Remember that one time that I made bagels?
You might not, but I sure do.
Because here’s the thing about bagels – I haven’t had one in over two years. TWO YEARS! Just like the lasagna fiasco, it was due time I crossed over into the dark side and just made my own bagels.
I know what you’re thinking – why in the heck didn’t you just go out and buy a package of gluten free bagels so you could fulfill your craving? And to that I have to tell you, I’d rather spend $7 on something better – like 3 packages of gum, or 2 coffees from Starbuck’s, or 2 packages of dark chocolate chips to mind-numbingly pop into my mouth over and over and over again after dinner until half the bag is gone and I wonder where in the heck they all went to. Um, duh – my stomach.
And really, how cool is it to say that you made your own bagels? I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty smug right now. “What’d you do this weekend?” “Oh you know, made some bagels.” SO STINKING COOL! And tomorrow maybe we’ll talk about why I have no friends and why I think making bagels on the weekend beats going out and doing something social like talking to people or getting out of my pajamas. Baby steps people, baby steps.
So anyways, I got this idea in my head to make bagels on Saturday afternoon and I could not get it out of my head. I had to make those bagels if it was the last. thing. I. did. I pulled out the yeast. I grabbed the flour, and I figured I could wing it off of my pretzel roll recipe. It was all going good – the dough looked… doughy. I was all ready to let those suckers rise.
Then I opened up my freezer and saw blueberries.
I think those should be my famous last words. Maybe I should put them on a shirt.
Because ten minutes later I was folding blueberries into bagel dough. And then an hour later I was trying to form bagels with blueberries popping everywhere and getting under my fingernails. In case you were wondering, no I did not get a manicure with purple nail polish – just blueberries. Anyways, those blueberries were in fact, everywhere. I am surprised a big purple dinosaur didn’t come out to play because I was very. very. purple.
There was a moment with the blueberry crisis where I thought all was lost. I fought back tears (not really) and told myself to stick with it – Thomas Edison didn’t give up after one failure with electricity. And somehow Edison just rolled over in his grave as I compared making bagels to inventing a light bulb. Oy vey.
Turns out messy dough equals delicious bagels.
Makes: 4 bagels
Difficulty: Moderate
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- 2 cups gluten free all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 package active yeast (equivalent to 1 tbsp.)
- 2/3 cup & 2 tbsp. warm water (~105 degrees Fahrenheit)
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 tsp. oil (I used olive, but canola or coconut would work)
Directions: Heat 2/3 cup & 2 tbsp. water in the microwave or stove until the temperature reaches approximately 105 degrees. It should be just under “hot”. In a small bowl, mix the warm water and yeast together, gently stirring for a few seconds. Set aside to let the yeast proof for five minutes.
In a mixer, combine the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, and salt. Toss the ingredients and wait for the yeasty water to finish proofing. Once the yeast is foamy, pour the mixture over the flour and mix with a dough hook for 3-4 minutes, or until the dough forms a ball. It should be pretty thick and should stick together nicely. Using your hands, gently fold in the blueberries (beware of popping).
Once the blueberries have been folded in, cover with a towel and place in a warm, dark area (I use my oven – not turned on!!!) for approximately an hour, or until the dough rises. After your dough rises, split the dough into four equal sized parts. To form your bagels, cover a flat surface with flour for dusting, and either roll the dough into a flat ball and poke a hole through the middle or roll out like a snake (remember playing with play-doh?) and form into a circle.
Heat a medium saucepan with water and 1 tsp. sugar. Once the water is at a rapid boil, gently drop the bagels into the water (one at a time) and allow to boil for 2-3 minutes. Gently remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and place on a baking sheet. Once all the bagels are done boiling, cook in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
![]()
Can a person live off of bagels and bagels alone? I’m willing to try it out for size.














{ 79 comments… read them below or add one }
You know what- I’m glad that the lighting isn’t in your favor these days..I don’t think I could handle the possibility of drooling any more than I currently am! Ah could this be the most delicious recipe of yours yet!!!! I can only imagine what these would taste like topped with peanut butter and/or Greek yogurt!
These look awesome…wow, you did a stellar job on these! Vegan and GF and no donut pan, no bagel fryer…you baked them and they blueberries are huge and plentiful…LOVE THIS!
