PEGGY'S SESAME SEED SANDWICH BUNS

4 eggs, separated

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon granular Splenda *

1/4 cup golden flax meal

1 tablespoons unflavored, unsweetened whey protein powder

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium, non-plastic bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth; add the Splenda and egg yolks and beat until smooth. Add the flax meal and whey protein; beat until blended. Gently dump the stiff egg whites into the bowl with the yolk mixture. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold in the whites until no large spots of white remain. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites.

Spoon the batter into a well-greased muffin top pan with 6 holes. Sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds. Bake at 300º for 35 minutes until nice and brown. Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 6 buns

* Most brands of liquid Splenda are too concentrated to use here. One drop typically equals 2 teaspoons or the equivalent of 1 packet of sweetener.

Per Bun: 125 Calories; 10g Fat; 7g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 1g Net Carb

Per 2 Buns: 251 Calories; 21g Fat; 13g Protein; 4.5g Carbohydrate; 2.5g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

This recipe is from Peggy's blog. It's her version of the Atkins Revolution Roll. I added another 1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds because 1/2 teaspoon wasn't enough to cover the tops of my six buns. I can see in Peggy's photo that she used more than the 1/2 teaspoon that she calls for. Her buns have even more seeds on them than mine. I also baked mine in a well-greased muffin top pan because I could tell that the batter would have been much too thin to hold its shape on a baking sheet. Because my muffin top pan only makes six buns, that's how many I got from the recipe. Judging from the size of my buns, I think that they would have been a little small to use for hamburger buns had I made 8 instead of 6. I checked them after baking for 25 minutes and they looked nicely browned and seemed done so I took them out of the oven. However, after they'd cooled a little I removed one from the pan and it felt kind of wet and spongy to me. So, I put them back into the oven for another 10 minutes. They only got a little browner and it did seem to firm them up nicely. I also let them sit on the wire rack for several hours in hopes of drying them out even further. I have to say that these look a heck of a lot nicer than the old Improved Revolution Rolls recipe that I made before. Unfortunately, they looked even better when I first removed them from the oven but they deflated as they cooled.

I used two of the buns to make a whopper of a hamburger and they held up great. My burger patty was an half-pounder and I added the usual toppings plus sliced tomatoes and onions. Although some of the stuff dripped out, the bun was sturdy enough to handle the mess. One thing that I did before assembling my hamburger was to let the buns sit out on a rack for about an hour to come to room temperature and dry out a bit more. I think that may have helped make them seem more bread-like. I honestly couldn't taste the buns what with all the stuff that I piled on my burger but I think that's a good thing. I don't care for really eggy tasting "breads". I will make these again to use for burgers but I think I should make smaller meat patties. A half pound burger was a little big for the buns and the burger was a little too filling for me. Normally I have no trouble finishing a bunless half-pounder but with the buns it was a bit of a struggle. My husband said that I should have taken a picture of my burger. Maybe I will next time. Click the photo to see a close-up.

UPDATE 10/8/11: Here is a photo of my burger (click the photo for a screen-lickable close-up):