 scoop to portion dough, 6 cookies at a time, evenly spaced on sheet pan.

8. Bake for 8 minutes; remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Note

• I suggest baking only one tray of cookies at a time, being sure to place chilled dough on room temperature (not hot/warm) sheet trays.