Switching to a keto diet might leave you with some sentiments of missing different kinds of phyllo dough pastry, pies, etc… For a Greek, the most missed thing is the famous tyropita (cheese pie), spanakopita (spinach pie), manitaropita (mushroom pie), kotopita (chicken pie) and even world-famous baklava. Yes, I am talking about classical phyllo dough. For sure, if you visited Greece, you have tried one of these carb-loaded delicacies. I admit they taste good and they have some sentimental value. Therefore, I made it into a project:

Create the perfect keto version of phyllo dough

Of course, the main ingredient which helps the phyllo dough to become so thin, elastic and crispy is the gluten from wheat flour. Now, I don’t have to remind you how unhealthy gluten is! You cannot even think about it when you want to create a keto-friendly phyllo dough. As with all batters and doughs, in keto cooking your best friend is called psyllium. This amazing plant will help you to achieve the “gummy” consistency that will allow spreading and thinning the dough. In this phase, I came up with a solution for a little bit thicker phyllo than the original version. Nevertheless, this doesn’t prevent the tyropita or any other pita to look and taste even better than the real thing.

Patience is a virtue

Since I am coming from a baker’s family, I know how important it is to be patient when working in the baking process. The most important thing is to get the right ratio of ingredients. You will be starting with coconut flour as the base. Now, why did I choose coconut flour? Some might say isn’t almond flour more Mediterranean choice? Based on my experience, there isn’t almond flour that can be finely ground into powder-like coconut flour. On the other hand, coconut flour has a more neutral aroma and a better colour for this purpose. It’s very important to add psyllium to a ratio of 2:1. It means if you put 2 tablespoons of coconut flour you will need 1 tablespoon of psyllium.

A perfection of taste and appearance

This phyllo dough can serve as a base for many different pastries, even as a pizza base. I had some dough leftover so I created small cookies. They turned out as small loaves of bread which gave me another idea. If I placed the ball of dough into bread baking mould, I would most probably get amazing keto bread. But this is a subject for another article.

You probably think, give us the recipe finally! So, here it is:

Phyllo dough for keto baked goodies! Eureka moment!

Recipe by Apollonas Kapsalis

0 from 0 votes

Course: Mediterranean, Recipes

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

136

kcal

Ingredients

Metric US

Phyllo
6 tbsp coconut flour
3 tbsp psyllium husk powder (blonde variety)
1 tsp sea salt
115g (4 oz) melted grass-fed butter
2 large pasture-raised eggs
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Filling
150g (5.3 oz) crumbled Greek Feta cheese
100g (3.5 oz) grated aged goat cheese
100g (3.5 oz) sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1 large pasture-raised egg
Freshly ground black pepper
Topping
1 medium pasture-raised egg
4 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions

In a deep mixing bowl, place coconut flour, sea salt and psyllium. Mix well. Melt the butter and add it to the mixture. Use your hand to combine it.
Now, add the eggs and olive oil and keep mixing with your hand. Be patient, squeeze the dough between your fingers and allow psyllium to “drink” the fluids.
After 2-3 minutes you will be able to form a ball. If the dough becomes too dry add some warm water and mix again. Let it sit for 30 minutes in the refrigerator and cover it with a plastic foil.
After 15 minutes check the consistency. If it’s dry and breaks in the corners, add some more water and mix it with your fingers again. Once you feel that the dough has gummy, plasteline alike consistency it’s ready to work with it.
Spread some coconut flour on your working surface and place the dough in the middle. Now slowly using your hand press it in the middle while holding the edges with the other hand to prevent it from breaking.
Once your dough is 1cm thin, sprinkle some more coconut flour all over and start working gently with the rolling pin. You have to be patient and don’t press too much because the dough might break. Try to make it as thin as possible. When the dough is well spread, cut it into long strips 5 cm wide.
Using a brush spread olive oil all over your stripes. Place the filling in the lower-left corner of the phyllo. Fold the lower-left corner of the stripe up to form a triangle. Continue folding the phyllo the same way you will fold a flag. If the triangle gets too thick just cut the rest of the dough.
Try to make all triangles folded 3-4 times. Place them on a baking sheet in a baking pan. Mix the egg for topping and egg wash all the triangles using a brush. Now sprinkle sesame seeds all over the triangles. Preheat the oven to 200ºC -392ºF and bake them for about 20 minutes or when you see that they are turning golden.