It’s possible to make dense, real bagels at home that are gluten free and delicious! Here’s how:

Ingredients:

• 1-1/3 cup warm water for yeast
• 2-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 TBSP vegetable oil (I use my EVOO for everything)
• 2 TBSP brown sugar, molasses or honey
• 1-1/2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder or instant coffee crystals
  • If you’re sensitive to flavors and don’t love coffee, stick with cocoa.
• 1-1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 3/4 teaspoon Xanthan gum -plus-
• 1/8 teaspoon Xanthan gum
• ¾ cup warm water

Extras:

• KitchenAid stand mixer (I love mine and couldn’t make bagels without it.)
• Spray oil (if you have it, or you can use more of your veg oil. Spray is easier, IMO.)
• Damp tea or dish towel that fits over the top of your mixing bowl
• Larger size wooden board
• A small kitchen scale if you want to be picky about making them all the same size
• A large pot to boil the bagels after the second rise.
• Slotted spoon or spatula.

Pro Tip, Ready the Oven:

I usually drop an oven rack to just below center (where you’ll need it later anyway) and put the oven on to pre-heat at the very start of this process. I turn it off when it’s heated. This way, I have a slightly warm (not hot!) oven to let the dough rise in, and I can clean my countertops after the first rise.

How to Make Bagels:

1. Warm up water for yeast to somewhere between 115 and 125 degrees F.
   • I usually let the tap water run until I see some steam – that’s going to be about right to get the yeast to expand well.
2. Add yeast to the water and let sit while you put the dry ingredients together. The yeast will start to get foamy looking.
3. While that sits, mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.
   • I use my stand mixer, but you don’t need to.
   • Make sure the bowl is large enough for the dough to double in size.
4. By now, the yeast should be good to add to the bowl. Mix that yeast-water in until it becomes a dough.
   • Because there’s no gluten, the dough will look like it isn’t going to stick together. It will, though!
   • If it looks too dry, add a small bit of water to loosen it up. If too wet, add a small bit of Xanthan gum until the consistency is more or less what you’d expect for a bread dough.
     • Seriously, only add drops at a time or you risk throwing off the balance of ingredients trying to get the consistency right.
5. Once the dough is formed, you want to start kneading.
   • To knead by hand: push your knuckles into the dough and away from your body. Then fold the top of the dough over onto the bottom, turn the dough a quarter circle, and do it again. Repeat until it’s mostly smooth and stretchy.
   • I don’t do this by hand. I keep a stand mixer specifically to make bagels.
6. When the dough texture looks good, form it into a ball and let it rest on a board (about 5 minutes, if you can) while you spray oil the inside of the bowl. Cover all of the sides of the bowl — this is going to help the dough to not stick after the first rise.
7. Put the dough ball back in the bowl and lightly spray a bit more oil over it.
8. Cover the bowl with a damp towel.
   • Don’t let it drip onto the dough—you just want it to add humidity for your dough to rise well.
9. FIRST RISE: Let sit for not less than 2 HOURS.
10. No, you cannot make this part go faster. Watch a show or something.

Phase 2 Directions: The Second Rise

After at least 2 hours, it’s time to do the fun part! Before you start, put a large pot of water on your stove to boil. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F and make sure your oven rack is set just below center if you didn’t do that earlier. Last, lightly spray your tea towel with oil so your bagels can drain after boiling without sticking to the towel. (The sticking issue is worse with gluten-based bagels, but still helpful with these.)

1. Sprinkle a little bit of Xanthan gum on a board to keep the dough from sticking. Remove the dough from its toasty warm bowl and place on a large board.
2. Knead it a couple of times (to check the consistency), then shape it into something like a log shape. This makes it easier to slice into what will be the bagels.
3. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough in half, then each half in half, until you get 8 pieces of roughly the same size.
   • I’m nerdy about this, so I usually weigh each piece with a small kitchen scale so they’re all the same. This helps them all cook at the same rate. It’s a small step to make sure I don’t ruin any of them after all this work.
4. Now you’re going to shape them like bagels.
   • I typically dip my fingers into a bit of water and knead each piece to make them look nicer and really smooth, then roll them into a ball.
   • Once the ball is made, I push my thumb through the middle and use my fingers to finish shaping them like traditional bagels.

Phase 3 Directions: Boil & Bake

If they aren’t boiled, it’s just bread. Don’t make just bread.

1. When you have all 8 bagels done and the water is boiling, slide one bagel at a time into the water and let it boil for 30 seconds on each side.
   • Turn them over with a slotted spoon or spatula, and remove from the water after the minute is up.
   • The bagels should slightly expand again in the pot (but it’s ok if they don’t).
2. Place them on your oil-sprayed towel to drain.
   • While they’re still kind of damp, it’s a good time to put your toppings on. I used a mix of store-mixed “everything” seasoning, and added garlic powder and onion flakes. You can really use almost anything you like, though!
   • Note: They don’t stick the same way gluten-based bagels toppings can stick, but dampening the tops of the bagels with a wet finger first should help the toppings stay on better.
   • Also Note: Chia Seeds > Poppy Seeds.
3. Once they’re all done, put the tray in the oven for about 20 minutes until they’re golden and delicious.

Pro Tip, Freezing:

Make bagels easier to reach for during hurried mornings by slicing them in half before freezing them. You can just pop them in a toaster oven and they’re ready to eat fast!

Let me know how they turn out for you!