These gluten-free sourdough bagels have a crunchy crust and a chewy crumb! Goes great with cream cheese, avocado, salmon, cucumber, and many other fillings! Make sure to also check out my other gluten-free sourdough bread recipes.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- The bagels hold up together very well thanks to psyllium husk!
- Great way to use up your sourdough starter or discard (you can add some yeast and use discard).
- Works with multiple types of flour.
What Is A Sourdough Starter?
Sourdough starter is wild yeast that can be created at home by combining flour and water and maintaining the mixture through regular feedings. For more information check out my gluten-free brown rice sourdough starter guide!
New to gluten-free sourdough? Watch my 16-minute video tutorial for beginners!
Ingredients
Gluten-free flour - I used my homemade flour blend with cornstarch, tapioca, and rice flours but you can use any other premade blend in this recipe!
Gluten-free sourdough starter - you can use a mature starter or starter discard for this recipe. If you want to use discard, add 7 grams of dry or instant yeast. A mature starter is a starter that was fed a few hours ago and is bubbling and rising. If you are using a mature starter, you don't need to add yeast. If you don't have a starter, here is a basic recipe for a gluten-free starter.
Psyllium husk - you can use whole husks or powder. There are two types of powder and one is finer than the other. If you are using super fine type, you will need less of it vs more coarse grind. Normally companies won't tell you whether the powder is super fine or not but you will come to see the difference with experience! To know more read my post on psyllium husk!
If you don't have sesame seeds, here are 9 great substitutes for sesame seeds you can use instead!
Substitutes
Sugar - sugar is used to help the bacteria. You can substitute the sugar for maple syrup or honey.
Psyllium husk - the only good substitute for psyllium husk in this recipe is psyllium husk powder. In the case of using psyllium husk coarse powder, use 17g, and in the case of fine powder, use 15g. To know the difference between coarse and fine powder, refer to my post with illustrations.
Note: if you are using psyllium husk powder, you will need to start whisking it into the water right away to prevent lumps.
Toppings – feel free to use cheese, dried onions, or any mix of your favorite seeds.
Water bath - some recipes will recommend adding honey or sugar to the water bath instead of the baking soda but I prefer baking soda as bagels will stick to the baking sheet during baking if you boil them in water with honey. After having to shave the bagels off the baking tray with a knife I never want to use sugar water again!
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - mix the dough
First, add psyllium husk, sugar, oil, and water together and whisk to combine. Leave the mixture to form a gel, it should take a couple of minutes. If you are using psyllium husk powder, make sure to mix it into the water right away to prevent lumps.
Once psyllium gel has formed, add it to a large mixing bowl along with the sourdough starter. Mix well to combine. If you are using sourdough discard, then add 7g of instant/active dry yeast (or 20g of fresh yeast) at this point.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and bring the dough together using your hands. Mix until the dough starts separating from the bowl walls.
Cover the bagel dough with a kitchen towel and leave it to rise for 2 ½ - 3 hours at room temperature. If you are using yeast, then let the bread rise for 1 hour only.
Step 2 - Shape the bagels
Turn the bagel dough over onto the working surface and shape it into a ball. Then, separate the dough into 8 pieces using a bench scraper or a knife. Finally, shape each piece into a small ball.
Poke a hole in the middle of each dough ball and carefully enlarge the hole to be as big as you want it to be. Keep in mind that it will close a bit as the dough puffs up during baking, so make it a little bit bigger than what you want the end result to look like.
After shaping all the bagels, cover them with a kitchen towel and leave them to ferment at room temperature for about an hour. They won't rise a whole lot at this point, that is normal!
Step 3 - Bake
Start preheating the oven to 430F/220C. Boil 6 cups of water and add it to a medium pot. Add 1 ½ tablespoon of baking soda to the water and bring it to a boil on the stove.
Then, place as many bagels as can fit into the pot comfortably. Boil them for 30 seconds on each side, then remove them from the pot using a spider skimmer. Place them on a kitchen towel until you boil the rest of the bagels.
After all the bagels have been boiled, dip each one of them into the toppings of your choice. I used a mix of sesame and poppy seeds. Place each bagel onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
When the oven has preheated, place the bagels into it and bake for 30 minutes. Let the bagels cool before slicing them. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Don't make bagel holes too big to avoid them breaking in the water bath.
- Use a digital scale for the best results.
- If you like a denser crumb, add 40g more flour.
- Keep checking your bagels in the last 5 minutes of baking. Mine are normally ready after 27 minutes of baking. The crust will be brown and the inner temperature will read at least 205-210F/100C.
- Store these gluten-free sourdough bagels at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 4-5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3-4 months.
- If your bagels turned out purple, it is because of your psyllium husk. If I use too much fine psyllium husk powder, my food turns out purple. It doesn't happen with whole husks! To prevent purple color, don't add too much psyllium husk powder.
FAQ
Bagels are boiled before baking so that the outside starts cooking before the inside catches up. This way the outside layer is harder and chewier while the inside is soft.
