Frying Pan Flatbread

For those who eat gluten, this high-protein keto flatbread is a must try. This flatbread contains vital wheat gluten, almond flour, and flaxseed meal, all of which are high in protein and low in net carbs. What I love about making high-protein bread and crackers is that it adds variety to your protein options, especially for those who don't eat soy or plant-based meats often or at all. And if the bread is the main protein in your meal, you can turn your attention to all the delicious toppings, fillings, and dips you want to enjoy it with.

This flatbread is chewy and versatile. It's great for cutting into wedges and dipping, but also pliable enough to fold into a wrap. However, it's not as fluffy or pliable as traditional naans or flatbreads, and is best folded soon after cooking, before it starts to stiffen up. This recipe is not as quick as my Air Fryer Flatbread, but it's pretty quick for a bread made with gluten, and I do prefer the gluten breads. At a future point, I plan to see how it turns out if I make a bigger batch of dough and keep pieces in the fridge or freezer to cook up later. If you happen to do this, please let us know how it goes. In the meantime, you can make this recipe a bit quicker for your future self by making little jars or baggies of the dry ingredients in bulk. Then when your want to prepare some, you just need to add the water and oil. Enjoy!
Yield: 2 servings of ½ a large flatbread (about 9-inch | 23cm) or 1 of 2 smaller flatbreads (about 6½-inch | 16cm each)
Macros (per serving): 225 calories | 18g protein | 14g fat | 5g net carbs
Prep: 10 minutes | Rest: 10 minutes | Cook: 8-10 minutes
Storage: sealed in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 2 days. Note that the flatbread will get stiffer and chewier once cooled and stored. It is better enjoyed fresh.
Warning: keto baking can be very finicky. I strongly suggest using a kitchen scale to weigh all ingredients for which gram and milliliter measurements are provided. If grams are not given, milliliters = grams.

​Dry ingredients:
  • ¼ cup (30g) almond flour
  • 3 Tbsp (30g) vital wheat gluten
  • 3 Tbsp (23g) golden flaxseed meal ✎
  • 1 tsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
  • 1 tsp baking powder​
  • a pinch of ​salt
Wet ingredients:
  • ¼ cup (60ml) water
  • 1 tsp light olive oil or neutral-flavored oil of choice
Directions:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
  2. Add the water and oil to the bowl and mix well. I use a small silicone spatula for this.
  3. Set the dough aside to rest for at least 10 minutes.
  4. In your hands, knead the dough for 5 minutes. I'm just doing this in the palms of my hands - rolling it around, folding it, squishing it, etc. The dough will be very sticky. Remove any rings or loose bracelets before you begin. You will have wet dough all over your hands. Resist the urge to wash them and power through. Over time, the gluten will develop and the dough will get thicker and more elastic. After the 5 minutes are up, you can rub your hands together over the mixing bowl or a clean countertop to get the remaining dough off and can incorporate it back into your dough ball. ✎
  5. If you're making 2 smaller flatbreads, divide the dough in half.
  6. Put the/a dough ball on the clean countertop and roll it into a ⅛-inch (3mm) thick disc. I'm just doing this on the countertop and it's not sticking. I'm also using a metal rolling pin. If you're worried it will stick, you could use parchment paper (both under and on top). If you want to use just the countertop and the dough is sticking, you could dust it and your rolling pin with plain protein powder.
  7. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium-low heat. If you're making 1 large flatbread, you'll need at least 9 inches (23cm) in the base of the pan. If you're making small flatbreads, you'll need a pan with at least 6½ inches (16cm) in the base and you can cook one piece after the other or use 2 separate pans at once. 
  8. When your pan is hot, add the flatbread. Cook it until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Monitor carefully and adjust heat as necessary. Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side, about another 4 minutes.
  9. Remove from the pan and enjoy warm for dipping, wrapping, or whatever else your heart desires.
✎ Notes:​
  • Golden flaxseed meal is much milder and more pleasant in flavor than brown flaxseed meal. Structurally, these muffins should turn out fine with brown flaxseed meal, but I'm not sure they would taste very nice.
  • It may be possible to triple or quadruple the recipe and do the kneading in a stand mixer with a dough hook to save yourself the labor. I haven't yet tried this, but the dough for the bread in my second book is very sticky and I use a stand mixer to knead it. However, this will create a lot of flatbread and this bread has a much better texture fresh. At a future point, I may try freezing the dough to see how it turns out thawed and then cooked.
  • Macros for this recipes are calculated with national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the nutritional yeast flakes (a mixture of Bob's Redmill and Foods Alive unfortified).
  • Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.