Making gluten-free bagels at home is surprisingly easy to do. For years I thought making a decent bagel required boiling and all sorts of crazy ingredients and effort. But then I discovered this new way of making bagels, and I’ll never go back. In fact, you only need five simple ingredients to make this gluten-free bagel recipe. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill and includes affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.
Bagels hold a special place in my heart. I can remember eating bagels at family gatherings, special brunches, and pretty much every Jewish holiday, occasion, and celebration growing up.
Occasionally I’ll enjoy a store-bought bagel, but the truth is, this traditional food lost its luster after I went gluten-free due to a celiac disease diagnosis.
Like most gluten-free foods, if you want to enjoy the food, you must make it yourself.
However, the idea of making homemade bagels is intimidating. Traditional bagels are boiled in water to “set’ the crust in place. The starch hardens the outside crust, which results in the chewy crust and dense, doughy interior you’re used to. The bagels are then baked.
I decided all that effort just wasn’t worth my time. And I had no idea if it would even work without the gluten protein holding it all together. (UPDATE: I have since decided it was worth my time to make New York-Style Gluten-Free Bagels. They are yummy, and you can find the recipe here.)
Then I tried to adapt a recipe from SkinnyTaste to be gluten-free upon the suggestion of a good friend… and let me tell you, I was elated! I finally realized I could make a wonderful gluten-free bagel that reignited my love for bagels and that I could make without all that unnecessary effort. I can’t wait to share this recipe with you.
Homemade Bagel Ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients to make these tasty bagels:
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend, more if needed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 egg whites, divided
- 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- Everything bagel seasoning topping or sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic flakes, dried onion flakes – optional
The Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend mimics the texture of wheat flour perfectly. It seems to be the only flour I use for baking gluten-free these days, but you could use another gluten-free flour blend.
How to Make Gluten-Free Bagels
These bagels come together in eight simple steps. I promise you are going to have fun making these bagels. It will feel like you’re playing with real dough – finally!
Step #1: Preheat your oven to 400º F. Place a silpat on your baking sheet and set aside. If you don’t have a silpat mat, you can lay a piece of parchment paper on your tray and lightly spray it with cooking spray.
Step #2: Combine your gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
Step #3: In a separate bowl, whisk 1 egg white until frothy, then add yogurt and mix well.
Step #4: Add the yogurt mixture to the flour mixture and mix well. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour until you can handle the dough without it sticking to your hands.
Step #5: Using your hands, squeeze the dough together and roll it into a large dough ball, then divide it into four sections.
Step #6: Roll each section into thick ropes and then attach the ends to form a bagel shape. Then loop the dough into a bagel shape, as pictured below.
Step #7: Lightly brush some of the egg white over the top of each bagel and sprinkle with topping. I love using the Everything Bagel topping, but you could sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onions, or whatever bagel topping you like.
Step #8: Bake the bagels for 20 minutes until the tops are lightly browned. Look how beautiful these bagels look right out of the oven!
Step #9: Once the bagels are slightly cooled, cut them in half, stick them in your toaster, smear your favorite cream cheese or butter on top, and enjoy!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
You are going to fall in love with this recipe. I imagine it will be a staple in your home as it is in mine.
Here’s why I love this gluten-free bagel recipe so much:
It’s easy. It requires no boiling, and it only calls for five pantry-staple ingredients. Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend, there’s no fussing with different flours. Just one and done!
It’s fun. You get to play with dough! I know my gluten-free friends will love playing with this bagel dough because we don’t get to play with dough often.
It tastes amazing. You won’t believe how delicious these bagels taste. They have a crunchy outside and doughy inside. Perfection.
They require little fuss. Simply slice, toast, smear and eat!
FAQs
How do you store these bagels? This recipe makes four bagels, which is perfect for my family to enjoy for Sunday brunch.
However, if you have leftover bagels or want to make a big batch to eat all week long, store them in a zip-top bag in your freezer. When you’re ready to eat one, take it out of the freezer, zap it in your microwave for 20 seconds, slice, and toast.