And yes per your comment reply to me…girl, get Lightroom. It’s like what, a hundred bucks or so, tops, with your discount. It will change your life and simply!! your life, so much.
I know i knooooow!
Homemade bagels?! I’m impressed! And these look wonderful!
And then you saw the blueberries…. this seems like an appropriate situation to start a sentence with ‘and’ -I’d buy the t-shirt and feel cool. Really cool.
) I think your list of other things to do with $7 is perfect. Perfectly delicious bagels, the chance to smugly tell people that you make your own bagels, perfect lighting, and an extra $7…. Case closed.
I’m with you on making your own bagels, you did a great job and saved some ‘dough’ (hahahaha!
I knew you would buy the shirt!!
You are ambitious! I have to admit it sounds like a pretty fun Saturday to me.
I knew there would be someone out there with me on that one!
I am beyond impressed!!! I don’t think I could handle blueberry muffins from a box let alone bagels. You go girl.
Oh. My. Gosh.
I’m taking that as a good thing?
I am dying to try making my own bagels! These look fab
you’re so brave, chelsey! bagels are on my september bucket list, but they scare the heck out of me. and seriously, why are gluten free bagels so expensive?! i agree with your preferred allocation of the $7.
Do it!!!!!
These look amazing, I’m ready for purple fingernails!!
I am so impressed that you made your own bagels! These look awesome!
I wish I had the time lately to make my own bread. I can’t wait until Christmas break so that I can cook and bake up a storm.
I know, right? I would love to stay home all day and bake!
I need to make my own bagels!! I have got to try these!!!
Those look great – I’m loving the berry ratio. I’ve been wanting to make my own big pretzels for a while now. But laziness usually wins. Maybe I’ll make this, if I ever get around to making those pretzels first…
I’ve made pretzel rolls before – pretty simple actually!
These look awesome. I love the huge chunks of blueberries in them!
How cool!!!
holy moly! these look awesome. i love using yeast! I feel so professional when i do.. hahah
I totally agree – and I used to be afraid of yeast!
Blueberry bagels are my favorite! I would definitely buy your t shirt. I think u are onto something:)
Bagels are definitely the thing I miss the most since being diagnosed with my gluten allergy. I cannot wait to try these!
Amazing! Bagels are one of those things I always want to make myself but just seem too involved. The husband actually asked me last week if I could make them (he’s bagel obsessed.) Maybe if he moves that pesky couch, I’ll think about it
They’re totally NOT too involved!
oh. my. gosh. these look absolutely fantastic. I have no doubt I could house 6 of those.
stop posting these unreal recipes. I just upped my clean-eating-chelsey-wannabe factor by making your butternut squash soup last night, and uuuhhh.. yum.
haha! Glad you liked the soup!
Yum, makes me want some blueberries right about now!!
These look incredible!! Congrats to you, I am super impressed.
Bagels seem insanely scary to make, so I have never even tried it. My recipe failure/disaster a while back was gluten-free soft pretzels. I walked away and haven’t tried it again since. This recipe is a total inspiration…I think I see pretzels in my future.
So sad! I have a recipe for pretzel rolls – I’m sure you could make big soft pretzels with them!
SO impressed! And a little intimidated. Gotta say, I’d probably just go buy some, but again, I’m not GF!
When I come stay with you, I fully expect to have some of these.
Your recipes are rocking lately! They always do, but I just find my mouth watering even more than normal these days.
You most definitely can!
Wow!
Next time you make bagels–make a cinnamon crunch Panera take and then have a party so I can come eat them! lol.
I think I could do that for you!
I’ll bring the Starbucks!
These look so delicious – I want one right now!
Come on over!
YUM!! These look amazing! I can’t even imagine trying to make my own bagels, your a rockstar!
These look delicious!! Toasted with butter?? mm mm mm
You are awesome! These look soo yummy:D I think it’s totally cool to make bagels too.I’d be so proud!
I’ve made blueberry bagels before and remember the blueberry mess!! You did awesome keeping so many in there… After I made them I vowed to never make blueberry bagels ago. But now you’ve made me want to!!
Are your hands still stained?
Aw, man, I miss bagels. I can’t bring myself to spend that much money on gluten free anything, much less bagels though. So I guess I don’t really miss them all that much. Okay, I lied. After seeing your photos I totally miss bagels.
