Late last year I dabbled in eating in the Ketogenic (Keto) lifestyle. I achieved both good and bad results over the course of about 4 weeks. I didn’t go hog wild and go total Keto, but enough to make a difference in my weight. After dropping 7 lbs very quickly (the good), I also sent my cholesterol levels skyrocketing (the bad) and had a shocked family physician who wondered what the heck I did to send my total cholesterol up by 2 points into the danger zone. The backstory here is that I have a family history of heart disease and I have always had borderline-high cholesterol which I struggle with in keeping it at the mid-range level. My main culprits are eggs and cheese, which I ADORE, but alas, they are an enemy to my cardiovascular system.
So, after surprising the heck out of my doctor, I pulled back on the Keto foods (it was approaching Xmas and tropical holidays anyway) and went back to my daily oatmeal and severely limiting my cheese and banishing the eggs. Tough to do, but in the interest of my health, it was what I had to do.
Fast forward to this week, back from sunny south holidays and other obligations and I can get back to concentrating on getting myself healthier. I already exercise daily, but I would prefer to have my diet help burn fat instead of spending over an hour in the gym each day. So I have spent considerable time cruising websites, blogs and listening to podcasts on Keto including looking over hundreds of recipes that are available at the click of a mouse.
Most Keto recipes are egg and cheese heavy, my apparent nemesis, so trying to figure out what else I could eat that wouldn’t send my cholesterol numbers through the roof again was going to be tough. I came across a website featuring oodles of recipes (www.lowcarbyum.com) featuring low-carb options and some egg free options as well, but what really caught my eye was a recipe for Almond Flour Tortillas that were egg free and I just had to try them (helloo… the Mexican food goddess here remember?).
Now her recipe calls for whole psyllium husks to be ground up as this is the binder agent to replace eggs. Not wanting to go out and get a whole whack of different ingredients, I already had an egg replacement in the fridge in the form of ground flax seed. I use it daily in my oatmeal and have been known to add it to baked goods as well to boost the nutrition. Ground flax becomes a binding agent when mixed with boiling water. So that is what I ended up doing, as well as adjusting the total water amount called for to get a nice pliable dough.
Now that all this backstory stuff is done, let’s get on with the recipe!
Low-Carb Almond Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
1/4 Cup ground flax seed
6 Tbsp hot (boiling) water
1 Cup almond flour (I used ground almonds with the outer skins)
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp avocado oil
2 Tbsp hot water (or more to achieve desired consistency)
Directions
– In a medium-sized bowl, combine the ground flax with the 6 Tbsp of boiling water; mix well and let sit for 10 minutes.
– Add remaining ingredients except the extra water and stir to combine. If dough seems dry, add extra hot water by the spoonful, mixing after each one until you get a nice, soft, flexible dough.
– Heat an electric griddle to 350F or heat a frying pan over med-high heat
– Divide dough into 6 pieces and roll into a ball in your hands, using a tortilla press*, press the tortilla as thin as possible. * If you do not have a tortilla press, use a glass pie plate and press the dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.
– Place tortillas on griddle/frying pan and cook until browned on one side, flip and cook on the other side until browned, anywhere from 4-5 minutes per side.
– ** IMPORTANT ** Remove from heat and wrap in a tea towel, then place in a ziploc bag and place in the fridge for 24 hours. If you try to use them right away, they will crumble, but placing them in the fridge to rest ensures they will be nice and pliable the next day so make sure to make these the day before you need them.
These turned out really good. Not at all like cardboard although I do need to try and press them thinner as these puffed up a bit while on the griddle. Next batch I will add some seasonings to the dough…shall I go spicy? or savoury? Either way they will be good!
Makes 6 x 4″ tortillas (if you want larger tortillas, divide dough into 4 balls)
Nutrition per tortilla:
Total Calories: 22.7
Total Cholesterol: 0 grams
Fiber: .53 grams
Sugar: .29 grams
Carbs: 1.44 grams
Fat: 1.51 grams
Sodium: 18 mg
Protein: .96 grams