I worked for weeks on this fantastic bagels.
Well, I think they are fantastic.
I am so happy about the results and I can say, they are easy to make.
That was important to me too.
It took me a couple of bakes to finally get the perfect result.
I tested 2 different baking techniques and decided, my version received the best result.
My version also is the easier version.
It all came together with time and effort.
Who follows me maybe remembers that I not that long ago had trouble with the taste of buns I tried to work out.
I thought it was the pysillium husk I used. Because the smell was pretty unpleasant with my finished baked goods.
The taste was like the smell. Bitter and with this awful aftertaste.
I used bi-carb soda instead of bakers yeast. I could not figure out why my buns tasted really that bad,
but nobody else had the same trouble.
A friend of mine tested the same recipe I saw and was pleased with the result.
Nice taste, not awful at all. Strange.
When I finished my bagel recipe, I also wanted to at least test the non yeast version for all the MM followers.
Although yeast is not even mentioned anywhere in his books or recipes, yeast is not a no food.
I discussed this with my recipe group what only focuses on MM recipes.
We could not find anything he said about bakers yeast. Brewers yeast, nutritional yeast flakes and yeast extract
was the only thing we could find. But bakers yeast, what is different, is not mentioned anywhere.
So we actually do not know why the MM community is strict in removing yeast from baking.
I did that for 1,5 years. Baking without yeast. And I missed it. I like the smell and taste of yeast baked goods.
And some goods simply need yeast to be original. I never had trouble with yeast.
And going more back to a normal diet, I simply added yeast to my diet again.
But, because I at least wanted to know how the bagels turn with bi-carb soda, I baked them with bi-carb as well.
And I do not recommend it! There it was again,... this unpleasant smell and this awful taste! Wow,...
So it is not the husk, it is the bi-carb what reacts with some of the ingredients. But which one, I don't know.
With yeast I receive a really good tasting bagel.
Almost like the gluten version from a bakery. That's what I wanted :-) !
Unfortunately, with bi-carb,... no, this is not working for me.
I brought this bagel to a BBQ at our friends place.
The bagel itself looked great. The consistency, a bit different to yeast, but still ok.
When she ate a piece, her face turned the same way mine turned when I had the first bite.
This taste, is not good. She also could not eat it. Thanks god I only used half of the ingredients and only had 2 bagels.
My partner ate the other one. But only he hates to throw food away.
I wanted to add that to my recipe.
Just to let you know, that when you bake the bagel with bi-carb instead of bakers yeast,...
the taste will change complete.
But when you like the taste anyway,... no trouble at all to use bi-carb.
But please be aware, that Anthony really didn't mention bakers yeast in one of his books.
I don't know why everyone put it on the no list. We assume, and from what I saw,...
people think yeast is all the same.
So when they hear him say not to use nutritional yeast or yeast extract,...
they assume bakers yeast is similar.
Ok, enough said. Lets go to the kitchen and do some great bagels!
I also recorded a short clip to show you how to make the bagels. Easier to say than to write.
But please excuse my not that good clip, haha,... I do not have a proper tool to record.
I used my camera I take my pictures with.
But I hope you get the idea :-)
To make either 6 small ones or
4 bigger ones you need:
100g gluten free oat flour***
60g white Sorghum flour+++
40g Besan flour (made from chickpeas)
20g pysillium husk
12g tapioca starch
5g dry bakers yeast
1 tsp (5g) coconut sugar
1/2 -1 tsp pink salt
300ml lukewarm filtered water
approx.1/4 cup of poppy seeds.
*** to make your gluten free oat flour just add oats into a nutri bullet or ninja
and blend until you have a nice flour. Should not even take a minute!
+++ white Sorghum flour. I got ask a lot about this flour. Most people seem to have issues to find it.
My German followers can't get it. But I looked it up and I think it simply is the name itself what makes it hard to get.
In Germany it also is called Milo flour (Milomehl), in Indian grocery stores you get it under the name of Juwar flour.
Most countries in this world have an indian store. I can imagine you get it there.
And German health food stores probably will stock Milomehl.
If you really can't get it anywhere, substitute,.... with the besan flour. I would not go with a different type.
In this 2 years of gluten free baking I figured out, each flour is good for something else. Buckwheat for example, I only use for my flatbread. The sorghum only for bread and buns and cakes. Mixed with oat flour.
Except of the flatbread, I only use plain buckwheat for it. It is strange, but flours really can change taste and texture.
To substitute,... I would just try to not use the sorghum at all and just also 100g of the besan.
I haven't tried it yet, but that is what I will do the next time to see how it works.
Direction:
1. sieve the flours into a bowl. Add all the dry ingredients as well and mix well.
2. add the water and bring all together by stirring. It first will be a sticky batter. But don't worry.
When all is mixed well together, set aside and give it a rest for about 15minutes.
3. you should be able to knead the dough with your hand. If still a bit sticky, just flour your hand.
But the sticky batter should have turned to a nice dough.
4. Shape the bagels. Cut the dough into 4 even pieces. They should have the same weight to bake evenly.
So use a scale to be sure to have equal pieces. To shape ,... watch here,...
5. cover with a tea towel and rest at a warmer place for 45minutes.
6. 15 minutes before the resting time ends, preheat oven to 180C
Spread bagels with a bit of aquafaba (water of a chickpea tin) on top
and bake the bagels for 30-35 minutes.
(when you do the 4 bigger sized ones. For 6 smaller reduce baking time to about 20-25 minutes)
Enjoy in your lunch-box as sandwich bagel or for breakfast with some jam :-)
I also love to toast the bagel when they are a day old. They really nicely crisp up.
Store in a paper bag what is stored in a plastic bag, like from another bread you bought at a store.
Store in the fridge for up to one week. And you can freeze them of course!