Imagine biting into a chewy and delicious gluten free sourdough bagel. Boiled before baking, these bagels are as traditional as they come. They are perfect toasted with butter, or served with a schmear of homemade cream cheese.
Bagels were one thing that I really missed when I became gluten free in 2009. Since then I’ve worked hard on developing delicious homemade gluten free foods, and I’ve discovered two things that seem to make everything come together: prefermenting flour and psyllium husk
!
Bagel toppings
Toppings will stick to freshly boiled bagels. You don’t need to add an egg wash or anything like that. Just sprinkle on the toppings as soon as they come out of the water. Here are a few delicious options:
- Plain
- Poppy seed
- Sesame seed
- Onion: Sprinkle with minced fresh onion.
- Rosemary garlic: Top with minced fresh garlic and rosemary.
- Everything: Use a mixture of 1 tbsp poppy seeds, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp dried minced onion and 1 tsp dried minced garlic.
- Cinnamon: Mix 2 tbsp sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon
- Cheese: Asiago cheese is traditional, but any hard cheese will work. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of grated cheese over each bagel.
Gluten Free Sourdough Bagels
This deliciously chewy, gluten free bagel uses sourdough for flavour and psyllium husk for structure. It is a traditional boiled-bagel, with 8 different flavour options (see above.)
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 bagels 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: boiled
- Cuisine: Gluten free
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 1/4 cup of water
- 2 tsp instant bread yeast
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 2 3/4 cups gluten free bread flour mix
- 2 tbsp psyllium husk
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
For Boiling
- 1 tbsp baking soda or 1/3 cup of honey
- 2 tbsp toppings (optional, see below)
Instructions
- Combine all of the dough ingredients together and mix well. The dough will be quite stiff, so kneed to get everything combined. Lightly oil your hands to prevent the dough from sticking to you while you kneed. The exact amount of flour will depend on your flour blend, so add more as required to form a nice stiff dough.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, form it into a bagel shape. Be sure that the ends overlap and are pinched together.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper. Set the bagels on the cookie sheet, with space between each bagel to allow room for rising. Leave the bagels somewhere warm to rise for 2-4 hours.
- Bring 4 liters water to boil in a large pot. Either add honey or baking soda to the water. (See notes for more details.)
- Working with 1 bagel at a time, place the bagel in boiling water and cook for 20 seconds, flipping them over halfway through cooking. Using a slotted spoon, return bagels to the baking sheet. Sprinkle on the toppings before the bagels cool. (See section above for some ideas.)
- Once all the bagels have boiled, bake them at 425 F for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, rotate the cookie sheet, and continue to bake for another 20 minutes, until bagels are golden brown.
- Remove bagels from oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
- Use within 3 days, or slice in half and freeze to keep them fresh.
Notes
- The flavour in this recipe comes from an active gluten free sourdough starter. It only takes 2-3 days to start one with buckwheat flour.
- Use either a store-bought GF bread flour
(affiliate link) or make your own bread flour mix.
- Adding baking soda or honey to the boiling water increases browning on the bagel. Baking soda will give the bagel a pretzel-like flavour, where as honey will add a sweet caramelization.
Keywords: gluten free, sourdough, traditional, breakfast, snack, Jewish inspired, fall, winter, sandwich, lunch
they sell psyllium husk at Ingredients in bulk 🙂
I noticed that the last time I was there. I’ll post my psyllium husk GF sourdough soon. Just finished up with my cheeses. 🙂
What would you recommend as an almond flour substitute for the
nut allergic?
I would replace it with any whole grain flour. You may need to add a bit more liquid because almond flour doesn’t absorb as much liquid as other flours. Let me know how it goes!
Can I substitute an egg for a flax egg?
The recipe calls for an egg, however, if you want to use a flax egg I recommend adding 2 tsp xanthan gum. The bagels are boiled, and you really want to make sure that it keeps it’s form.
I had doubts that these would hold up in the toaster, but they did great!
★★★★★
Thanks! My kids literally eat these for breakfast EVERYDAY.
Looks so delicious and perfect for weekend brunch!
★★★★★