Looking for a low carb bread replacement that’s also gluten free, low calorie, low fat, and delicious? Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? But they exist! Look no further! Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles from Bari Healthy Life equal keto chaffle love! Come fall in love!
Move Over Corona, Chaffles Are Viral!
Low carb, keto chaffles went viral not too long ago—about the time Fluffy hit maintenance. Without the added pressure to keep things super lean for weight loss mode, she thought maintenance mode (MM) might offer a chance for a little dietary fluff. The first place she looked was seeing if she could safely add a little bread to her BFD (Bariatric Forever Diet) via the humble, high protein, low carb keto chaffle.
From experience, she knew protein wasn’t a big deal. She was easily able to satisfy her protein needs through whole food sources. But, she needed to keep insulin low, fat lower, and keep working to increase sources of healthy fiber into her system. Fluffy understands how easily insulin resistance can potentially sneak back in following bariatric surgery. And, she knew she’d have to transform chaffles into a lighter, leaner version than the originals that use whole eggs and tons o’ high fat cheese.
Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles Challenge, Accepted!
So the challenge was on for Bari Healthy Life to remake and perfect these babies into bariatric friendly, protein-packed, bread replacements with a slimmed-down calorie and macro profile in just the perfect portion for our tiny tummies. Could we do it? No doubt about it—sure we could, but the bigger question was whether or not we could get rid of that awful burnt egg aftertaste found in so many of the keto chaffle recipes. Could the Fluffys succeed?
We went mad scientist on the low carb keto chaffle and the kitchen was aflutter with Fluffys and little mini chaffles—some “okay,” some “meh,” some “gag me awful,” dang! We really shook our tail feathers, baby! But thanks to our Mile High Keto Biscuit experience over at our old low carb keto food blog, Fluffy Chix Cook, we knew the first problem we needed to solve was how to get rid of the eggy flavor.
Good Bye Annoying Eggy Flavor!
Simple solution to the rescue! Sub out the whole egg for egg whites only. Not only does it get rid of the burnt egg yuck factor, but the simple swap also saves calories, ups the protein, and lowers the fat. The vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats found in the egg yolk can easily be replaced by a healthier protein topping. You could even use a little healthy fat that provides more protein, like almond butter, peanut butter, or avocado!
Thanks to all the bread development during the old Fluffy Chix Cook days, we also learned a thing or two about one of our favorite standby low carb ingredients, psyllium, and what it brings to the low carb bread board. Psyllium provides a mucilaginous texture to breads that partially replaces the structure proffered by gluten found in grains. And unlike gluten, psyllium strengthens low carb dough without promoting an inflammatory response! What? And did we mention it’s almost zero net carbs once you subtract out most of the fiber from the total carb count per serving?
NERD ALERT! Calling ALL the Nerds!
What Are Whole Psyllium Husks?
Do you mind if we nerd out for a minute? (If you mind, just click below to skip this part and get on with learning how to make your very own, VERY bready, crispy, flavorful, non-eggy, high protein, low everything else (Yes! Low everything: low cal, low carb, and low fat! They’re so low everything, we call ‘em Low Low or Lo Lo for short…) Psylli Chaffles!
Jump to RecipeI bet you didn’t know that psyllium husk is the outer seed coat from the seeds of the Plantago ovata plant. Psyllium husks consist of soluble fiber, and they are available in stores as either the whole husk or ground into a very fine powder. (The Fluffys like using whole husks and grinding them in an old coffee/spice grinder as appropriate for each recipe—Now Brand Organic Whole Psyllium Husks rock!) And this little low carb, high fiber, plant-based work horse can be so beneficial in a bariatric diet.
A Healthy Gut Biome Is A Happy Gut Biome
Psyllium can be great for helping restore our gut biome. Its breakdown feeds good gut bacteria and shifts the gut biome balance toward healthy gut bug species. A healthy gut biome is important because a healthy gut biome produces a better mixture of “happy hormones” like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine which travel to our brain via the gut-brain axis—these are neuro hormones, born in the gut, transported to the brain where they cross the blood-brain barrier, enter the brain, and act upon the part of our brain that controls mood, mental health, and the perception of happiness.
You might even recognize psyllium as the main star of the Metamucil show? A daily dose of 10 grams (about 2 tablespoons) can also help balance regularity and restore the easy “going” experience often interrupted after bariatric surgery. Daily psyllium could contribute as much as 10 g of soluble fiber toward our daily fiber target of 25 grams for women and 35 grams for men (Ba-boom, baby! You’re welcome!). And the Fluffys can tell you from experience that Susie’s fluffy, post RNY, gut is happiest with lots of bulky fiber to keep things moving.