Can you make them dairy-free? I have not tested this recipe (yet) with a dairy-free yogurt alternative. Once I test it, I will update this post.
More Recipes
Here are my New York-style gluten-free bagels – they are delicious but a little more work.
Enjoy these breakfast recipes, too:
- 51+ Easy Gluten-Free Breakfast Recipes and Ideas
- Easy Gluten-Free French Toast Casserole
- No-Fail Gluten-Free Pancake Recipe
- Gluten-Free Blueberry Pancakes Make with Dairy-Free Yogurt
- The BEST Gluten-Free Monkey Bread (Dairy Free Option)
- Gluten-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Gooey Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
5-Ingredient Gluten-Free Bagels
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend (more if needed) or another 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 egg whites divided
- 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- Everything bagel seasoning topping or sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic powder, dried onion flakes – optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400º F. Place a silpat on your baking sheet and set aside (alternatively, you could use parchment paper sprayed lightly with cooking spray).
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk 1 egg white until frothy, then add yogurt and mix well.
- Add yogurt mixture to the flour mixture and mix well. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour until you can handle the dough without it sticking to your hands.
- Using your hands, form the dough into a large dough ball, then divide it into four sections.
- Roll each section into thick ropes and then attach the ends to form a bagel shape.
- Lightly brush the other egg white over the top of each bagel and sprinkle with topping of choice.
- Bake for 20 minutes until tops are lightly browned. Enjoy!
Thank you for all the tips!!
Tried and tested multiple times to the point where it’s become a staple in my recipe book. Shared with my celiac friends and we all love it.
My recommendations if you do this recipe or need a Vegan tested substitute-
*Bob’s 1-1 Flour is the best of the bunch, I have tried other brands, even the Bobs All Purpose, but find they make it more dense like a loaf of bread
*Vegan Substitutions- Foragers Vegan Unflavored Yogurt and Bob’s Egg Substitute allow for the consistency to stay the same and no change in taste. Just use the normal amount of wet to dry and you might only need to sprinkle a little more flour when done
*Half the yogurt and after the dry is mixed in add more dry mix as you need to get the consistency. A little more wet than you’d think is okay as it bakes out and creates the fluffy texture. Just flour your hands and use a spatula to get the excess!
*If you’re doing jalapeño, cook them before hand and use half than you’d think in the bagels, the dough really absorbs any flavoring you put in/on it
*If you’re having issues with shaping- You can lightly roll them in balls, flour your finger, and stick in the middle to create the shape. Just be careful to not over-knead or you’ll make them quite dense
*When microwaving place a damp paper towel on top, similar with other baked goods it will make them a bit less hard and get the chewy texture back
I have made these a few times and the dough was very sticky, unworkable. I tried again and doubled the recipe, except I only used 3/4 of a cup greek yogurt. The dough was workable, bagels were delicious. Maybe it’s the gf flour I use (king arthur). This is now my favorite gf bagel recipe.
I used to bake all the time but I haven’t in years. This recipe is so easy I thought why not. I love that you told us to mix the dough with our hands. I usually do that because it helps you to know what’s going on with your dough. My dough was sticky but I only added 3 heaping teaspoons. It was still sticky but much better.
My bagels were only a little gummy but otherwise great. Next time I won’t be afraid to add more flour.
Thanks so much.
Maxine
I made these yesterday with some modifications and they turned out great! I wanted slightly larger bagels and more of them and I also wanted to decrease the sodium content because that’s a concern for me. I used 2 1/2 cups King Arthur measure for measure, 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup 2% milk, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp yeast, and 1 whole egg. I omitted the kosher salt completely as I was getting enough sodium for my taste buds from the baking powder, yogurt and milk. It made 6 nice size bagels (similar to Lender’s size). I baked them for 22 minutes at 400 degrees on a shiny pan and they were nicely baked, not gummy at all. I will definitely be making them again!
