A spinoff of my much raved about soft ‘n chewy bagels, these paleo and keto blueberry bagels are nothing short of spectacular! i.e. no eggy or cheesy business here! 

Gluten Free, Paleo & Keto Blueberry Bagels

The Ultimate Keto Summer Bread!

These low carb and grain free blueberry bagels are ahhh-mazing guys! And if you’ve already met our soft ‘n  fluffy sandwich bread (or proper cinnamon rolls!), you already know we don’t mess around when it comes to bread.

Plus, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to whip them up! And, they keep well at room temp for about 3 days (becoming softer, but can still be enjoyed sans toasting!)

p.s. They’re just 3-4g net carbs per (full-sized!) bagel (depending on amount of blueberries added).

The Deets

Because the keto grain free flours do not cook in water, doing a traditional bagel recipe (i.e. boiling them before baking!) unfortunately just isn’t possible. Still, the results are outstanding.

As you well know, bagels are dense and chewy, so you may want to play around a bit with the rising time to get them denser or lighter. Full disclosure, I prefer to do a bit of a longer rise (about 45-50 minutes); they become a little softer, but the taste with the yeast becomes sooo good.

Still, making these paleo and keto bagels is incredibly simple really. But, like with any yeasted bread, it does require you take care of a few details to ensure the best possible outcome.

In my experience, and unlike my staple sandwich keto bread, these low carb bagels don’t collapse much (if at all!) post bake.

You just must ensure your bagels do increase in size substantially while proofing. They can even double if you let them, but they do become a bit fluffier. And note that grain free yeast doughs do require a little extra warmth. For instance, I place my tray on top of my oven as I heat it up (so my tray gets slightly warm and they rise beautifully). But you must ensure you don’t overheat them or you’ll kill the yeast. Think a warm and humid day at the beach, that’s the ideal temperature.

1. Shape the dough

Wet your fingertips and shape into rounds, poking a whole in the middle and smoothing as much as possible.

2. Let it rise

Grain free yeast doughs need a little more cuddling. So find a warm spot and proof the dough for 20-60 minutes (less time for denser bagels, more for fluffier ones).

3. Bake them up!

Brush with an egg white wash (better browning), sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon ‘sugar’ (love Lakanto golden here!), and bake for about 20-25 mins until deep golden.

The Tips ‘N Tricks 

The yeast in this low carb and keto bread ensures a wonderful texture and taste. Check out these tips for best results with grain free yeast doughs!

Weigh your ingredients. This will forever be a staple recommendation for any sort of gluten free baking here at gnom-gnom. As aside from leading to less dirty dishes, it will ensure consistent results time and time again. Remember that gluten free (and particularly keto) baking is notoriously finicky, and measuring by cups is anything but accurate. And if you don’t own a baking scale, measure with cups by dropping the ingredients onto them rather than scooping them out (which often leads to overpacking).

Ingredients at room temperature. Self explanatory really, but incredibly important (particularly for the eggs). If you add cold eggs to the mix your bread simply won’t rise much (if at all).

Proof the yeast. This involves mixing dry active yeast with water that’s just warm to touch (between 105-110°F to be precise) and maple syrup or honey for 7 minutes until foamy. And before you scream sugar (!!) remember that the yeast will feed on such sugar to emit carbon dioxide, so it doesn’t affect the carb count. And yes, this is a scientific fact.

Avoid abrupt temperature changes and air drafts. Like with any yeast bread, you need to cuddle your dough. Make sure it’s able to rest undisturbed in a warm space.

Baking at high altitude? Yup, so am I (Paola here!!). You just need to up the temperature a bit to seal the rise, and just keep an eye out for excessive browning.

Do not use xylitol in the dough. This is a new tip! It turns out that the same anti-bacterial properties which make xylitol awesome in dental products (check out your toothpaste ingredients!), also inhibit yeast development in your bread. So just use erythritol instead, or some pure monk fruit.

The Ingredients & Possible Subs

These bagels do have a few ingredients, but you’ll find that most are staple paleo and keto pantry ingredients. In the list below you’ll find details on several ingredients and possible subs. This is also perhaps the most forgiving recipe in terms of subs out of all the grain free yeast bread recipes on the site!

Almond flour. You truly need a super finely ground almond flour here, as if you use meal your rolls will turn out dense and oily. Super fine almond flour brands include Anthony’s , WellBees and Bob’s.

Now if paleo, or in keto maintenance, you can lighten up the bread even more by substituting part of the almond flour (3-6 tablespoons) with arrowroot flour.

Golden flaxseed meal or psyllium husk can be used interchangeably in this recipe, and they both need to be re-ground for best texture.  You’ll want to use golden flaxseed meal (we use Bob’s), and regrind the flakes in your (very dry!) bullet or blender until finely powdered. Great way to avoid slimy bread. And for the psyllium husk powder, NOW brand doesn’t turn bread purple.

Whey protein isolate ensures a better rise. But since bagels are on the dense side, you can get away with subbing with more almond flour (they just collapse a bit post bake). Keep in mind that this ingredient varies tremendously from brand to brand, and we’ve only tried (and are super happy!) with Isopure’s Zero Carb Unflavored. I’m still experimenting with more subs here, but a few of you reported back successfully back on our  soft ‘n fluffy sandwich bread that collagen and hemp pro protein powder worked (I cannot guarantee these subs yet though!).

Xanthan gum. Borrowed from molecular cooking, xanthan gum is the binding agent which makes your toothpaste jelly-like (and your cream cheese, well cream cheese-like). And it’s also the most common gluten-replacer in gluten free baking. And while we do prefer the results with it, you can sub it with flax.