All keto people must know the super popular Fathead dough, aka mozzarella dough. It’s versatile, so unique, and very widely spread among the keto and low-carb community. People often use the dough as a pizza crust, but it also makes an awesome keto replacement for puff pastry. If you don’t know what Fathead dough is, just continue reading further. You’ll notice how this simple recipe is a real life-saver!
Well, the problem with the regular Fathead dough is that preparing it is undoubtedly a bit complicated as you have to melt the cheeses first. Usually, this is done in a microwave oven. That results in an intolerably hot mixture that can become easily lumpy. A much finger-friendlier method is to prepare the dough in a saucepan over a stovetop, but this method is also quite laborious. In addition, no matter which method you use, you have to knead the heck out of the dough so that it becomes silky smooth.
I developed an extraordinarily simple method to prepare Fathead dough. No melting, and absolutely no kneading needed — and the dough is ready in a minute! Read on to find the secrets to the simplest and easiest method to prepare Fathead dough. I bet you won’t use the laborious old-school melting and kneading techniques ever again after trying this ridiculously effortless approach!
How to make this Lazy Woman’s Fathead Dough
You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make this dough! Just combine all ingredients in a food processor (or comparable) and process with low speed until smooth dough forms. That’s it! Takes just one minute!
Instead of a food processor, you can use a blender, or like I have here in the summer house where I’m currently located, an immersion blender with a chopper attachment. Well, the 500 ml bowl of the chopper was a tad too small, but it satisfactorily did the work after all.
But, without further ado, let’s take a look at the ingredients and how to make this extremely easy dough:
The ingredients are the same as in the regular Fathead dough. So, place 1 1/2 cups = 350 ml = 150 g shredded starch-free mozzarella or other neutral-tasting cheese into a food processor bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons = 1 oz = 30 g full-fat cream cheese…
…1 1/4 cups = 300 ml super-fine almond flour…
…and 1 organic free-range egg.
Close the lid tightly and process with low speed…
…until smooth dough forms. That’s it! Ready.
Shape the dough into a ball and use as you wish.
You can, for example, make adorable and tasty breadsticks: divide the dough into about 16 pieces. Roll the pieces into about 3-inch (7.5 cm) long sticks.
Place the dough sticks on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Sprinkle dried herbs like thyme on top. Alternatively, you can sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan or sesame seeds for a fabulous flavor.
Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for about 20 minutes, or until the breadsticks are done.
Remove from the oven.
Enjoy warm.
Yum!
How I came up with this unbelievably easy version of Fathead dough
If you have been following me, you must have seen me complaining about burning my fingers when making Fathead dough — especially in a microwave oven. Well, I developed an easier and much finger-friendlier method of making this dough in a saucepan over a stovetop. At that time, I was traveling in Greece and simply didn’t have a microwave oven there, but I wanted to try out how our Ketokamu baking mix behaves in the Fathead dough.
The baking mix made an extremely smooth and superb Fathead dough. So, encouraged by that, I tried the saucepan method with a more traditional version of the dough with almond flour. It worked so well that Fathead dough prepared in a saucepan became my favorite dough immediately!
However, I started pondering if there is even a simpler way to prepare Fathead dough. What if you don’t melt the cheeses but just mix all ingredients into a dough? Well, the shredded mozzarella is pretty coarse, so just kneading the ingredients might not make that smooth dough, I concluded.
Then, I realized I could simply put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth dough forms. Like that, I wouldn’t have to melt anything or knead anything, I contemplated. Sounded too easy!
Of course, I wanted to try out how my idea works in practice. I was (and I still am) in my summer house, where I have only an immersion blender with a chopper attachment. Well, it’s sort of a food processor, so it should do the job, I thought.
First, I tried a version with our Ketokamu baking mix. The dough turned out really smooth. It was easy to form into a ball.
Now, I wondered what to do with the dough ball, or what exactly I should bake from it.
I decided to simply make breadsticks. I shaped the dough into sticks and sprinkled some dried thyme on top.
After 20 minutes of baking, the breadsticks turned out gorgeous and tasty!
I was very delighted that my super-simplified version of the Fathead dough turned out so well. Naturally, I wanted to try the more traditional Fathead dough version that uses almond flour. I was sure that it was going to be a success, too.
