Bread is a treat that I generally do not include in my diet. It was never allowed on my plan during my competition training, and so it’s not something I’ve really reincorporated into my life. Don’t get me wrong- I think bread is incredibly delicious! But here, in Korea, they don’t even have the bread I would choose anyways. Korean bread is all that white, sweet, processed, insulin-spiking stuff. Not something I want.

Enter my egg bread.

Now, I know this isn’t real bread. It actually started out as an egg white pancake recipe, but somehow, after many alterations, became this pillowy bread-like substance. Can’t say I can complain about it! Even now when I eat it (which is pretty often), I get this sneaky guilty feeling..

But I promise- this is pretty legit healthy. So it has a little bit of processed ingredients from the whey and gums, but really, its mostly all egg goodness. And almost a pure fat-free protein source! Perfect post-workout with some starchy carbs!

I will admit though, this recipe is kinda a pain- mainly for me because I have to separate so many egg whites. For you lucky ones in North America, you can just buy the cartons of egg whites. That is a huge time eliminator!!

*Also, please note that in all my recipes, I generally am not exact- so don’t be too worried about exact measurements. I measured here, but normally I don’t, and it still turns out fine.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
3 cups of egg whites, room temperature
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of lemon or lime juice
1 scoop of protein powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp guar gum
1-2 tsp liquid/granular stevia (or sweetener of choice), optional

*If you don’t have both gums, this should still work. I’ve made it successfully with just guar gum, but for some reason it seems to work best using both.

Method:

This works best when your eggs are room temperature. I’ve made it also when they aren’t, and it still works, but you will get your eggs at their fluffiest if they are warmer.

Begin by beating your eggs with a sprinkle of salt for 2-3 minutes

until they look like this

Next, sprinkle your lemon or lime juice over the whites. This helps make them fluffier.

Beat for another 2 minutes until you have stiff peaks

Combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and lightly sprinkle about 1/3 over your whites.

Now, carefully mix it in on med-low speed, trying to break up any clumps.

You’ll feel the whites getting denser. Continue adding the rest of the mix, beating and scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as you go.

The whole process should only take a couple minutes- don’t spend too much time being careful or your egg whites will lose their size. Your batter should be pretty dense now.

Next, prepare your frying pan and/or oven pans. Because I live in Korea and have only a tiny oven, I maximize my time by using both. But for you lucky ones who have real ovens, you would be best off just using that. The bread turns out better in an oven. I bake mine at 350, but you might need to adjust your oven a little lower.

Use parchment paper to line your pans and/or frying pan and gently press your batter into the pan. Only about 1/2 way full because this baby will rise! It takes about 25-30 minutes to bake.

For your frying pan, use low heat and cover. It takes about 30 minutes, and you should flip it halfway.

To flip: pull it out of the pan, peel the paper off and place the opposite side down

Also, you could make smaller breads if you wanted, but I don’t have the patience to wait for all those little guys to cook.

If your oven bread looks like this, then its done

Simply remove from the pan, peel off the paper and allow to cool.

And this is how your frying pan bread should look:

It’s almost more like a nan bread

I got 2 pans of each method out of the recipe. So it yields a pretty big amount. However, the nutrition info, for 4 servings, in only about 130 calories, with 30 grams of protein each!

 

Variations:

Chocolate Pillow Bread- use chocolate protein powder. Can also add 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder

Vanilla Mint- add mint extract to egg whites before beating.

Garlicy herb- if you don’t want a sweet option, you can definitely experiment with savoury! Try adding garlic powder, omitting the stevia, and adding other herbs.

Cheese- add parmesan cheese to the dry ingredients. Also cover your bread in a layer of mozzarella after its finished cooking and broil. Yum!

*Also, there are some similar recipes out there for grain free breads! Check here and here for some great ideas!

How will you eat your pillow bread?