Atkins 1972 Revolution Rolls -- My Way

My Atkins 1972 Revolution Rolls right out of the oven
(and just before they fall)

If you've never tried an Atkins Revolution Roll, you are in for a heck of a surprise.

While they don't taste like wheat bread, if you let them sit overnight in the refrigerator, they resemble a non-sweet airy angel-food cake.

But sturdier.

So sturdy, that they hold up to a burger or ham sandwich easily. These are the original Atkins rolls, so they are suitable for Atkins 72 Induction, as well as later plans.

In the 1970s, when I first ran across the Atkins Diet Revolution book at the public library, I didn't have enough courage to make these Atkins 72 Revolution Rolls.

Although they are extremely popular today, I couldn't understand how beating egg whites into meringue could take the place of bread.

The egg yolks are folded into the beaten egg whites, along with cottage cheese, mayo, or cream cheese, but that still didn't make sense to me. How is that going to be a decent bread alternative?

Maybe you feel the same way.

If so, then it's time to put your fear aside and try a batch of Atkins 1972 Revolution Rolls. Also called Oopsies or Cloud Bread, they will literally change your low-carb life for the better!

Why do I say that?

Angel food cake and other sponge cakes are made in a similar way as these rolls, but for cake, you add a little all-purpose flour or cake flour to the beaten egg whites to hold the cake together.

This is why I couldn't understand how these rolls would hold up as well as they do.

They contain no flour and nothing really all that binding to hold them together, except for the egg whites.

The original rolls did contain some cottage cheese, but that's more about moisture retention, due to having to bake the rolls so long, than improving their texture to look like bread.

However, I'm extremely glad that I didn't try them back in the 70s. I don't think I would have liked the recipe as originally written. Gluten-free baking is extremely temperamental and limiting myself to low-carb ingredients would have only made the situation worse.

Right out of the oven they are crisp, crumbly, and eggy, but today, I have a workable solution for that.

My Experience With Making the Original Revolution Rolls

It wasn't until 2007 that I decided to give Dr. Atkins' Revolution Rolls a whirl.

Although I still didn't know a thing about gluten-free baking, by then, a lot of low-carb bakers had tried these bread alternatives and had put their own spin on the original recipe.

This is where the name Oopsies originally came from.

Cleo, a popular blogger, subbed cream cheese for the cottage cheese and accidentally used twice as much cream cheese as the recipe called for -- hence the name.

Since then, others have experimented with the recipe and came up with twists of their own.

Today, these fluffy rolls are often called Cloud Bread. They are gluten free and fit into many weight-loss plans and dietary approaches, not just low carb.

The original recipe called for baking the low-carb rolls on a Pam-sprayed cookie sheet for a full hour.

The first time I tried that, the rolls were very dark brown after only 40 minutes, and totally not edible. They were like Styrofoam. They crumbled when I tried to lift them out of the pan.

(Today, I'm thinking that they might make great bread crumbs made that way!)

Others at the Low Carb Friends forum had similar experiences and were baking the rolls for no more than 30 minutes, so I tried that next. This trick worked beautifully, as far as coloring and getting them out of the pan was concerned, but they still tasted eggy and were more than a little disgusting.

Frustrated, I popped the rolls into separate zip-lock baggies, so they wouldn't stick together, and put them into the refrigerator overnight. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I wanted to see what giving them time to sit might do.

The low-carb chocolate-mayonnaise pound cake I used to make was always moister and had a better texture after it sat overnight, so I was hopeful that these low-carb rolls might improve in texture if allowed to sit.

By the next day:

The rolls had turned into a type of sponge bread that were strong enough to hold up for sandwiches and burgers. The texture change and taste after sitting for 24 hours in the refrigerator was amazing.

However, I'm not going to try and tell you that they taste like wheat bread; they don't. But they didn't taste eggy after sitting overnight either.

They are a sponge bread with just a hint of sweetness.

Improvements on the Original Recipe

In the 1970s, cottage cheese contained smaller curds than it does today, as well as not as much cream. Didn't have added vegetable gums either.

