Gluten-Free Bagel Recipe (vegan, xanthan gum-free)
I have a very fun recipe for you today—one that your children will love to help make......gluten-free bagels! I've been making these ever since my oldest daughter asked me to create a gluten-free bagel recipe, about four years ago. I had just published the first edition of the Nourishing Meals Cookbook (2012), which contained plenty of amazing gluten-free and vegan bread recipes, but no bagel recipe! She encouraged me to test out my breadstick and bread recipes in bagel form and they worked great. We've had fun making these together to send on her school camping trips throughout the years.
The big difference between bagels and a roll or a breadstick is that the dough is boiled after rising. This creates the chewy bagel texture that we all know and love. I've created a photo tutorial for you to help make the bagel-making process very easy to understand.
There are so many variations to this recipe! Cinnamon-Raisin (my Buckwheat Cinnamon-Raisin variation will be posted soon), Garlic-Herb, Sesame, Poppy Seed-Sea Salt (pictured here), and more! Please let me know in the comments what types of flavor variations you created using my recipe.
This gluten-free bagel recipe is nearly identical to the Rosemary-Sea Salt Breadstick recipe in my Nourishing Meals book. I've just changed the way in which they are made, and switched out one of the flours for another. I hope you enjoy!
Gluten-Free Bagels
I like a to make a few batches of this gluten-free and xanthan gum-free bagel recipe at a time so that some can go into the freezer. My children love to make sandwiches out of them....such as turkey-lettuce-mustard-raw cheese for their school lunches, or a fried egg and avocado sandwich for breakfast! Once the bagels are baked and completely cool you can slice them in half and freeze for later use. To reheat, simply toast your frozen bagel halves in the oven or a toaster.
Use sprouted brown rice flour if you can find it—if not, regular brown rice flour works just as well. Make sure you are using "raw" buckwheat flour, or flour made from raw buckwheat groats. Roasted buckwheat flour will NOT work in any of my recipes. To make raw buckwheat flour all you need to do is to grind raw buckwheat groats in your high-powered blender or coffee grinder until a soft, fine flour forms. It's really very easy and quick. Learn more about making raw buckwheat flour here.
Wet Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
Toppings
- Place the warm water in a bowl or 4-cup liquid glass measure. Add the yeast and maple syrup, whisk together. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes to activate the yeast. The mixture should get foamy or bubbly. If not, dump it out and start over.
- While the yeast is activating, mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- After the yeast is activated, whisk in the olive oil, ground flax seeds, and psyllium husks into the water-yeast mixture. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes to let the flax and psyllium release their gelatinous substances. Whisk again.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with a large wooden spoon until thick. Turn dough out onto a floured wooden board. Add more flour (rice, buckwheat, or tapioca) a little at a time, until the dough holds together and isn’t too sticky.
- Divide dough into six to eight equal-sized balls. Knead in a little extra flour to each dough ball if it is still too sticky. Gently flatten each ball and place in the palm of your hand. Use your thumb to make a hole in the center and then stretch the hole using both hands so it is a little larger. Place the bagel onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
- Cover bagels with another piece of parchment paper and place cookie sheet in a warm place to rise. I like to place the cookie sheet on top of a large glass baking pan filled with very hot water, or into a warm oven (set to the warm setting for about 15 minutes and then turned off). Let rise for 45 to 60 minutes.
- Place a large pot of water on the stove. Bring to a boil. Place 3 to 4 bagels into the boiling water at a time (they should have space to move, so don't overcrowd them). Boil for 2 minutes, then flip each bagel over and boil for 2 minutes on the other side. Using a large slotted spoon, remove each bagel and set back onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Sprinkle any toppings you would like on the wet bagels (just after boiling). In these photos I am using coarse ground pink Himalayan salt (I use my salt grinder set to coarse), poppy seeds, and a very small amount of organic onion powder.
- Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy warm with butter or coconut butter! They are also delicious spread with mashed avocado and smoked salmon!
- Cool bagels and slice in half before freezing if desired. Extra bagels can be stored for 3 to 4 days at room temp in a loose bag. Lightly toast before serving for the best texture.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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Comments
Woah! This is the best recipe that has crossed my path in a long time. I have made them 3 times this week (had to share them with all of my friends) and have even made modifications. the first batch i made with regular buckwheat, oat flour, millet flour and teff and they turned out awesome. the second batch i used more oat flour and less buckwheat and they were even more awesome, and currently I have a batch in the oven that's cinnamon raisin that is mostly oat flour as my gluten free family prefers oat and millet to other grains. The base of the wet ingredients has remained unchanged with the exception of maple syrup and tapioca flour or cassava flour is a must. Whomever came up with this recipe Thank you, Thank You, Thank You. This recipe really does afford us a return to the world on our body's terms and goodness are they easy and fun to make!
Thanks for this recipe. We love the bagels and also use the dough to make pizza pockets and other types of pockets. Pockets turn out a bit hard on the outside but the kids love it.
Hi Ali, I have made these so often, thank you so much for the recipe. Have you ever substituted arrowroot for tapioca? Trying to stay away from potato (and relations) right now. Thanks so much!
Thanks for the great recipe!
Could you maybe, add flour quantities by weight (oz./ qram)?
I think it would really help.
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LOVE the flavor, second time making this recipe but sadly both times they haven't seemed to rise enough. Thoughts? I am going to try kneading more flour in next time.
Oh my. I have not posted it yet, but have all of the photos done. Hopefully I can get to it soon. :)
Hi Anna, I'm not sure what went wrong here. Did you use "raw" buckwheat flour? That part is very important because it behaves very differently compared to the buckwheat flour you would buy in the store.
