Last updated on February 1st, 2021

Perfectly chewy gluten-free bagels made from scratch at home. Customize them with your favorite toppings! Store leftovers in the freezer for quick homemade bagels.

This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill, a long-term partner of Snixy Kitchen

We’ve been getting almost all of our groceries delivered these past several months. While I miss browsing the aisles at the supermarket, it certainly saves us time. As an added bonus, it’s is also a constant source of entertainment when we discover what substitutions were made to our order. As a food blogger, my orders are often long with very specific ingredients.

A few weeks ago, I ordered two blocks of cream cheese to make cheesecake. They substituted two tubs of whipped cream cheese spread. Cheesecake wasn’t happening. Instead, I needed bagels.

Gluten-Free Bagel Recipe

Between my gluten-free soft pretzels, gluten-free pizza, and gluten-free sourdough exploits, I was confident I could turn my assortment of Bob’s Red Mill flours into gluten-free bagels from scratch. At least edible enough bagels to get me through a pound of whipped cream cheese. 

They turned out so incredible though that I made them 4x in a week and went to bed each night giddy about waking up to fresh homemade gf bagels the next morning.

With the recipe finally exactly right, these gluten-free bagles are the third recipe in a year-long partnership with Bob’s Red Mill. Here’s a list of all the recipes I’ve made in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill over the years.

Are Bagels Gluten-Free?

It’s difficult to find a gluten-free bakery bagel. While there are a few decent store-bought gluten-free bagels, nothing beats a bakery-fresh bagel. One that’s hearty and chewy and baked up that morning.

These bagels use an assortment of gluten-free flours and starches for the dough and, like a true New York-style bagel, they get boiled before baking to give them a flavor and texture similar to their glutinous counterparts.

Best Gluten-Free Bagels

These homemade gluten-free bagels have a thick crust with a super chewy interior. When toasted, it crunches just a bit before giving way to a dense chewy center, the way a good bagel should. 

Let’s look at the ingredients that go into a gluten-free bagel, along with substitution recommendations. I use all Bob’s Red Mill flours in this recipe which is consistent in quality. All measurements have been formulated accounting for the specific grind of their flours, so sticking with Bob’s Red Mill flours will provide the best gluten-free bagels.

Brown Rice Flour

This recipe uses brown rice flour coupled with sorghum flour for the whole grain component. Brown rice flour is a great neutral whole grain flour for bread because it bakes up neither gummy nor gritty and it soaks up the moisture nicely. I’ve tried baking sourdough loaves without brown rice flour and none of them get the texture quite right, so when I turned to bagel-making, I pulled on that sourdough experience and started with brown rice flour. 

Sorghum Flour

I’ve paired the brown rice flour with sorghum flour to add more nutrients and flavor. Sorghum is wholesome and whole grain that has slightly sweet notes that add flavor depth. I tested a version with oat flour in place of sorghum and the results were too fluffy. The bagels didn’t have quite as nice a texture.

Tapioca Flour and Potato Starch

For starches, I’ve used a combination of tapioca flour and potato starch. If you’ve made a few of my recipes, you’ll know tapioca flour is one of my most-used flours. It’s a fluffy starch that adds chewiness to baked goods. Just like when baking sourdough, I found that combining the tapioca flour with potato starch produced a more flavorful bagel.

The texture of the all tapioca flour tests were very similar, however, so if you don’t have potato starch, you can substitute tapioca flour in its place, but the results won’t be quite as flavorful. 

Psyllium Seed Husks

These bagels use psyllium seed husks instead of xanthan gum as the binder.  I often get asked about substitutions for xanthan gum due to sensitivities, so for these gluten-free bagels, I started with what I know works for gluten-free sourdough bread: psyllium seed husks. The psyllium seed husks soak up moisture and, in doing so, bind the flours together, adding chewiness that mimics gluten. It’s also the secret ingredient that binds this cinnamon raisin seed and nut bread together.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Just like in my gluten-free pizza dough recipe, the apple cider vinegar in the dough will help to strengthen it and slightly increases the acidity. This allows the yeast to grow easier, causing your bagels to rise a bit better. 

How to Make Gluten-Free Vegan Bagels

Mixing the dough

The first step to making gluten-free bagels is to mix all the flours together well in a stand mixer before adding the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients, kneading using a dough hook. Alternatively, you could mix it by hand with a rubber spatula, then knead it together by hand. At first, the dough will seem as though it’s too moist, but as it sits for a few minutes, the psyllium seed husks will soak up the moisture, turning it into a thick dense dough. Knead this dough by hand for a few minutes before dividing it into 8 pieces.

How to Shape Gluten-Free Bagels

To shape the bagels, roll each piece into a smooth ball with the palm of your hand. If you notice the dough feels very dense or even a bit dry on the outside, wet your hands just a bit and knead the water into the dough ball with your hands. Once in a smooth ball, use your thumb and index finger to pinch a hole in the middle of the ball, expanding it to about 3/4 to 1-inch large using your fingers.

I make my bagels on the smaller side because these hearty gluten-free bagels are very filling. If you prefer a bigger bagel, make just 6 and increase the baking time a few minutes.

Resting and rising

When making gluten-free yeasted dough, you want to encourage trapping as much air into the rise as possible. For that reason, we shape the bagels before the rise so we don’t disturb that beautiful rise later. Let them rise, covered, for 60-90 minutes in a warm place (I use the proof setting on my oven). 

Water Bath

Don’t skip this step. Just before the bagels are done rising, prepare a boiling water bath with honey. This gives them that brown sheet and thickens the crust, giving it the classic bagel chewiness. While the oven preheats, boil the bagels in batches for just 1 minute per side. Transfer boiled bagels back to a parchment-lined baking sheet. 

Egg White Brush & Toppings

Brushing the boiled bagels with egg whites does two things. First, it enhances the browning of the crust even further. It also helps the toppings stick to the bagels. Sesame bagels are my favorite, but you could do poppy seed, everything seasoning, onion granules, or whatever else your heart desires!

For a vegan version, you can skip the egg white brush and brush with melted plant butter instead. 

Bake

Now they bake and you drink your matcha latte, waiting patiently. They’ll brown up and if you tap on them they’ll seem very hard, but they crust will soften almost immediately as they cool. 

Storing Homemade Bagels

Just like bagels you’d get at a bakery, these gluten-free bagels are best eaten the day they’re baked. Fresh bagels are great warm and untoasted after resting for about 20 minutes fresh from the oven. 

If eating the gf bagels after they’ve cooled completely or the next day, they’re best toasted before topping with your favorite spread.

Store bagels in an airtight container for up to two days. For any bagels that you won’t eat within 2 days, slice and freeze them as soon as they cool. Pop frozen bagels in the toaster to defrost and refreshen the texture.

GLUTEN-FREE DOUGH RECIPES

• Gluten-Free Soft Pretzels
• Gluten-Free Pizza Dough
• Fluffy Gluten-Free Biscuits
• Gluten-Free Dumpling Wrappers
• Gluten-Free Cassava Flour Tortillas
• Gluten-Free Almond Flour Pasta