1.30.2021
EASY NO RISE GLUTEN-FREE BAGELS
Made with Gluten and Lactose-Free products
Recipe adapted from Nicole Hunn of gluten free on a shoestring blog.
8 bagels
I have been making bagels for years. None has come out the way I would want them. Finally, I have nailed it. Which is why I can now post this recipe for you.
These bagels were approved by my husband Peter who has been eating bagels since he was an infant. His mother told me that she used to freeze cut up stale bagels and give them to him when his gums were bothering him at teething time! She encouraged me to do this for our three children and it did work.
According to Peter, these bagels tasted as good as any he has ever eaten.
Prep your ingredients, put away what you don’t need.
Dry stuff:
Nichole’s Gluten-Free Bread Flour Blend* - 490g plus more for sprinkling
Xanthan gum – 1 t
S.A.F. instant yeast - 10 g
Granulated sugar - 30 g
Kosher salt – 9 g
Wet stuff:
Warm water – 241 g at 110F (I used whey which I had from making cream cheese)
Ghee – 84 g, at room temperature or unsalted butter or vegan butter (Spectrum brand). Ghee is expensive so I make my own.
Egg wash:
Egg white – 30 g
Milk - 1 T
Topping:
Seeds, salt, rolled oats; whatever you want to top your bagels or keep them plain
Let's make the dough:
Place the dry stuff in the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk with a hand whisk to combine well.
Using the dough hook with the mixer speed on ‘stir’ add the wet stuff into the dry stuff slowly and continue until the dry stuff is damp, otherwise the dreaded flour bomb! Scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
Then turn the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 5 minutes.
Spray a silicone spatula or flexible bench scraper lightly with cook spray and scrape the dough into a smaller bowl. This dough is smooth and very dense and slightly sticky to the touch.
If you find your dough to be too sticky add flour by the Tablespoonful at a time or if the dough is too dry add water by the teaspoonful. When done, the dough makes a sort of a ball that climbs up the dough hook while still stuck to the bottom.
Place the bowl of dough in a large plastic bag and fold the opening under the bowl or use a twist tie to close the bag, (I use the large clear plastic bags meant for collard greens from the supermarket), and chill for 30 minutes. This makes the dough easier to handle.
While the dough is chilling, in a Dutch Oven over medium heat, bring to a boil 6 c water, mixed with 1 T of molasses and 1 t kosher salt.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat baking mat and set aside. Sprinkle with medium coarse corn meal if you wish.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Shape the rolls:
When the 30 minutes are up, remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer to a surface (I use a square Ikea tray with a slick surface) lightly sprinkled with some of the better batter blend, sprinkle the dough very lightly with more flour and turn it over on itself a few times until the dough is smoother.
Using flour dusted hands, roll the dough into a snake or a log.
Using a bench scraper or sharp knife dusted with flour, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Keep the dough covered while you finish shaping.
Shape the pieces into balls by rolling them quickly in a circular motion in cage made of your fingers and palm over the slick surface of the tray or between your two palms. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Once you have all 8 balls made, flatten them so they are about 1 ½" high, then with a flour coated finger, create a hole in the middle of each round. The hole should be about 1 ½ “wide.
Boil the bagels:
Place as many of the shaped bagels into the boiling water bath as can fit without crowding and boil them for about 60 seconds turning the bagels over gently with a skimmer/spatula to ensure even boiling.
Remove the boiled bagels from the water bath and place on a drying rack with a sheet pan or kitchen towel under the rack. Brush the tops and sides with the egg wash and sprinkle with seeds or salt or leave plain.
Bake:
Place the bagels on the prepared baking sheet and bake until they are golden brown and about 190F in the inside. Allow the bagels to cool before serving.
Storage:
I prefer to cut the bagels into quarters and freeze in a zip top bag to keep the bagels fresh. (Lay the bagel flat on a cutting board and cut in half, now set a cut side down on the cutting board and cut in almost half, that keeps the halves together in the bag.) When ready to use, separate the bagel halves and toast lightly or zap for 20 seconds till they are thawed and warmed.
Serve with cream cheese, tomato, butter, lox, jams, whatever floats your boat. These bagels were very yummy.
Variations:
The amounts are approximations as a I ran out of the Whey protein and must wait for more to arrive.
To get rye tasting gluten free bagels: Add 1 T ground carraway seeds to the dough and sprinkle more on top.
To get pumpernickel tasting gluten free bagels: Add 2 T plain cocoa and 1 t instant coffee granules to the dough, and top with some rolled oats.
* To make gluten-free bagels you need to first make Nicole’s Hunn’s Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend. Before making the Bread Flour Blend, you need to make an all-purpose flour blend. You need to purchase a bunch of stuff. It is an expensive proposition. But if you buy exactly the products called for in the recipe and measure accurately, you will be able to make really good bread stuff.
If you are gluten intolerant, as far as I know it’s for life, you might as well learn to make your bagels and breads. Buying I find to be very expensive.
Nichole suggests Authentic Brand for superfine white and brown bread flours, Pomona brand for pectin, (I have tried other stuff and all I got was bread good to make very expensive bread crumbs.) Now Foods brand for unflavored whey protein isolate. (I order these on-line from Vitacost.com) I use Bob’s Red Mill brand for the rest of the flours and starches and Diamond Crystal for the kosher salt.
*GLUTEN-FREE BREAD FLOUR BLEND – 140 g equals 1c. You will need to make several batches of this recipe to have enough to make the bagels. This bread flour blend can be used for many different bread recipes found in Nichole Hunn’s blog.
Better Batter Flour Blend– 100 g* (I use Nichole’s mock better batter blend)
Unflavored whey protein isolate – 25 g (Now Foods)
Expandex modified tapioca starch – 15 g (Modernist Pantry) (Tapioca starch can be used as a substitute)
Whisk all well to combine and store in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in a cool dark place.
*MOCK BETTER BATTER (I make this ‘mock’ better batter flour blend as ‘Better Batter’ is rather expensive) 140 g equals 1 c. You will need to make several batches of this recipe to have enough to make the bagels. This flour blend is a very good all-purpose flour blend.
Superfine brown rice flour (authentic brand) - 42 g
Superfine white rice flour (authentic brand) - 42 g
Tapioca starch – 21 g (bob’s red mill brand)
Potato starch - 21 g (bob’s red mill brand)
Potato flour – 7 g (bob’s red mill brand)
Xanthan gum – 4 g (bob’s red mill brand)
Pomona pectin – 3 g (Pomona is the only pure pectin so find it please)
Whisk all the ingredients and place in a container with a tight-fitting lid and store in a cool dry place.
I make at least 10 times of the mock better batter recipe at a time as it gets used very fast. It is a wonderful all-purpose gluten free flour blend.
Be exact. Use a metric scale. Mix the flours thoroughly.
Enjoy!