Thank you Amber for the feedback! :)
I really want to make your buckwheat cinnamon bagel recipe that you mention but I can't find it anywhere. Have you posted it?
Made these today. Wondering why they are gooey inside, they were not sticky at all when kneading them. In fact, they felt perfect? Any ideas? I still have them in the oven after an hour.
These bagels are delicious! Thank you. I also tried the recipe recently as a pizza crust in our wood-fired pizza oven and it worked really well. I divided the dough into four parts to rise and obviously skipped putting a hole in them. It rolled out really nicely. I pre-baked the crust and then added toppings and baked again. I think it will become my regular pizza dough recipe. Thanks again.
Hi Richelle,
Thanks so much for your feedback! I'm glad they turned out so well using teff and millet flours. 😊
My little doesn't like buckwheat so I used teff and millet to replace it. She LOVED the bagels.
Thank you Coleus for the feedback! I will have to try less yeast next time. That's great for other people to know since packets are more common. Let me know how the sourdough version works if you try it. 😊
Hi Ali,
I made these earlier this week and they turned out great, every one is asking for more so I am going to make a bigger batch and put some in the freezer this time. They are so easy and quick! The only thing I did a little different was use a little less yeast (2 1/4 TBS instead of 3) because I used a packet that has that amount. They were plenty fluffy and chewy. I do look forward to experimenting with a sourdough version too starting with your recommendations in an earlier comment. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Elaine,
Thank you so much for your feedback! :)
So glad you enjoyed them and that you have shared your modifications. I think you'll love buckwheat flour once you give it a try. I used a coffee grinder for years to grind buckwheat and it worked really well. We were then gifted a Vitamix through a client about 11 or 12 years ago, and I was able to make larger batches of raw buckwheat flour all at once. It is so much easier this way too! :) They are a great investment when you are ready to take the plunge! Check Amazon. They seem to continually change the price, but you can find them there for less. Here is the link: http://amzn.to/2lsI9ob
Ali, I was so excited when I saw these in my inbox. I made them this evening with the following modifications and they were superb. Next time I will make a double batch and freeze as you suggested.
Modifications: Replaced the buckwheat flour with 1/2 cup teff flour + 1/4 cup quinoa flour. Kneaded in extra teff and brown rice flour (maybe 1/2 cup or more?) to the dough until it was not sticky anymore. My experience baking gluten-full bagels years ago taught me that bagel dough requires more flour than traditional bread does.
Next time I will search for raw buckwheat groats and try grinding them in my dedicated coffee grinder for chia and flax. I do not own a vita-mix yet, but it is on my list! I do look forward to experimenting with your other Buckwheat recipes. They sure look delicious. --Elaine R.
Hi there,
I'm sure there is a way, I would just need to figure out the ratios of starter to flour. I have a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter recipe (and GF sourdough breads) written out in detail in my Nourishing Meals book: http://amzn.to/2lGPUY3
I might start with 1 cup of GF starter (at least 3 weeks old and in its active and bubbly stage), Then add 1 cup of warm water and the rest of the wet ingredients (syrup, oil, flax, psyllium). Then mix in enough flour for the dough to be kneadable. Follow the remaining directions although rising time will be much longer (3 to 6 hours). I'd need to test this a few times to figure out exact amounts but if you are familiar with making GF sourdough already then this will give you a good starting point. Let me know how it goes! :)
Hi Ali, I test highly reactive to baker's yeast, is there a way to make these using a gluten free sourdough starter?
Hi there,
I'm sorry they did not work out for you! It sounds like you did not knead in enough flour. Next time keep adding flour, and kneading, until each dough ball is not sticky at all.
Hi Jennifer,
Yes if you have a very powerful grain grinder! The Vitamix can't grind up brown rice into a fine flour....only a fine meal perfect for creamy rice cereal. Buckwheat is so soft so it is able to grind up quite easily in a Vitamix.
Hi Ellen,
Thank you for the feedback! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
As far the the garlic herb bagel goes.....you can add dried herbs such as basil, marjoram, oregano, and parsley to the dry ingredients and then sprinkle the tops of the boiled bagels with the garlic granules and some coarse ground sea salt OR you could add some minced fresh garlic to the wet ingredients along with the dried herbs already in the dry ingredients.
I plan on posting my Buckwheat Cinnamon Bagel recipe within the next few weeks. :)
You are very welcome Pavia! I hope you enjoy these bagels! :)
Aww thank you Nellie! Let me know how they turn out. :)
Thank you! I do have a Cashew Sour Cream recipe in my Nourishing Meals book. I will have to check out Kite Hill's sour cream....I've never had it. :)
I made these today and after baking 45 minutes they came out of the oven very gooey inside. What did I do wrong?
Can sprouted brown rice flour be made by grinding up Lundberg's sprouted brown rice, the same way that buckwheat is ground up? It's hard ordering things to Hawaii, but our local store sells sprouted brown rice flour.
Thank you Ali! These are excellent. I made them today with my son. Really looking forward to that cinnamon raisin version as well. :-)
I added white sesame seeds to mine today, but if I wanted to make a garlic herb version how would I go about it? Herbs on the inside or sprinkled on top? Chunks of fresh garlic or garlic granules?
Thanks again for this delicious bagel recipe!
Thank you!! I'm excited to try these very soon. I cook and get ideas from your recipes all the time. Thanks for being such an inspiration :)
I am so excited to try making these bagels! I we own both your cookbooks and refer to them weekly for inspiration.
Thank you so much! I'm so excited to make these tomorrow. I've been waiting for a bagel recipe for so long! Any chance you can recreate a dairy free recipe for cream cheese similar to Kite Hill?