Making gluten free bread is no longer off limits and YES, you can make homemade bagels in your kitchen without being an advanced baker. What makes these Heart Shaped Bagels (the perfect Valentine’s breakfast for the family) so spectacular is that they are made without xanthan gum. The trick to making bagels without gums? Chia seeds. (You can also check out my Blueberry Bagels recipes where I use psyllium husk powder as the magical potion for a gum substitute).
Now, please note that you are free to skip the boiling process if it seems a bit too complex for you HOWEVER, I feel like I need to add this: Do you see that beautiful exterior crust around those bagels? It’s all because of the baking soda, maple syrup, and boiling water. It creates the perfect exterior for bagels, leaving the insides chewy and soft. I promise that they are not complicated to make (this is coming from the girl who was afraid of making gluten free bread at one point). I overcame that fear and now look at me, making pretzels (and pretzels in all shapes) and Heart Shaped Bagels. What a show off! I’m a success story. If I can do it, so can you.
Make Heart Shaped Bagels for breakfast and watch the love (or nondairy cream cheese) spread:
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Heart Shaped Bagels
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 5 1x
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- ½ c. warm water
- 1½ tsp. dry active yeast
- 1 tsp. granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp. ground white chia seeds (or black–there is no flavor difference)
- 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- ¼ c. orange juice
- 2 tsp. orange zest
- ¼ c. dried cranberries
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 c. Cara’s Gluten-Free Flour Blend
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp. cinnamon
Other ingredients:
- 4 c. water
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp. baking soda
- Large slotted spoon (to pull out and drain bagels from boiling water)
- 2 pieces of parchment paper
- baking sheet
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the water, yeast, and granulated sugar. Allow to froth for 10 minutes (if your yeast does not froth, restart this process, It’s an indicator that your yeast is dead). Add the remainder for of the wet mixture ingredients and allow to sit another 5 minutes for the chia seeds to expand.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the dry mixture. Pour the wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes until a nice dough forms.
- Create 5 even balls of dough, roll in between your hands and transfer to the counter. Roll until you create a smooth, long dough, approx 8″ long. Create heart-shapes and pinch the ends together to ensure they are sealed. What you are looking for in your dough: When you shape the bagel, it will be a little sticky but should be easy to work with. Also it should stay intact when left alone. It might spread mildly but shouldn’t lose shape.
- Cover and allow to rise 45 minutes in a warm, non-drafty area in your kitchen.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium saucepan get the water to a rapid boil. Turn heat down to medium heat and add the maple syrup and baking soda (slowly! This will begin to rise up) and stir until dissolved. The sugar creates a little gloss in the crust and the baking soda creates a barrier that keeps the water from absorbing into the bagel.
- Drop one bagel at a time into the boiling water, allowing it to sit in the pot for 30 seconds on each side, making a total of 1 minute per bagel. Please note that boiling the bagels prior to the baking them enables a chewy texture on the inside while nicely coating the exterior crust.
- When you take the bagels out of the water, make sure you have drained the water from them and place on a baking sheet lined with a clean piece of parchment paper.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes and allow to cool before cutting.
- Slice, light toast and top with nondairy cream cheese, sliced strawberries and blueberries for a very Valentine’s Day breakfast.
Notes
Before eating: Slice in half and toast until browned along the edges. Serve with non-dairy cream cheese or topping of choice.
To store: slice in half, place a piece of wax paper in between each bagel, and store in a bag or container of choice.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bagel
- Calories: 175
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 365mg
- Fat: 0.7g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 3g
Get those strawberries sliced and ready to decorate, you’ve got gluten free Heart Shaped Bagels to make!
Want a variety of bagel flavors to make? Bake these up:
yummm
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Hey can I make these with regular flour and do not add the orange juice and zest or any liquid that can substitute the orange
I’d say that when you’re making heart shaped bagels – you’ve definitely mastered the whole gluten free bread thing! Congrats 😛
The power of practice!
I heart these bagels so much! I’ve been wanting to make GF bagels for a while now!
I heart them too 🙂 Now you have everything you need to make a variety of bagels…do it! xo
Ooh, the RSS Feed is back! Lordy do I EVER need to get back into the kitchen so I can dine on hearts without the devil gums. WooHoo! Oh, and BTW here’s some interesting history about bagels. The bakers wouldn’t always boil them to get that crackly top; sometimes they’d make a ring, smooshing some of the inside to make a thin center (although I imagine you could just make it round and smoosh the center down until it is relatively thin)… anyhow, then you fill the center with poppy seeds and chopped onion and you call it a bialy. We used to buy them fresh every week along with the bagels and guess which my favorite was? Cussedness can be a virtue you know. xoxo
Curse you Laurel for making me hungry! The bialy bagel sounds like a heaven and yes, I just googled it too and drooling over the photos.
Finally. Feed me, Seymour.
Can’t Wait to make these…Chatham gum free! Thank you.
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You are so welcome, Wanda! My pleasure to bring this world a little gum free goodness 😉
Cara: thank you for making a bagel recipe free of xanthan gum, which I affectionately refer to as the devil. I haven’t had any gluten-free bread product in almost 2 years because I can’t handle the xanthan gum, and almost all of them have that or egg. I am definitely making these!
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Glad you can enjoy a bagel again without the devil in it…xo
Cara, Oh how I love coming to visit you. Your food makes me smile. You are so creative, so talented! I love the new look, too! My kids are going to go nutso over these bagels! xoLexie
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Well goodness, this just made my flippin’ week Lexie. Thank you for the kindness, wow (seriously speechless)…xoxoxo