Your Basic Revolution Rolls

Kinda looks like manna from heaven, right?

Revolutionary Rolls from a Revolutionary Doctor



Learn The Rev Roll Technique Now

What do a roll and a doctor have in common? Like the first shot heard round the world during the American Revolution, the Revolution Roll and Dr. Atkin’s team who invented it, fired a mighty shot heard round the dieting world.

They play such an important role in diet history, both Dr. Atkins and the Revolution Roll endured over forty years of victory and tweaking abuse from low carbers around the globe.

Revolution Rolls with sesame seeds

Dr. Robert Atkins, founder of the Atkins Diet and revolutionary visionary of diet lore developed this humble bun to help his patients adhere to the Atkins Diet, a revolutionary low carb eating plan.

Little did he and the Atkins folks know, Revolution Rolls would appear on tables around the world and would help incite a revolutionary way of eating among millions.

Together, they helped families stick to low carb eating  – drop pounds, improve lipid profiles, correct blood glucose and mitigate disease progression from many vicious maladies – and all while flying in the face of low fat dogma.

We’re All Tweakers

Through the years, many people created tweaks and variations to the basic Revolution Roll recipe. One of the many qualities low carbers share is an innate compulsion to tweak a recipe. We just can’t leave a recipe alone!

One particularly inventive low carber – you all know her as Cleochatra – created the “Oopsie” Roll and a few years ago, we saw a resurgence of Revolution Roll mania as a result of a very easy substitution. Cleo figured out you could really help the texture of the Revolution Roll by subbing cream cheese for the cottage cheese originally called for in the recipe. You can read about her Oopsie highjinx over at The Lighter Side, Cleo’s yummy low carb blog.

Dr. Atkin’s basic recipe called for only three ingredients: eggs, cottage cheese and cream of tartar. Simple enough, yeah? Who doesn’t love a three ingredient recipe for cripes sake?! But heck, I would gladly use a “hunnert” ingredients if it means I can pick up a cheeseburger with my bare hands and eat it as God intended – hunched over a plate, juice drippin’ down my arms, delighting in meaty-cheesy-bacony-jalapenoey-goodness, as I did in my former so-called life – BLC (Before Low Carb).

Revolution Rolls Put The Boogie Back In Our Burger

Revolution Rolls brought the burger back to the Denny House! Revolution Rolls restored a sense of normalcy. I felt normal again! Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. But I can strive and hope for “normal” can’t I? A girl’s gotta have her dreams.

Beck's Prime Blue Cheese Bacon Burger with Revolution Roll

Seriously though, worlds re-opened for me! And today, I take Revolution Rolls with us to our local burger joints like Christian’s Tailgate, Beck’s Prime, The Burger Palace and even Smash Burger. I don’t care. I order bunless burgers, then whip out a Revolution Roll and build a meaty, tasty beauty.

The burgers look perfect - better than the ones with buns coming out of the restaurant kitchens. They look and feel like ordinary hamburger buns. They cut, pick-up, and eat just like a normal burger bun and taste awesome!!! Guh-bye fork and knife for Mr. Burger!

Look Out Little Debbie

I make “sammys” (sandwiches for all you people of couth), or sammiches as we say in our house. Every kind of sandwich you can imagine – even grilled cheese, panini-esque delights. In fact, with only minor tweaks, the recipe and technique is so versatile, you can use the Revolution Roll recipe to make credible, edible versions of high carb killers like cheese danish, pancakes, waffles, a ton of different cakes and trifles, even Twinkies, whoopee pies, Ding Dongs, HoHos, and almost anything Hostess or that bitch, Little Debbie, ever created! And yes, you will get the recipes for those creations soon. Soon. I promise!

But ever the tweaker, I wasn’t content to hold Revolution Rolls to three ingredients. If three ingredients are good, then eight ingredients must be better. Right? See, the only problem with the original Revolution Rolls was…well…er…um…they tasted like crap! Or rather, they tasted like good cream puffs gone bad – which means they tasted like crap! And they had a spongy texture from hell. Not good if you’re a low carb facsimile pretending to be a hamburger bun.

Tweaking was called for in this instance! I added a bunch of garlic and onion powder, and dropped in a little mozzarella cheese and protein powder to give it some extra body and wow! Big difference! I even like to add a spoon of Country Dijon mustard to the batter. 

I can't claim these as my own tweaks. Truthfully, I have no idea who originally derived this particular recipe evolution. But it's the version we make at our house, so I call it our Basic Rev Roll.

You Gotta Break a Lot of Eggs to Start a Revolution

But with a little tweak here and a little tweak there - here a cluck-there a cluck-everywhere a cluck-cluck...Did I mention you have to break some eggs if you’re gonna start a Revolution? Over the years, a lot of talented low carb cooks helped whip this recipe into submission. The additional ingredients not only improved the taste by VOLUMES! That’s right, I’m screamin.’ VOLUMES! But the extra ingredients also improved the texture of the Revolution Roll by miles.

E spitting out a bite, voicing her opinion about Revolution Rolls

I will always be honest with ya, though. Revolution Rolls won't ever taste like bread. And they didn’t pass the E - Test. E is our 18 month old great niece. Oh my gosh, she is so much fun to watch and she and her YaYa (her grandmamma) ate lunch with us last Saturday at Lankford’s Grocery.

E was highly annoyed we tried to sneak a Revolution Roll to replace her delicious hamburger bun while eating burgers at Lankford’s Grocery (As Seen in Diners Drive-ins and Dives, or so the back of their shirts claim.) In fact, we lost trust with her, because after one tiny bite, she refused the regular high carb bun she’d previously loved. And all because she suspected we were trying to pull another fast one on her and sub out with the evil Revolution Roll.

But even though Revolution Rolls aren’t E-Approved and don’t taste like BK or Lankford Grocery’s Sesame Seed Buns, they do make a helluva burger and sandwich guts delivery system. And that’s all I expect from Revolution Rolls. They get the job done. They are a blank canvas upon which I can smear and pile miles and miles of tasty ingredients. With tweaks, you get a roll with decent texture: tough enough to withstand juicy burger abuse but tender enough to stay moist and bread-like without choking you with dryness.

SusieT’s Notes:

3 of 4 Forks

I probably won’t ever sit around and dip these little buggers in olive oil and eat them along with a glass of zin or cab. But I sure as heck will slap a hunk of juicy, well-seasoned, hot-off-the-grill, patty-of-joy between two of these versatile Revolution Rolls. I will count myself darned lucky to be able to eat a cheeseburger like a human again! In fact, I will go out on a limb and endorse Revolution Rolls as one of the best 1.2 net carb hamburger buns I’ve ever eaten (well actually, 2.4net carbs if you eat two of them with your burger).

Sesame Seed Bun from BK - *Zoinkers!*

The Basic Revolution Roll recipe and technique is so important to learn, I filed it under Fluffy Chix Tips N’ Tricks section. You’ll find the Revolution Roll recipe here where we talk about Basics & Techniques. Master this recipe and the technique of separating and whipping egg whites and whoopee pies, Twinkies, layered cakes, jelly rolls and tiramisu can be returned to your lexicon.

But maybe the most compelling argument for Revolution Rolls is the nutritional comparison between Revolution Rolls and their high carb counterparts you get at restaurants. I am not singling out BK. Almost all commercial buns use these types of ingredients and have the types of nutritional information seen on the right.

Nutritional Information for a
Single Serving Revolution Roll

Add 1/2tsp sesame seeds for 1/3 carb
and about 8 or 9 calories. Multiply numbers
times 2 because you will eat 2 rolls.