I just haven’t tried it that way so I can’t guarantee how it will turn out. You’re welcome to experiment.
I would like to try this recipe but want to double it. Is there any reason I couldn’t use one whole egg instead of two egg whites in the dough?
I’m not sure but if you try let me know.
Looks really good. Can this be made with an egg substitute? For someone allergic to egg and wheat.
I made these using King Arthur’s GF flour. I used 1/2 cup of egg whites and 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt. The texture was pretty good but these bagels were small. I think, next time, I will double the recipe to make six slightly larger bagels. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
These turned out delicious, they came out sooo cute and tiny but filling! I used vanilla yogurt as that’s all I had and they turned out fine and no vanilla taste! For flour I used king aurthurs 1-1 and added maybe 1/8th of xantham gum. Next time I will double the recipe for either bigger bagels or more. Thanks for sharing 🙂
The flavor is great but definitely gummy on the inside and that was after adding a cup more flour. Next time I’ll half the Greek yogurt. I’m not a baker so I’m not sure what could help.
I’m not sure but I think if you added some cheese to the dough it would taste amazing.
Are you able to make this a gf cheese bagel? like cheese in the dough?
It would totally work. I suggest playing with it. Add 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a scoop of raisins (1/4 cup-ish) to the batter. You could also add 1 tbsp of brown sugar to sweeten it if you like.
Have you tried cinnamon raisin and do you have a recipe? Or an idea of how I can make them cinnamon raisin?
So excited to try this recipe over the weekend! Thank you!
I love this feedback. So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Jenny!
First, I want to say thank you, I ♥ you for this amazing recipe! My bagels came out PERFECT following your directions exactly. I have been missing bagels since I was diagnosed with CD in 2009. This recipe was so far above and beyond my expectations, and so easy to make. I use Trader Joe’s Everything seasoning on top and bottom and they are even better than NY bagels, IMO. Warm and toasted from the oven, with a smear of cream cheese &:chives, or when I want to indulge in a bacon, egg & cheese everything bagel sandwich. Crisp exterior and soft chewy interior – a GF girl’s dream! My belly thanks you!
I nearly cried with my first bite. This recipe is so good! I did cut back on the yogurt a bit based on reviews. So, so easy to make, and so incredibly delicious! I’m in love and will make a big batch so I’ll have some in the freezer. I don’t eat bread often but love a bagel now and then, and my go-to GF bagels disappeared from stores. These are BETTER than any GF bagels I’ve ever tasted — even better than any other type of GF bread product. Thank you!
To anyone that’s having issues with the bagels being gummy, mine only work right when I half the amount of Greek yogurt. Then I adjust slightly at the end by putting in a little more Greek yogurt or a little more flour
As a Jewish girl from NY I couldn’t imagine life without my beloved bagel. I made this recipe however, I cooked mine in my air fryer. They turned out great with a smear of cream cheese.
I used BRM Gluten free All Purpose Baking Flour, homemade NF yogurt and 1/3c of boxed egg whites – made a lovely whipped mixture but I had to add more than an extra cup of flour to take it from batter to dough. Turned out pretty good but I wonder if boiling them before baking wouldn’t have yielded a better texture. Maybe next time…
These came out splendidly! Making them for my postpartum breakfast sandwiches, but I want to eat them. now. My neccessary changes: I only had Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour, but worked just fine. I also had to use the frozen starter batch of yogart that I had on hand, but only had 1/2 cup. So, I mixed a few spoon fulls of condensed milk will almond milk out of desperation. The dough still came out real nicely. Finally, because I don’t like using the stove for small batch things with the way inflation is these days, I used my toaster oven and it took half the time and also provided for a nice crunchy top!
I just finished making these and they are amazing! I used a different gluten free flour blend that I use for everything and it worked great! I did have to cook them 25 minutes. I also rolled the dough into balls and flattened them out a bit and then used a kids liquid medicine cup to cut out the center so they were more like doughnuts. But it worked great! I was worried about the dough not staying together when rolling a snake and attaching the ends. Thank you for sharing this recipe my daughter and I really appreciate it!