Make them!
You go girl! I’ve always had a thing of bagels, but I don’t eat them much anymore. Not because I don’t like them, but because I can’t seem to find a really standout bagel shop. The one I used to go to all the time has gotten really gross. I’ve thought about making my own dozens of times, but then I get lazy
Story of my life.
When I was in NYC, I looked high and low for GF bagels – no avail!
Bagels are such an accomplishment! I made some a couple weeks ago but they might be the ugliest bagels on the face of the planet, so I’m waiting until my freezer stash is gone before I make a new batch to photograph.
These are totally making my mouth water! They sound like a great weekend project to me! Thanks for sharing
Yum! I’m not brave enough to bake bread items…but you make this recipe look fairly simple so I might just give it a go…definitely, gluten-free items are so expensive. I love this Udi’s gluten-free bread I’m eating now but it was $6 for a tiny loaf.
It is fairly simple!
i cannot believe that you made this. my mouth is still gaped open widely.
x
your life is seriously inspiring. thanks for writing about this.
(and now i’m laughing, and i don’t know why!).
apparently, blueberry bagels are funny.
I get the giggles too when I get excited. No big deal.
I love the blueberry to dough ratio on these. They look so freakin’ good and I’d totally demolish one right now.
Well done!
I am SO impressed!!! I would never in a million years try to make my own bagels…although, these look pretty freakin’ awesome, so I guess never say never. I might have to give it a try!
GUESS WHO IS GOING HOME FRIDAY AND MAKING THESE….THIS GIRL #socollege #sosocial
dooo itt! And I hope you have a wonderful break!
Chelsey I absolutely love your blog! I stumbled upon it about a month ago, and I have since decided to begin clean eating- and I give most of the credit to your blog!
All of your recipes that I have tried have been delicious, and these bagels are to die for. Do you think you could substitute regular flour as opposed to GF? Also, what is/where can I find xanthan gum??? THANKS SO MUCH!
Hi Maggie! Thanks so much for reading! You can most definitely use regular all purpose flour in lieu of the GF flour. If you use regular flour, you do NOT need the xanthan gum – xanthan gum is what holds GF flour together just like gluten is the “glue” in regular baked goods!
Oh ok I was wondering what that was for! Thanks for the reply
These. look. amazing. Bring on the purple!
I have a pumpkin bagel post set up for next week! Making bagels scared the crap out of me until I did it! It’s fun! Love the blueberries!
Pumpkin bagels sound delicious!
Ooooooooooooo!
I have always loved bagels! I have not had one in ages because they are so high in calories for the large ones (which are the ones I ADORE!!!), and mini ones just don’t suffice. Do you know the nutrition content in these beauties?
I am SO going to try and make these, but maybe for one batch I will add cinnamon and raisins!!!
hmm – I haven’t calculated them out, but since I used 2 cups of flour for 4 bagels, that would mean each one would get 1/2 cup of flour = 200 calories. I’d say they’re anywhere from 225-250 per bagel.
WOW! What an improvement from the 360 calories in a Costco bagel! :~)
haha! I don’t know WHAT some companies put in their baked goods!!
Yeah, “empty” ingredients mostly.
These look amamzing and you are BRAVE trying bagels (for the second time). I’m so impressed. I don’t try anything too difficult in the kitchen because I know I would mess it up.
I want one of your bagels right now!!!!
i LOVE saying cool things like that…no big deal, i bake my own bread, you know, cause im so cool and dont need to buy bread from the store.
so now i have to make these bagels. they look SO good. i just have one question: how the eff am i supposed to not finish them in one sitting?
that is quite the debacle.
I love this, these look AMAAAAAZING!
lol. i LOVE reading your blog… you’re so funny!
and these look amazing. i love bagels and these are inexpensive AND homemade. i don’t think it gets any better.
Just made these…THEY ARE DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!! Mine turned out massive! lol I am in carb coma right now. And it feel oh soooo goooodddd!!!!
I just made these and love the flavor. But mine came out a little dense…how would I fix this? I tried using 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 C all purpose flour. Is this why they came out dense? Or does over mixing contribute to it? How moist should the dough be? Also, where does the olive oil come in? I didn’t see where in the recipe so I brushed them with it before baking which came out well. Sorry for all the questions but I’d love to perfect these!
{ 4 trackbacks }