This post is a little out of the norm, but I've been experimenting with allulose lately and had to post another allulose recipe. This is a keto-friendly, low carb recipe for chocolate yeast bread made with King Arthur Keto Flour. It's soft, slightly sweet, and packed with chocolate chips. I'd call it a cross between a crusty sandwich bread and a brownie. It's chocolatey, and sliceable enough to toast or top with a little peanut butter or cream cheese. Another benefit -- 9 grams of protein per slice! You can also make the bread as chocolate bagels.
What Makes This Bread Keto?
This recipe uses King Arthur Keto Wheat Flour, which is lower in net carbs than regular flour but still rises like a traditional wheat-based dough. It also calls for allulose as the sweetener, which doesn't crystallize like erythritol and helps keep the crumb soft and moist. A few tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder give the dough its rich chocolate color and depth, while sugar-free chocolate chips make every bite feel rich. And then there's the cottage cheese. It adds bulk, protein and softness to the loaf and lowers the overall oz per oz calorie count.
Texture & Flavor
The texture is fluffy but sturdy, with a tender crumb that stays soft when toasting thanks to the allulose. It's questionable whether this is a dessert bread. In my opinion it is, but I tend to overload it with chocolate chips and stick extra ones on the outside. You can do the same or just make each slice a lricher by topping with peanut butter or hazelnut spread.
Ingredients Overview
- King Arthur Keto Wheat Flour - a high-fiber, low net carb flour with wheat protein
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - adds rich chocolate flavor without sugar
- Allulose - keeps the bread tender and gently sweet
- Yeast + warm water + egg - for rise and structure
- Cottage Cheese - for protein and extra bulk. Strained Greek yogurt might also work, but I usually use the cottage cheese
- Butter or oil - for added moisture
- Salt and vanilla - because every good chocolate bread needs balance
- Melted Chocolate -- for a tender crumb
- Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips - optional but highly recommended
Tips for Success:
Weigh your flour - especially with keto wheat flour, where too much can make the loaf dense. King Arthur says ¼ cup should equal 30 grams.
Don't skip the rise - this dough needs time to get puffy, even if it won't double like traditional dough, but it will rise a little. During baking, it should rise quite a bit.
Low Carb Chocolate Bread Macros
To get the macros, I put all of the ingredients in MyFitnessPal's calculator and used a 1 ½ oz slice as a serving. So a loaf that's between 15 and 16 oz will give you 10 servings. Each slice has around 103 calories, 5 grams fat, 10 grams of protein and 12 grams of carbs.The 12 carbs that are there are mostly from fiber (6 grams), sugar alcohols (around 4 grams) and natural sugars (around 2 grams). If you subtract the fiber and sugar alcohols the net carb sound per slice is around 2. But that is an estimate! Definitely do you own calculations if you are strict about macros.
Low Carb Chocolate Bagel Variation
This loaf will give you 6 nice size chocolate bagels. And good news! You don't even have to boil them. To make the bagel variation, let the dough rise for an hour, then divide into 6 sections. Shape into balls, adding chocolate chip to each ball and sealing them in. Create a hole by sticking your finger through the center. Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet, then cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. Bake at 375 or 350 for about 25 minutes.
If you like the idea of chocolate bagels but aren't interested in making them keto or high protein, here's my recipe for regular double chocolate bagels.
Recipe
Low Carb Cottage Cheese Chocolate Bread
Ingredients
- ¼ cup water
- 1 ⅛ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon honey or a pinch of sugar or a little molasses
- 1 cup King Arthur Keto Wheat Flour plus another 2-3 tablespoons as needed (130 grams)
- ¼ cup allulose powder
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
- 1 ½ ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (85%)
- ½ cup cottage cheese (120 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup bittersweet chocolate chips or Lily's sugar free dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup chopped hazelnuts or any other nut (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the water to about 115 degrees and put it in a small bowl. Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to help feed it, then let it stand until foamy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup (130 grams) of the flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, salt and espresso powder (if using). Mix very well with a spoon or with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and butter together in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Add the cottage cheese and egg to the melted chocolate mixture and stir until blended. Heat over low just until the mixture is barely warm.
- Add the activated yeast and the warm cottage cheese mixture to the flour mixture and stir until it all comes together. It should be soft like cookie dough at this point, so add the remaining flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Attach dough hook to the stand mixer. Set the bowl on the stand and let knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise for about an hour. It most likely will not double, but it should rise quite a bit in the oven.
- Punch down the dough very lightly. Reserve about ¼ of the dough, then add the chips to the remaining dough. Shape into a round. As you form the round, try to keep the chocolate chips buried in the dough. Use the reserved ¼ cup of dough to patch any exposed chips. This keeps them from drying out in the oven.
- Set your dough round on a piece of parchment. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for about 60 minutes. It will not double during the rise, but it will puff up substantially.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the bread on the center rack for about 45 minutes (for small loaves) and 60 minutes for one large loaf, shielding with foil the last 20. If you have an instant read meat thermometer, bread is usually done when it's a little over 205 F.
- If you'd like, you can lay some chocolate disks or pieces on the hot loaves and let them melt into the top as the bread cools.
- Let cool for at least an hour, preferably longer. Slice and serve, or wrap it in plastic and freeze.
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