Maybe cook a bit longer. And add a little more flour? I’m not sure.
Hi this recipe is amazingly simple and they look great. I’ve tried it without egg , with fat free yogurt and with 2% Greek yogurt. It is sticky inside and like a few others have asked
How do you get them not to be sticky inside? They don’t seem cooked ! Can you share any tips please
I have made these gluten free bagels many times.. love them!
In Vancouver, Segals Bagels have a gluten free rosemary-salt bagel… OBSESSED! So I tried to copy it..
I always double the recipe and have experimented with the amount of egg whites in the dough.
After baking, I cut them in half and freeze them. They always come out sticky inside, but I scoop out after toasting.. not sure if the stickiness can be resolved.
I put fresh chopped rosemary in the dough and on top with Kosher salt.
We just tried using Cauliflower flour, the dough was pretty stick but we made them into circles. They are cooling right now! Seems as though they are cooked all the way through. We added tomato basil spice to them for flavour, we will try adding more flour to the next bach to make the less sticky so they look like a bagel lol.
Hello! I’m also a fan of Bob’s 1 to 1 and I decided to try this. I liked it! I decided to go ahead and boil them, because I like what that does to the dough, and they turned out well. They were a little crumbly at first, but the longer you work the dough, the more the moisture gets through the flour blend. Definitely a keeper!
In addition to my husband making my Mother’s Day breakfast this morning, I made your recipe for 5 ingredient gluten-free bagels. They look fabulous and tasted great, although after 25 minutes, were just slightly underbaked in the middle when I cut one open.
Also, can I make these with 2% plain yogurt. I don’t use greek yogurt on a daily basis, so it would have to be a special purchase.
Thanks for your site, your help and suggestions.
Leah (and happy Mother’s Day, if it applies to you too!)
If you’re doubling the recipe, use two egg whites in the dough mixture, but you’ll only need one egg for the egg wash.
Hello, when trying to make 8 bagels at a time, the recipe says 4 egg whites divided. In the recipe it says 1 egg separated for the yogurt mixture and the rest on top for an egg wash. So is this correct, or do I put 2 eggs in with the yogurt, and 2 for the wash? Thank you!
Yay thank you!!
I have made these four times in the past month. They are very popular even with the non gluten free people. Highly recommend!
These were a success! Easy to make!
That’s weird. Add more flour until they’re easy to handle. Good luck.
Yes ..I used Greek yogurt second time. Maybe I need more flour than the one cup?
Im not sure. Did you use Greek yogurt? That is essential.
I have tried this recipe twice without success. The first time I used regular plain yogurt. Bagels did not cook inside..very gummy. Second time I used Greek yogurt but they are still not cooked inside…they are better but still gummy inside. Do I need more flour than the 1 cup? I used Bob’s. Or do I need to bake longer. I split one and with another 10 minutes of cooking the half did cook.
I used a plain, 0% lactose free yogurt from Walmart, and the bagels turned out great. Thanks so much for the amazing recipe!
I haven’t tried it with sour cream. You may need to add more flour to get a dough. I’m not sure if it will work.
I’ve always wanted to make recipes like this but am allergic to the bacteria in yogurt.
I can however have sour cream as it’s a different type of bacteria, can I sub sour cream for the yogurt?
I don’t know off the top of my head but most are. Check labels.
What brand of cream cheese is gluten free?
You could try it without the egg. It may not be as fluffy but it might work.
Can’t really do eggs now. Is there anything that I can sub with that will work? Thank you in advance!
Thanks Angela. Enjoy!!
I have made gf bagels a couple of times. This recipe looks easier than most. Like that it only makes 4; just me here eating gf so I will probably freeze leftovers. Thinking poppy seed and sesame seed as I can’t find those gf and fresh will be amazing! Thank you for posting this.