Today, manufacturers have started using lots of extra liquid and larger curds, which means that small-curd cottage cheese isn't small-curd cottage cheese anymore. It is what large-curd cottage cheese used to be.

I haven't had much luck using cottage cheese in the rolls. The curds don't melt into the batter like they used to, so the rolls come out with little wet spots.

They work better when you use mayonnaise or cream cheese instead.

I prefer the taste of the rolls when made with cream cheese, but mayonnaise is acceptable on Atkins 72 Induction (while cream cheese is not) and works just fine.

Recently, I ran into someone who claims that sour cream works even better, but I haven't tried that version yet.

In addition to switching to cream cheese, I also like to add a little bit of whey protein powder to improve the structure of the rolls. Some people use ground flaxmeal, and some use a high-gluten type of flour, but since I can't have gluten and I react to flaxmeal, I haven't ventured past the protein powder.

The protein gives the rolls a bready texture.

I tried to use a bit of xanthan gum in them once, but I didn't see any noticeable difference. The Xanthan didn't help at all.

Xanthan gum works similar to gluten by thickening the dough and creating air pockets to help gluten-free flours rise and the dough hold its shape, but the egg whites are already doing that, so there's really no reason to use the xanthan gum.

The cream of tartar is to help keep the egg whites stiff. Vinegar, lemon juice, and baking powder will do the same thing, but vinegar and lemon juice will add more liquid to the batter. You really don't want to do that. The batter is wet enough already.

Baking powder is a mixture of cream of tartar, baking soda, and cornstarch, so when using baking powder to replace the cream of tartar, you'll want to use more than double the amount. A rounded 1/2 teaspoon would be perfect.

1972 Revolution Rolls (Also Called Oopsies or Cloud Bread)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or rounded 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese, mayonnaise, or small-curd full-fat cottage cheese (can use up to 6 tablespoons of cream cheese on Level 2 or higher)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons bulk Splenda or other sugar alternative
• 2 tablespoons whey protein powder (optional)

Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick foil and set aside.

Carefully separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, placing the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl) and the yolks in a small bowl.

It is better to dump the whites into your stand mixer bowl after separating each egg. That way, if you accidentally get a bit of yolk in with the whites, you have only messed up one egg and not the whole batch. You cannot have any yolk in the whites or they won't whip correctly.

To the whites, add cream of tartar. Beat the whites until they are very stiff. If you don't have a stand mixer or food processor to make the job easier, an electric mixer will work just fine.

Don't rush this step! The whites have to be THICK.

When stiff enough, you'll be able to turn the bowl upside down and the beaten egg whites won't fall out.

Into the yolks, add the softened cream cheese, salt, and sugar substitute. If you're using the whey protein, add that too. Mix well. The cheese won't beat in smooth. The batter will be lumpy, but that's okay. Just do the best you can.

Very carefully, add the yolk mixture to the beaten egg whites and gently fold the two together with a rubber spatula, turning the egg whites over very slowly, until the yolks are no longer runny. This should only take about 6 or 8 large, broad strokes. No more.

The yellow color won't disappear completely. That's fine. You don't want to break down the egg whites, as the meringue is what gives this low-carb bread its volume and puff.

Plop the batter onto the prepared cookie sheet by large spoonfuls, making six piles, and then piling one spoonful of batter on top of another. Divide the batter out evenly to make 6 rolls. Bake for 30 minutes.

Allow the rolls to cool on the cookie sheet until stiff enough to handle, then place the rolls inside a zip-lock bag while they are still warm and refrigerate them overnight. The warm rolls will steam and change their texture.

Don't skip this step!

The rolls have to be refrigerated to lose their eggy taste and firm up. They will change their texture and become more bread like after they sit in the refrigerator overnight.

There are about 4 to 5 carbs in the whole batch of these Revolution Rolls, depending on the amount of carbs in your protein powder. Divided among 6 rolls, that comes to less than 1 gram per roll.

The rolls will likely flatten upon cooling, since they don't have gluten to help them hold their structure, so most people use 2 buns turned upside down, like the egg salad sandwich above, to make their sandwiches and burgers.