I started making these a few years back when I first had my own studio apartment and could finally entertain friends! (Remember that? Going to friends’ houses?) I had already started eating gluten-free, but this is a great way to test out alternative “bread” ideas. They’re also vegetarian, Paleo, and keto-friendly. And if you’re trying to sneak more veggies into your diet, these have plenty of gooey, melty cheese and flavor to not make you feel like you’re sacrificing anything!
A few tips:
1) Cauliflower rice is so much easier to find these days, but if your store doesn’t have it, it’s also pretty simple to make rice from a head of cauliflower or from a bag of cut florets (there are a ton of YouTube videos that will show you how!).
1a) If you can only find “pearled” cauliflower, you may want to blitz the pearls in a food processor or blender for a few pulses to chop them up even more finely. It turns out fine with either, but the texture is better with the rice. The pearls are slightly too large and the bites will fall apart more easily.
2) Briefly steaming the cauliflower in the microwave softens them up so you don’t have crunchy raw veggies in your “bread.” But when they come out of the microwave, they are steaming hot - so you want to let them cool by spreading them out in a thin layer (on a sheet pan or cutting board) so they don’t accidentally start cooking the raw egg!
3) If you lay the towel on the flat surface before spreading your rice to cool, it makes the job a little less messy when trying to squeeze out any excess liquid that will water-log your finished bites. ;)
4) Lastly, what to bake them in: I use a silicone mini muffin mold (with 2 TB-capacity cups x12), but metal is also fine and shouldn’t alter cooking time. If you don’t have a mini muffin tin, you can also line a flat, rimmed sheet pan with parchment and arrange the “dough” into a rectangular-ish about 1” high. It doesn’t have to have the evenest edges, but aim for an even thickness throughout. Use your fingers to pinch or pat down where necessary!
Note: If baking flat, increase cooking time by 5 minutes. They might need up to 10 minutes longer. Allow to cool slightly before slicing into wedges, squares, or stick shapes.