So, I gathered all ingredients and started combining them in the chopper attachment while taking photos of each step. After some blending, a smooth dough formed. Marvelous!
I shaped the dough into a ball and made again breadsticks from it. The result of my experiment you’ll see in this blog post. The breadsticks were just irresistible!
Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy. As I said, I bet you’ll never ever return back to the old laborious method of melting the cheeses and kneading the dough. That’s just too much work. Yep. Too. Much. Work. This version, my dear readers, is the undisputable winner!
4-Ingredient Lazy Woman's Fathead Dough & Breadsticks from the Dough
All keto people must know the super popular Fathead dough, aka mozzarella dough. It’s versatile, so unique, and very widely spread among the keto and low-carb community. People often use the dough as a pizza crust, but it also makes an awesome keto replacement for puff pastry. If you don’t know what Fathead dough is, just continue reading further. You’ll notice how this simple recipe is a real life-saver!
Well, the problem with the regular Fathead dough is that preparing it is undoubtedly a bit complicated as you have to melt the cheeses first. Usually, this is done in a microwave oven. That results in an intolerably hot mixture that can become easily lumpy. A much finger-friendlier method is to prepare the dough in a saucepan over a stovetop, but this method is also quite laborious. In addition, no matter which method you use, you have to knead the heck out of the dough so that it becomes silky smooth.
I developed an extraordinarily simple method to prepare Fathead dough. No melting, and absolutely no kneading needed — and the dough is ready in a minute! Read on to find the secrets to the simplest and easiest method to prepare Fathead dough. I bet you won’t use the laborious old-school melting and kneading techniques ever again after trying this ridiculously effortless approach!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups = 350 ml = 150 g shredded starch-free mozzarella or other neutral-tasting cheese
- 2 tablespoons (1 oz = 30 g) full-fat cream cheese
- 1 1/4 cups = 300 ml super-fine almond flour
- 1 organic free-range egg
Instructions
1. Place all ingredients into a food processor.
2. Process with a low speed until smooth dough forms. This takes about one minute.
3. Use as a regular Fathead dough, aka mozzarella dough. Recommended baking temperature is 350 °F (175 °C).
How to make breadsticks from the dough:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
2. Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Roll the pieces into about 3-inch (7.5 cm) long sticks.
3. Place the dough sticks on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle dried herbs like thyme on top. Also, grated Parmesan or sesame seeds makes a delicious topping.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the breadsticks are done.
5. Enjoy warm.
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| Nutrition information | In total | Per serving if 16 servings in total |
| Protein | 73.9 g | 4.6 g |
| Fat | 118.7 g | 7.4 g |
| Net carbs | 8.9 g | 0.6 g |
| kcal | 1435 kcal | 90 kcal |
What to make from the Lazy Woman’s Fathead Dough
I guess the most common way to use Fathead dough is to make keto pizza crust. And, this dough certainly makes a perfect pizza crust. Don’t forget calzone, an Italian oven-baked folded pizza. This dough will undoubtedly make a perfect keto calzone!
And not only pizza crust, but you can also use the dough for a pie crust. I estimate this dough is perfect for an 8-inch (20 cm) pie pan. You can make sweet and savory pies alike from this dough.
Other savory uses for this dough are Pigs in a Blanket, Beef Wellington, Cheese Straws, pretzels, or turnovers.
For holidays, you can make traditional Finnish Christmas Pastries as a keto version using this dough.
Naturally, this dough makes a perfect keto variation on puff pastry. Use this dough for keto Danish, croissants, or strudel.
Oh yes, I bet this easified Fathead dough works as a nut-free version, too. Check out this recipe for my Nut-Free Fathead Dough.
So many uses! What are you going to make first from this dough?
General prattling
So, this week I’m visiting my summer house. The weather finally starts getting warm, and some days are as warm as summer days. However, the lake here is still mostly covered with ice.
I’ve baked a lot this week. First of all, I’ve always wanted to make a keto version of Charlotte Russe. This week, I finally took the time to develop this stunning dessert as a keto version for Mother’s Day. I made a Keto Cake Roll filled with Sugar-Free Lemon Buttercream, sliced it, and laid it into a half ball-shaped cake pan covered with plastic wrap. I filled the creation with a creamy jelly that contained raspberries, cream, and mascarpone.
