The Recipe For Cloud Bread Is Older Than You Thought

If you've been on the internet in the last few years, then odds are you've come across the ketogenic diet at one point or another. Affectionately called the keto diet by its dedicated followers, the meal plan focuses on high fats and proteins, balanced with super low amounts of carbohydrates to jumpstart weight loss. The keto market is here to stay, too. According to a press release issued by Fior Markets, the keto craze is forecasted to grow to nearly $18 billion in just five years.

Whether you're in on the booming keto trend or not, you've likely stumbled across some popular low-carb recipes while mindlessly scrolling through TikTok. In 2020, one keto recipe took the social media platform by storm: cloud bread.

Eater reports that the trend was kicked off by TikTok user @linqanaaa, who re-introduced the fluffy, carb-free bread to the world with her Insta-worthy almond loaf. All you need to bake up a cloud of your own is some sugar, egg whites, and a bit of cornstarch. The result? A keto-friendly, "meringue"-like bread alternative (via Epicurious). It may not be a fresh-baked burger bun, but a piece of cloud bread sure beats the often dreaded lettuce wrap.

But, like most things TikTok discovers and hypes up, this recipe is nothing new. As a matter of fact, cloud bread has been around for nearly 50 years (via Kitchn).

Long before both TikTok and the keto diet existed, there was another popular trend front and center: the Atkins diet. Dr. Robert Atkins launched the low-carb program in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, it was a household name and considered a miracle-fix for Americans suffering with weight-related issues. Sound familiar? We're looking at you, keto.

The Atkins diet became so popular that Dr. Atkins himself rolled out a recipe book in 1972 for followers to try out some low-carb options at home. One of the most bookmarked pages was the recipe for Atkins Diet Revolution Rolls: a fluffy, yet flimsy bread alternative made from eggs, sugar, and cottage cheese. Carb-avoiders rejoiced, sandwiches were had, and dinners around the country were saved. The rolls have made a repeated comeback in years since — first as Oopsie Rolls, and now as the beloved, trendy cloud bread (via AllRecipes).

Many keto variations (like this one from Delish) swap out the original cottage cheese for other dairy ingredients, such as cream cheese, to keep the protein and fat content high and the taste more mild. Others, like the one that first took over TikTok, keep it simple and axe the dairy altogether. Some even add food coloring to really give the bread a unique, feed-worthy feel — we're drooling over this one from Sea of Blush.

While we appreciate the secret history of this carb-free recipe, we're partial to the latest iteration. If you can't have sourdough, the least you can do is make your "bread" aesthetically pleasing, right?