Monday, January 19, 2015

Gluten-Free Bagels

This is the first yeast bread I have made gluten-free that I really like. My taste-testers liked these bagels, too. I followed the recipe on the back of the Pamela's bag, but substituted 1 cup of tapioca flour to make them more bouncy, and some baking powder to give them a little better rise.

2 1/2 cups Pamela's Gluten-Free flour blend
1 cup tapioca flour
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. baking powder
generous pinch pink Himalayan salt
pinch of garlic powder
1 1/3 cups warm water
1/4 cup oil

Toppings: Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, salt, onion flakes, garlic powder

Get a saucepan of water boiling on the stove. Preheat oven to 400. Use a heavy-duty stand mixer or an electric hand mixer. Combine everything except toppings and mix on medium for 3 minutes. Put on disposable gloves and rub gloved hands with oil. Use 1/2 cup of dough for each bagel and form round bagel shape with a hole in it. This will be softer and stickier than wheat dough so just do your best; the gloves with plenty of oil on them will be your best friend. Drop a bagel into the boiling water and leave it there until it pops to the surface (you might need to unstick it from the bottom of the pan). Remove with slotted spoon and place on greased baking parchment/baking sheet. Sprinkle desired toppings (we like all of them together), then bake for 25-30 minutes.

I haven't tried this but it sounds inviting: FOR FRESHLY BAKED MORNING BAGELS: Prepare dough, shape bagels on greased baking sheet, cover and refrigerate overnight. Bagels will rise while in refrigerator. In the morning, preheat oven to 400ยบ, boil bagels, then bake for 25-30 minutes.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Use the above recipe but with the following changes:
--Soak 1/3 to 1/2 cup raisins in warm water for about 15 minutes
--Don't use garlic powder or toppings
--Add 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. honey, and 1 tsp. cinnamon to the dough
--Drain raisins and add them to the dough
--The wetness of the raisins will require more flour so keep adding Pamela's and tapioca flour until the dough is firm enough.