Soluble Fiber Is Heart Healthy
Taking a daily dose of psyllium husk can do more than influence the “mood makers” in your gut and do more than make you regular! Psyllium husks also work to clean up harmful cholesterol. It can also affect a favorable ratio between dangerous LDL and the good HDL cholesterol in our blood. We are very pro psyllium as you might guess!
Back To Making Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles!
So where were we before we fell down the psyllium husk rabbit hole? Oh yeah, little Susie Fluffy had solved the whole burnt eggy problemo from the original keto chaffle recipe that featured 2 ingredients: high calorie, full fat yellow cheese and whole eggs. Eggs with yellow cheese might taste great in an omelet, but they’re downright craptastic in a burnt-egg flavored, greasy keto chaffle!
Ok, so replace whole egg with egg whites. We learned years ago during the Low Carb Bread Wars, that subbing out egg whites for whole egg provided a better flavor profile and killed egginess forevs. And yes, we do favor carton egg whites over egg whites from fresh eggs because the texture is different, making them easier to work with in baked goods. Just look for the kind that has very few, if any, additives. You want your carton whites to list a single ingredient on the carton: egg whites. And, voila! There you have it! G’bye burnt egg. Check.
Psyllium Husks Are A Great Gluten Free Bread Sub!
Then we wanted to improve the texture to be more bread-like. Enter our favorite sub for inflammatory gluten, the humble, inflammation-quenching, psyllium husk. Check.
Yeast Provides Low Carb Bread Flavor!
THEN, we wanted to add some flavor-flave to the chaffle profile to make it smell and taste breadier. Ring. Ring. Hello, Fleischmann’s? Could you please send over some rapid rise yeast—stat?! Check. (We should mention, the yeast is purely for flavor and will do zippo for rise.)
(BTW, we want to give a shout out to Jessica at Keto Rewind for her inspired use of yeast to add bread flavor to the chaffle! It will, forever-more, be added to anything “bread-like” in the Fluffy kitchen, right along with our tag team power house: ACV & baking powder.)
BARI HEALTHY LIFE
Rise and Shine!
Speaking of…let’s address lo lo chaffle rise. To help the rise, we enlisted the Fluffys’ tried and true low carb baking super stars: Please say hello to our synergistic WWLCBF (World Wide Low Carb Baking Federation) tag team duo of Bragg’s Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and aluminum free baking powder! These two heavy hitters combine to add a very well-represented loft to each mini lo lo chaffle. (Ask any second grader what happens when you combine baking soda and vinegar, whydoncha…volcano anyone?) The use of the ACV does something else! It adds a little sour dough flavor when combined with the yeast. We even like intensifying this bread flavor by adding a couple drops of liquid stevia (Vitacost Brand is our favorite) for just a tiny hint of bready sweetness.
Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles — Go Savory Or Go Sweet!
From here you can take one of two paths diverged in a flourless kitchen…go sweet or go savory. The choice is yours. But we took the road less traveled by. (Yes, Frost…) Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a bit more stevia or your favorite calorie free sweetener to make a sweet version, or toss in a pinch of granulated garlic and granulated onion powder, or EBTB (Everything But the Bagel) spice for a savory sensation perfect for any sandwich application.
We chose savory this go-round, because we adore using these for a quick breakfast or lunch-on-the-go. These make great open faced egg sandwiches, are great made into avocado toast, make lovely sandwiches, mini pizzas, and delicious grilled cheese. Make sure to check back here often so we can regale you with our latest Lo Lo Psylli Chaffle sandwich variation.
Gimme The Lo Lo Psylli Chaffle Stats! Stat!
At only 37 calories per lo lo psylli chaffle, you get a great high protein bariatric bread bargain! Enjoy 4 g of protein from every slice, oops, I mean every chaffle. And these high protein chaffles are so lean, too! Fat is held to a measly 2 g and the carb count is also ridiculously low. Carb count is 2 g total with 1 g fiber. Enjoy an almost zero net carb experience by subtracting out the fiber from the total carbs.
Chaffles Pass The Freezer Test!
And last but definitely not least, Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles freeze like a champ. The recipe makes 8 chaffles—enough for the fam, if you must share! Reheat in the air fryer, toaster, or toaster oven for a re-crisped, high protein, lo lo psylli chaffle flavor explosion. Bring bariatric friendly, low carb, gluten free, Bari Healthy Life bread back to your life BFD! (Did I mention they will keep you full for hours? Score!)
Dash To The Rescue! Kitchen Gadget Love!
We love our Mini Waffle Maker from Dash! For around $10, we got our little turquoise beauty from Target. The Dash makes Fluffy feel like she should be wearing heels and pearls like June Cleaver from Leave It To Beaver! Look at Fluff! She’s a retro-50s, chaffle makin’ mom! But, you can also use a larger waffle iron and center each one smack in the middle for a rustic look like the ones found on Keto Rewind. Hers were totes adorbs!
