Another Gluten-free Sourdough Challenge
As much I enjoy a hearty loaf of gluten-free sourdough bread, I’ve been craving for some chewy bagels recently. And since you all seem to enjoy my previous post on gluten-free vegan sourdough croissant, I think you will love this gluten-free sourdough bagel recipe.
Chewy Gluten-free Sourdough Bagel
If you are new to gluten-free baking, making a gluten-free version of bagels is not easy. Traditional bagels are usually made with very high-protein wheat flour. So, making gluten-free bagels are extremely hard as you have to imitate the chewiness using a mixture of glutenless ingredients.
Most gluten-free bread dough are quite moist and hard to shape them into bagels. However, if the dough is too dry, you may end up getting a crumbly bread which by no means taste like a bagel.
Secret Ingredients
The key to making chewy and moist gluten-free bagels is the right amount of binding agents. In this recipe, I used a mix of xanthan gum and psyllium husk. Xanthan gum is essential in gluten-free baking as it helps the ingredients hold together and develop elasticity. However, using too much of it may cause an unpleasant gumminess in the bread. Psyllium husk is also another effective binder use mostly in gluten-free baking. Once mixed with water, it forms a gel-like mixture, which helps achieving a fluffiness in the baked goods. That’s why here I used a mixture of xanthan gum and psyllium husk to attain the bagel-like texture.
Serving Suggestions
These gluten-free sourdough bagels are perfect with some vegan cream cheese, nut butter and jam. My favorite way to enjoy them is to make bagel sandwiches. Simply add some vegan cream cheese, avocado, tomato, vegan bacon or marinated tempeh, and most importantly, vegan cheese!
You can keep these bagels at room temperature for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Vegan & Gluten-free Sourdough Bagels
Course: Baked Goods, Bread, Gluten-Free, Sourdough8
servings30
minutes30
minutesIngredients
200g gluten-free sourdough starter
125g water
25g maple syrup ( or any liquid sweetener of your choice)
25g oat flour
50g buckwheat flour
75g white rice flour
50g tapioca starch
4g xanthan gum
6g salt
1 flax egg ( 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water)
30g vegan butter, melted ( I used Miyoko’s )
Directions
- The night before you are making these bagels, feed your starter. Here I feed 20g starter with 100g brown rice flour and 100g water. Leave to rise overnight.
- In a medium bowl, combine the water and maple syrup. Mix well.
- In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together. Add the starter and roughly mix it into the flour until it forms a crumbly mixture.
- Mix the flax egg and melted butter into the maple syrup mixture.
- Gradually pour in the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix using your hand until everything is incorporated.
- The dough may seem sticky but don’t be tempted to add more flour. The dough will thicken after sitting for a while.
- Cover the dough and let it rise for 6-8 hours, this is what we called a bulk fermentation.
- After the dough has doubled in size, place the dough in the fridge to complete the bulk fermentation. Leave it in the fridge overnight or up to 48 hours. Retarding the dough in the fridge allow the dough to continue rising and developing a nice sourdough flavor.
- When the dough is ready, take it out from the fridge. Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 6-8 equal pieces.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a rope, bring the ends together and seal the ends.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiled, add 1 tsp of baking soda. Gently slide 2-3 bagels into the water at a time. Boil the bagels on one side for 30 seconds, then carefully flip them over and boil for another 30 seconds.
- Sprinkle each bagel with toppings of your choice, here I used poppy seeds and sesame seeds. But you can use whatever you like, sea salt, everything bagel seasonings, oats are some good options.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Once all the bagels have been boiled and topped, bake them for about 30 minutes, or until they turn golden brown.