Sourdough is only gluten-free if it is made with gluten-free flour. Otherwise, it is not gluten-free!
Your oven might be running too hot. I recommend getting an oven thermometer to track the actual temperature of your oven!
You can freeze the dough after the first rise. This way, whenever you are ready to bake, you will need to just take the dough out of the freezer, shape the bagels and let them become puffy before baking, although with sourdough the rise will not be that great after thawing.
Yes! To make this recipe with discard you will need to add 7g of instant/active dry yeast or 20g of fresh yeast. The rising time will be 1 hour instead of 3.
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Gluten-Free Sourdough Bagels
Equipment
- 1 bench scraper (or a knife)
- 1 oven thermometer (recommended)
- 1 spider skimmer (recommended)
- 1 spatula
- 1 whisk
- kitchen towels
Ingredients
- 330 grams (1.3 cup) water room temperature/lukewarm
- 23 grams (3 tablespoon + 1 tsp) psyllium husk 20 grams if using powder, 17g if using super fine powder, for more details read my psyllium husk guide
- 20 grams (1½ tbsp) olive oil any other oil will work, too
- 18 grams (1 tbsp) sugar honey or maple syrup will work, too
- 200 grams (1½ cups) sourdough starter In case of using discard, add 7g of instant/dry active yeast or 20g of fresh yeast
- 350 grams gluten-free flour I used my rice flour blend which for this recipe would be: 88g brown rice/millet flour, 87g white rice flour, 175g starch of choice (potato, cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot)
- 10 grams (1¾ tsp) salt
Water Bath
- 6 cups water
- 1½ tablespoon baking soda for the crunchy crust
Toppings
- poppy seeds to taste
- sesame seeds to taste
- cheese/dried onions optional
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Instructions
- First, add psyllium husk, sugar, oil, and water together and whisk to combine. Leave the mixture to form a gel, it should take a couple of minutes.
- Once psyllium gel has formed, add it to a large mixing bowl along with the sourdough starter. Mix well to combine. If you are using starter discard, add 7g of active dry/instant yeast or 20g of fresh yeast at this point.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and bring the dough together using your hands. Mix until the dough starts separating from the bowl walls.
- Cover the bagel dough with a kitchen towel and leave it to rise for 2 ½ - 3 hours at room temperature. If you are using yeast and sourdough discard, leave to rise for 1 hour only.
- Turn the bagel dough over onto the working surface and shape it into a ball. Then, separate the dough into 8 pieces using a bench scraper or a knife. Finally, shape each piece into a small ball.
- Poke a hole in the middle of each dough ball and carefully enlarge the hole to be as big as you want it to be. Keep in mind that it will close a bit as the dough puffs up during baking, so make it a little bit bigger than what you want the end result to look like. After shaping all the bagels, cover them with a kitchen towel and leave to rise at room temperature for about an hour.
- Start preheating the oven to 430F/220C. Boil 6 cups of water and add it to a medium pot. Add 1 ½ tablespoon of baking soda to the water and bring it to a boil on the stove. Then, place as many bagels as can fit into the pot comfortably. Boil them for 30 seconds on each side, then remove them from the pot using a spider skimmer. Place them on a kitchen towel until you boil the rest of the bagels.
- After all the bagels have been boiled, dip each one of them into the toppings of your choice. I used a mix of sesame and poppy seeds. Place each bagel onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper. When the oven has preheated, place the bagels into it and bake for 30 minutes. Let the bagels cool before slicing them. Enjoy!
Hannah says
What size skimmer do you recommend? Thank you! Love your recipes!
Natasha Levai says
Hannah! Not, sure we only had one size option here 😀 Something in the middle is good - not too small, no too large!
Nadine says
hi Natasha!
my granddaughter has celiac and I've been making her some of your recipes, last I made were the gf bagels using your rice flour recipe. I'm trying to get a lighter type bagel, this time it seems to be more dense and wet inside, although the taste was good! Last time I made her these bagels I used the ap gf flour from King Arthur, and I don't remember them being so gummy! I also added some yeast, thinking maybe it would make more airy! Could the psyllium powder could have added the gumminess?
Natasha Levai says
Hi Nadine! If the King Arthur blend worked better, you can keep using it! The reason is probably the starch content. The more starch in the recipe, the lighter the bagels turn out!
Phylis says
Use Caputo gluten free flour. They will come out soft and light inside with a crunchy crust outside. Add 80 grams of chopped Asiago cheese for a change…
Audra Packham says
My family, even the pickiest, nongluten free eaters, love these!
I do have a question though. When I mix my dough, it seems really dry and it doesn't rise much. Do I need to add more liquid to it until it has the consistency in the pictures? Could I be leaving the psyllium husk to soak too long? Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
Natasha Levai says
Hi Audra! Yes, if the dough seems too dry, add a little bit of water at a time! If the bagels turns out too wet, reduce the water next time. Happy you liked the recipe!