Although, true confession, Fluffy has a tiny small kitchen appliance gadget problem…and she’s already put this Burgess Brothers Chaffle Maker on her Christmas list that makes 4 chaffles at one pop! I told her, things didn’t look favorable because she’s currently on the naughty list…
Thanks to the psyllium, the dough won’t run like other chaffle recipes. Consequently, you can rest easy knowing you won’t experience any Dash chaffle blowouts—super messy and ick — a clean-up nightmare! (By the way, you might even be able to find one of the older waffle makers at a thrift store for around $10. )
LO LO PSYLLI CHAFFLES DAIRY FREE VERSION:
We’re happy to report Lo Lo Pyslli Chaffles work using dairy free substitutes. We test drove the Daiya Vegan Mozzarella Shreds this weekend with our sissy. The Daiya vegan cheese shreds taste very cheesy and mozzarella-ish! (Is that a word?) They also melt just like mozarella made from cow’s milk. But, the shreds don’t brown quite as well as the ones using real cheese.
And we also replaced the Greek yogurt with coconut milk yogurt. The dough was a little runnier at first, so we had to let the chaffle dough rest an extra 5-10 minutes before making them. But the batter ended up thickening into a “chaffle dough” just fine and we got 8 Dairy Free Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles from the recipe. (Oh, we also needed to add 3 minutes to the cooking time to get them to crisp — cooking for 5 minutes rather than 2-3 like our original recipe.)
We loved them! Success. Dairy Free Lo Lo Psylli Chaffle love. They reheat great — just like the real cheese version! Simply pop them in a toaster oven for one toast cycle or pop into a toaster. Yum! We used them to make Bari Healthy Eggs Benedict (for around 135 calories each)! Sissy was impressed and converted and we gave her dairy free, wheat free, low carb bread that won’t send her allergies to the moon. Life is good.
CAN LO LO PSYLLI CHAFFLES BE MADE VEGAN?
We’ve heard it is possible to make a vegan version of the pyslli chaffle. The psyllium husks will provide that viscosity (binding property) of the egg. But we’d stop short of using only psyllium and cheese. I think you need to replace the bulk in the recipe provided by the egg whites. It might take quite a bit of re-work and that it would be its very own recipe deserving of a separate post.
In the interim, you could “test drive” these modification in addition to making the Dairy Free Modifications! Try subbing 2 ounces of dairy free cream cheese. Daiya makes a Dairy Free Cream Cheese, but we haven’t tried it. We believe it’s readily available at larger markets. You can also add 1 fl ounce of a sugar free nutmilk such as almond or cashew milk. Then we’d amend the recipe to mixing in the food processor until well combined.
We’re not sure if 3 ounces of egg volume would be adequately replaced by 3 ounces of dairy free cream cheese and nut milk volume so we can’t comment on how many this would yield. The dairy free version makes 8 dough pieces about the size of a walnut.
Can You Modify Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles to Fit into Lower Stages of the Bariatric Diet Plan?
Point blank, Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles are a founding member of Fluff’s BFD (Bariatric Forever Diet or Bariatric Stage 4 Diet) and won’t fit any earlier stage of a post-op bariatric diet progression.
But, not only are they firmly part of Fluffy’s BFD, you should also be sure to ask your bariatric surgeon or RD if psylli chaffles are appropriate additions to your forever plan. Some people have swallowing or gut issues and psyllium should not be used if you experience any kind of swallowing problem, or if you are having gut issues. So be sure to ask first before adding psyllium into your post-surgical bariatric life!
Serving Suggestions for Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles (LLPC) …
- We enjoy PB & J Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles, which are toasted LLPCs smeared with a tablespoon of nut butter, sprinkled with a few frozen blueberries, raspberries, or no sugar added sliced frozen strawberries.
- Make Egg and Avocado Toast With Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles!
- Use them to make Bari Healthy Grilled Cheese Chaffles and serve with a cup of Creamy High Protein Tomato Soup!
- They work fantastically with a creamy salad such as egg salad, salmon salad, chicken salad, or BHL’s Healthy Tuna Salad — Creamy, Dreamy, Yum!
Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles
Course: BreadCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings10
minutes20
minutes37
kcal40
minutesLooking for a low carb bread replacement that’s also gluten free, low calorie, low fat, and delicious? Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? But they exist! Look no further! Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles from Bari Healthy Life equal keto chaffle love! Come fall in love!
Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (43 g)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast (Fleischmann’s) (.8 g)
1/4 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder (Calumet)
1/8 teaspoon Redmond’s Real Salt
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/8 teaspoon granulated onion powder
2 tablespoons nonfat plain Greek yogurt (Fage)(1 ounce or 28 g)
3 ounces carton egg whites (85g)
2-3 drops unflavored liquid stevia (Stevita)
1 teaspoon unfiltered apple cider vinegar (Bragg’s)
2 tablespoons whole psyllium husks (Now) (10g)
1 ounce part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (28g)
Directions
- Combine everything except psyllium husks and 1 ounce of shredded mozzarella.