Despite at least 30 years break from making Charlotte Russe — and being never made Keto Charlotte Russe before — the creation succeeded really well and became not only stunning but also really delicious! Just take a look at this photo:
On Thursday, I was in Helsinki in a brand new flagship store of Ruohonjuuri, talking about the keto diet and presenting our Ketokamu products. I had also baked Keto Chocolate Cookies, Herby Flatbread, and Cardamom Vanilla Muffins for people to taste.
There were many visitors, and they were raving about our Ketokamu products. They were especially happy with how easy and versatile our Ketokamu baking mix is to use. That made me really delighted. If only more people would find our products to help make their lives easier!
Elviira-
I must say I found you once and struggled to find you again. What. A.Saving. Grace. This recipe is. Thank you so much for taking the time to find a better way as well as having such great recipes. L. Graul Phoenix, AZ Happy Thanksgiving
Thank you, Lisa! All the best to you and Happy Thanksgiving!
I love pizza crust using fathead dough and this way is so much easier. I live alone and like the idea of the breadsticks but am not going to eat all at once. are they freezable and how would i re warm them?
Yes, you can freeze the breadsticks for up to 3 months. I recommend to wrap them individually in plastic foil. You can thaw them in the fridge overnight and reheat in a microwave or regular oven if you want them warm. However, I prefer them at room temperature.
Another way is to make the breadsticks and freeze them unbaked. You can thaw them in the fridge and bake. Like that, you’ll get freshly baked breadsticks each time.
If only I could find info on Adobe Photo Lightroom…
Whatever that means.
I made these to go with our lunch today. Although easy and tasty, is there a way to have them turn out a little more moist?
Hi Marilyn, almond flour can make them quite dry and dense. A combination of different flours (almond flour, coconut flour, psyllium, whey protein, oat fiber, etc.) would make them more moist and fluffy.
Thank you.
Hello Elviira, I made the breadsticks yesterday and they were great. Because I was in a bit of a hurry I made them longer and only made 8 in total. The result reminded me of the Italian ‘Biscotti savoiardi’ that I used for Tiramisu (not in taste of course but the shape). Do you think one could transform the breadsticks into a sweet version?
Thanks for all the great receips that make our lowcarb life so much more interesting foodwise.
Hello Gemma, so great to hear you liked the breadsticks! Yes, I’m pretty sure they can be used as savoiardi biscuits by adding some sweetener. Erythritol might make them too crunchy, so stevia or monk fruit would most likely be better options.
Hi Elviira
Pre-shredded Mozzarella (or at least the type you get in supermarkets here in the UK) always contains potato starch it as a coating; just wondering, does the cheese have to be shredded or could you maybe just cut it up fairly small from a mozzarella block? It all gets whizzed around in the food processor together with other ingredients anyway so do you think that shredded/not shredded makes much of a difference?
Thanks
Cathy
Hi Cathy, I bet you can use a mozzarella block if you cut it into small cubes or simply use a grater. It should work in this dough.
This sounds very good. But, I am allergic to egg! Do you think I could use a flax egg?
Hi Patricia, I think you should give it a try, although I’m not sure if it’s enough to bind the dough. It should work for larger bakings, like pizza or pie crust, I expect.
I have a 50 year old Cuisinart, and it only has one speed: fast. I’ll have to give this a go and see if it’ll work. Do you think using the dough blade instead of the standard S blade would increase my chances of success, or not?
Though I must say, I can just pulse this to mimic “slow” speed. I’ll let you know how it turns out when I make it, likely next weekend.
Hi John-Mark, I would use the standard blade as the idea is to break the shredded mozzarella into tiny pieces (or almost no pieces but a smooth dough) while kneading, so the sharper the blade, the better work it should do, I expect.
After adjusting the times for my microwave, I’ve had no trouble with handling fathead dough. When I read your instructions, I was certain my food processor did NOT have a slow speed. But that was my old Cuisinart. That one became a problem, thanks to a recall and blade replacement that didn’t work well, so I got rid of it and got a KitchenAid processor. I went to look at it and discovered that it DOES have a slow speed! So I will definitely try this the next time I want fathead dough. Thank you for teaching me that my new food processor is worth more than I thought, and that it’s possible to make easier fathead dough. That means I will make it more often.
Hi Susan, awesome, I will certainly make Fathead dough more often after discovering this method! I keep my fingers crossed your KitchenAid processor works like a dream for this dough!