Easy Gluten Free Bagels Recipe

light brown bagel on brown paper with knife with cream cheese

5 from 45 votes

These plain gluten free bagels have the authentic chew inside, and thin, crisp shell of a real, boiled bagel. Enjoy them with a schmear of cream cheese, or make the best sandwich of your life!

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Chilling and rising time1 30

Total Time2 20

Course: Bagels, Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten free bagels

Servings: bagels

Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

Stand mixer with paddle attachment

Ingredients

2 ¾ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (See Recipe Notes)
2 ¾ teaspoons xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
⅗ cup tapioca starch/flour plus more for sprinkling
¼ cup milk powder
1 tablespoon instant yeast (See Recipe Notes)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg white at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 ⅜ cups warm water (about 95°F)
Molasses bath 6 cups water + 1 teaspoon kosher salt + 1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses
Egg wash 1 egg + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, beaten

Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the raw dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the flour, xanthan gum, tapioca starch/flour, milk powder, instant yeast, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the salt, and whisk again to combine.
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg white, butter, and warm water.
Place the bowl in the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-low speed. The dough will clump around the paddle at first.
Once it begins to smooth out, increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl and takes on a whipped appearance (3 to 5 minutes).

Chill the unshaped dough

Transfer the dough to a container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and chill for about 30 minutes (and up to 2 days) to make the dough easier to work with and help it develop yeasty flavor.

Shape the bagels

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
Sprinkle a clean, flat surface lightly with tapioca starch, and turn out the chilled dough onto it. Sprinkle again lightly with more tapioca starch, and turn the dough over a few times to smooth the surface.
Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, divide the dough in half, then each half into 4 equal pieces to make 8 pieces total (each a bit more than 4 ounces).
Working with one piece at a time, sprinkling very lightly with additional tapioca starch to prevent sticking, press the dough into a roughly shaped round, pinching together any cracks.
Shape the dough into a round by placing it flat on the shaping surface and moving a cupped hand around in a circular motion to coax it into a round. Use your palm to press the top of the dough gently into a disk.
Sprinkle the top of the dough and your index finger with more tapioca starch. Poke your finger into the center of the dough. Turn the dough over, poke through the same hole all the way through. Move your index finger quickly in a circular motion to increase the size of the hole to about 1 1/2-inches in diameter.
Repeat with the remaining dough, placing the shaped raw bagels about 2 inches apart.

Let the shaped bagels rise

Cover the baking sheet with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and set aside to rise until the bagels are about 150% of their original size. They won't fully double, (which would be 200%).
Rising could take as little as about 40 minutes, or it could take much longer. It depends upon the temperature and humidity in your kitchen. If you see the surface of the bagels begin to become very uneven, with craters forming, stop proofing immediately.

Boil the risen raw bagels

Toward the end of the rise, preheat your oven to 375°F.
Place the ingredients for the molasses bath in a heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium heat.
Place as many of the bagels in the bath as you can fit without crowding them at all, and boil for about 45 seconds to 1 minute total, turning the dough over for even boiling. It's fine if the bagels swell unevenly.
Remove the bagels from the bath with a slotted spoon or strainer, removing as much excess water as possible. Return them to the baking sheet.
Brush the tops and sides of the boiled bagels generously with the egg wash. Repeat with any remaining bagels.

Bake the bagels

Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Rotate the baking sheet in the oven and continue to bake for about another 10 minutes or until golden brown all over, a thermometer inserted into a bagel reads 180°F, and the tops of the bagels spring back when pressed gently with your finger. When they're fully baked, they should seem relatively light for their size.
Allow the bagels to cool for at least 10 minutes and until they’re no longer too hot to handle before slicing and serving.

Video

Notes

Flour blend choice

I highly recommend Nicole's Best multipurpose gluten free flour blend or Vitacost's Multi-Blend Gluten Free Flour with added xanthan gum, or Better Batter's original all purpose blend without additional xanthan gum. Poorer quality flour blends that aren't balanced well will not work in shaped yeast bread like this.

To build your own blend or learn more about this important subject, please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page here on the blog.

Instant yeast

If you don’t have instant yeast, you can use 11 grams of active dry yeast in place of 9 grams instant yeast. You will need to proof the active dry yeast in some of the recipe's water first.

Nutrition