- Stir until everything is even and smooth (except for the cheese which will still be in shreds.
- Measure out the 10 g of whole psyllium husks and grind to a powder in a small coffee grinder. (See note below.)
- Stir ground psyllium powder into the wet mixture until everything is evenly combined. The dough will be pretty wet and liquidy. No worries!
- Let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes. During that time, the dough will become a sticky dough rather than a liquid. If it’s too wet at 10 minutes, let it sit another 5 minutes.
- If dough is still too wet after that, you can add another 1-2 g of ground psyllium if necessary. Psyllium sometimes varies from one manufacturer to another.
- Divide into 8 portions.
- Heat mini non-stick waffle maker. Do not spray waffle iron.
- Divide 1 ounce of cheese into 8 tiny portions. Sprinkle half of 1 portion onto hot waffle maker.
- Top cheese with 1 portion of Lo Lo Psylli Chaffle dough and press down a little to flatten slightly.
- Top dough with remaining half of that portion’s cheese and close lid, pressing down firmly.
- Set timer for 2 minutes.
- Check for color. Chaffle is done when golden and the sides look mostly cooked. They should be crispy. If needed, continue to cook until crispy. That might be another minute or as much as 5 minutes if using a vegan cheese.
- Remove chaffle from waffle maker with a fork and let cool on a rack.
- Repeat process for remaining 7 chaffles.
- Top with desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
- We prefer Now brand whole psyllium husks. Whole husks occupy more space than ground husks, by weight. So we measure onto a scale first, then grind the whole husks to a powder after weighing. You can use pre-ground psyllium powder, but it will not measure 2 tablespoons by volume! It will be less than 2 tablespoons! Make sure you weigh out the ground psyllium onto a scale to get the correct number of tablespoons and teaspoons.
- MAKE IT DAIRY FREE: Substitute part skim mozzarella cheese with any of the vegan mozzarella cheese shred options. Daiya Mozzarella Cheese Shreds work great for this substitution. You also need to substitute coconut or non-milk yogurt for the Greek yogurt. Because these yogurts have more liquid you will need to let the batter sit longer so that it congeals into the sticky dough. You will also need to adjust the cooking time to add a longer cooking time to get them crispy and it will take 1 1/2 ounces of cheese to divide between the waffle portions so that it crisps as well as the cows’ milk version. We cooked our vegan chaffles 5 minutes and used 1 1/2 ounces for the griddle, divided between the 8 chaffles.
- NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 1 chaffle – dairy version): 37 calories; 4 g protein; 2 g fat; 2 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 1 g net carbohydrate; 0 g sugar.
- NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 1 chaffle – vegan Daiya version): 47 calories; 2 g protein; 2 g fat; 4 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 3 g net carbohydrate; 0 g sugar.
Dairy Version:
Nutrition Facts
8 servings per container
- Amount Per ServingCalories37
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat
2g
4%
- Saturated Fat 1g 5%
- Cholesterol 7mg 3%
- Sodium 136mg 6%
- Total Carbohydrate
2g
1%
- Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
- Sugars 0g
- Protein 4g 8%
- Vitamin A 1%
- Calcium 7%
- Iron 1%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Here’s Your Challenge!
Challenge yourself! Go make Bari Healthy Life’s Lo Lo Psylli Chaffles and when you do, PLEASE run back here and comment, purty please? (But don’t run with scissors!) Tell us how much you love ‘em. Don’t forget to like and share on Instagram! Catch the links below! #imbacnow2020 #barihealthylife!
PLEASE RATE, SHARE & COMMENT!
(Scroll all the way down to the bottom below the disclaimer to get to the COMMENT SECTION! We love hearing your feedback and learning how we can improve your experience at BHL! TIA!)
What did you use in place of egg whites in the vegan version?
Michelle, so sorry to pull a DERP moment and not think of it from a vegan perspective. We approached the dairy free version because of a milk allergy rather than a dietary choice challenge. So egg stayed, while dairy left. I will go change the recipe write-up immediately to include what I know about vegan chaffles! I haven’t tried this egg free, yet, since chaffles were ultimately an egg & cheese recipe. 🙂 But I’ve heard that you can sub out vegan cream cheese for the egg in the recipe? I’d think you would have to put it in the food processor. I might be tempted to start with 2 oz Daiya Dairy Free Cream Cheese (available at many stores) and maybe add 1ounce of sugar free nut milk? I really like cashew milk. Here’s a link for the cream cheese: Daiya Dairy Free Cream Cheese
Thanks,
Fluffy