Mollie Bakes: Bagels
Breakfast. Brunch. Lunch. Dinner. Bagel Saturday. Bagel Sunday. Bagel sandwich. A dozen bagels. Bagel with cream cheese. Bagel with butter. Bagel with lox and cream cheese. Plain bagel with butter and cream cheese. Toasted sesame bagel. Toasted bagel with cream cheese. Bagels to go. Bagel brunch. Bagel lunch. Bagels. They are everywhere. Until they aren’t.
*Cue dramatic pause*
Out of all possible restrictions and limitations one may think take hold of life when given a diagnosis of celiac disease, the only one I even consider a slight “limitation” is that of not being able to joyfully walk into a bagel shop on a weekend morning and order my favorite: an Everything bagel with cream cheese and bacon. Nothing fancy, nothing outrageous, just simple, straightforward, and so delicious.
But alas, my friends and readers, a celiac diagnosis has left me bagel-less for the past six years. 😮 And don’t tell me that the gluten free versions of bagels that exist in grocery stores are an acceptable replacement. Have you tasted them? No, thank you.
No disrespect if you enjoy them, but I just can’t be a fan of anything that lives most of its life frozen and needs a lot of aid (butter etc) to make it taste...alright. My bagel standards are just too high. And my Everything Bagel standards are even higher. Thank you, childhood.
For perspective, there was an awesome bagel shop in walking distance to my house where I would go on weekend mornings with my dad and I would be allowed to order the aforementioned bagel sandwich (extra bacon when I was lucky!). I have the fondest memories of those mornings, that shop, the long lines, the hot bagels, and the flavors that would be all-consuming as soon as I took the first bite. Ahh...
Therefore, my latest baking project was deemed official when I realized that I missed those bagel sandwiches way too much. Something had to be done!
Lo and behold, I learned that making a great-tasting gluten free bagel at home was not out of reach. In fact, it was already in my grasp as soon as I selected the recipe.
My post-celiac-diagnosis weekend-bagel -sandwich dreams were no longer going to be dreams. They would soon become reality. And a weekend bagel brunch buffet, complete with bacon, cream cheese, and more, in my own home no less, was about to be my new normal.
Editor’s Note: since publication, I have been made aware of great GF bagels baked in bakeries far from my home. As soon as I indulge in all of those, I’ll report back.
Gluten Free Bagels
Source: My hunt for a bagel recipe was fairly quick. Thank you, Internet. However, I specifically sought out recipes that were already for gluten free bagels, rather than bagel recipes which I would need to alter to be GF.
Despite my usual plan that’s quite the opposite, I decided it would be better safe than sorry to select a recipe for gluten free bagels. My worry about the results being less-than-stellar dropped dramatically since I was working with a recipe that already incorporated the “limiting” factor of no gluten.
So, after much research and review, I landed on this recipe from the website www.rd-licious.com. The photos looked awesome, the review of the bagels was excellent, and the technique seemed entirely possible (and not daunting). Time to get to work!
Grab the gluten free bagel recipe, here!
Note: the original recipe I used from the site has been removed, but this recipe looks very similar. As soon as I find another excellent option, I’ll let you know.
GF Baking Tip: Since the recipe was already one that was done with gluten free ingredients, I didn’t need to change a thing! I already use Cup4Cup GF flour in all of my baking and that is the same brand of flour used by the recipe’s author. Quite convenient!
The recipe also called for flax which is an ingredient I had not bought previously. Make sure to buy flax that is correctly labeled GF (I got it at Trader Joe’s).
Overall, I followed the recipe ingredients list exactly - using honey instead of agave or molasses - due to what I had available in the cupboard.
Process and Review: Not to get too mushy or anything, but with each step achieved during the bagel creation, I became more and more excited by the fact that I was making gluten free bagels. By hand. In my kitchen. I almost shed a tear! But I couldn’t waste them on such silliness as bagel dough. Happy tears are for more important things... like bagel sandwiches. ;)
Once I prepared the yeast-based dough and let it rise (45 agonizing minutes), it was time to shape the dough into bagels and then boil each one. Then add the toppings while still hot, and finally bake for around 30 minutes.
For what sounds like a mildly arduous process, I assure you it was not bothersome in the least. Again, with each step I completed I was that much closer to my bagel sandwich dreams and probably a few tears of joy.
I found the shaping of the dough into a bagel pretty fun once I got the hang of it. Luckily I had four attempts to get them as close as possible to the correct bagel shape. And for the record, I used a knife and my thumb to create the hole in the center of each bagel.
Pre-boiled, post-rising bagels. Shaped by hand.
Pro tip: add some cooking spray to your hands as you shape the dough because it’s quite sticky. Don’t get stuck to your bagel!
While it may seem scary to drop each bagel (one at a time) into a pot of boiling water, don’t worry. You won’t get burnt! I do recommend using a small strainer to fish out the bagel from the boiling water (they’re only in the water for 60 seconds!) so that you don’t get finger burns. There’s no time for that; you’ve got bagels to eat!
Applying the toppings. Post-boil, pre-baking.
As soon as each bagel was out of the water, I added the toppings. For my batch of four large bagels I made two Everything, one Sesame, and one Poppy Seed. The classics, in my opinion. Next time I would probably make the bagels slightly smaller (or just double the dough) and add in a plain, garlic, onion, or maybe try cinnamon sugar. The options are endless! 🤗
Into the oven they go!
The first tear-inducing moment was when I took the finished bagels out of the oven, declared victory for their appearance (!!) and smelled a scent I had not enjoyed in several years. I was moments away from the glorious goal of a homemade gluten free bagel sandwich.
The finished product. Fresh from the oven!
I let the bagels cool down a little (barely), then promptly sliced one everything bagel in half, covered it in butter and cream cheese (you need both), took a giant bite and melted into the floor of my kitchen. 😏 I had done it. This was the second tear-inducing moment.
I inhaled half of the bagel without so much as a “This is awesome!” because I could barely speak. I had waited years to be this elated by a yeast-based (GF) bread product and to say I was happy with the result would be a massive understatement. I was floored. No, wait, I was sitting on the floor. I was overjoyed.
What about the bacon? You might be wondering. Yes! What about the bacon bagel sandwich of which I waxed poetic at the beginning of this journey. It’s time had come.
Once I scrambled up off the floor, I pulled myself together and proceeded to prepare my ultimate GF bagel-at-home goal. I spread a hearty layer of cream cheese on both halves of the bagel then covered one side with freshly cooked bacon that was crisp, but not overly so. Just beautiful bacon.
Then I put the sandwich together, took a giant bite (how else?) and I was done. Enter here the third tear-inducing moment of this bagel-baking experience. The everything bagel bacon and cream cheese sandwich was as perfect as I had hoped, tasted as magical as I remembered, and was filled with so many delicious memories I could barely speak, once again.
For me, specific foods bring out special memories throughout my life, and this bagel sandwich was no exception. Memories of bagel weekends with my family came rushing back. I had tears in my eyes realizing I could now host a weekend bagel brunch with my family with gluten free bagels that I made - by hand!
I felt so proud that I had tackled a baking project I once assumed impossible only to realize that it was far simpler and more fun than I could have ever predicted.
I strongly urge you to make these gluten free bagels; who knows what fun memories they’ll bring back or what joyful memories you’ll make while baking. I hope you love them.
Eat, well.
Mollie
