Low Carb Keto Cauliflower Bagels
Image by Kirby Cravings
Crusty chewy bagels made with cauliflower! They taste like cheesy cauliflower bagels and are low carb, gluten free, wheat free and keto.
PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES | COOK TIME: 22 MINUTES | TOTAL TIME: 52 MINUTES | SERVINGS: 6 BAGELS
What to expect:
The exterior has a firm crispy crust.
The bagel itself is both chewy and fluffy.
The everything bagel seasoning gives them a bagel flavor.
Pre-Cooking Notes:
Crusty Exterior
It’s important to bake the bagels free form. Don’t use a donut mold or anything similar.
Chewy Interior
To achieve the chewy interior, use cheese, a lot of cheese. The melted cheese gives the chewy texture typically associated with those delicious New York bagels. It’s also important to dry out the cauliflower.
Get The Bagel Taste
Add everything seasoning to get the everything bagel flavor.
Ingredients
Dough is made out of dried cauliflower, almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, mozzarella cheese and eggs. It’s only five ingredients but all five are quite essential to the recipe.
Dried Cauliflower
This is the most time consuming step, but is necessary. If the cauliflower is not dry, the batter will be too moist and you won’t get the chewy texture.
Chop the cauliflower very fine. Even finer than cauliflower rice . Keeping the cauliflowers small will make it easier to dry out and to blend it into the dough so you aren’t left with chances of cauliflower. Use a food processor until they resemble large crumbs.
The cauliflower then needs to be cooked. You can use the microwave, but you can also steam it over the stove. Do not boil, that would only add more moisture.
Once cauliflower is cool, wring it dry with a tea towel. You can also dry the entire batch in the microwave, heating a few minutes at a time and stirring in between
When you’re done drying you should only be left with 1 1/2 cups of cauliflower. If you have too much leftover, your cauliflower is likely not dry enough.
ALMOND FLOUR
To keep the bagels low carb, I used almond flour in place of wheat flour. The almond flour helps absorb the moisture and create the fluffy bagel structure.
COCONUT FLOUR
A little coconut flour does a lot for these bagels. Without the coconut flour, the bagels are not as fluffy and do not rise as much. I tried using only almond flour and the bagels were very flat.
BAKING POWDER
Baking Powder is needed to help these bagels rise and spread.
MOZZARELLA CHEESE
I recommend a low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese. I use mozzarella instead of other cheeses in this recipe because it has less sodium, so using so much does not make the bagels too salty. Melted mozzarella is also more stretchy and chewy than other cheeses, which helps to create the chewy texture.
EGGS
You may have noticed that all the above ingredients are dry ingredients. The eggs act as a binding agent and add moisture to get a wet enough batter.
HOW TO SHAPE THE BAGELS
Once the batter is finished, you need to pack it into the measuring cup so that it stays together. Otherwise, the batter is loose and will crumble and fall apart. The batter should pop out of your measuring cup still holding the shape of the cup, much like a cup of packed brown sugar.
Then you form a bagel shape out of the mixture with your hands. I start by making a hole in the center with my finger. Then I slowly widen the center hole and round the exterior, until I get something that is about the size of a cake donut. I smooth out the surface before adding the egg wash and bagel seasoning.
The bagels are not as smooth and puffy as regular bagels. Try to smooth out the surface as much as you can before putting them in the oven. Also these bagels are smaller than your standard bagels. They will only rise a little and be about the size of a donut.
Toppings:
Smoked Salmon with Feta & Dill
Smashed Avo & Fresh Chillis
Regular or Vegan cream cheese
Avocado butter
Sliced avocado
Hardboiled eggs
Bacon & fried egg
Whatever you like to top your bagel with :)
Ingredients:
4 cups finely chopped cauliflower reduced to 1 ½ cup dried cauliflower (see notes)
¼ cup superfine almond flour
¼ cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups shredded low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese
4 large eggs divided
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, add dried cauliflower, almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, mozzarella, 3 eggs (the remaining egg is reserved for egg wash). Mix until everything is evenly combined and moist.
Pack batter into a ½ cup measuring cup. Make sure to press down and compact it, to keep the batter from crumbling. Turn the measuring cup upside down onto prepared baking sheet and shake cup a little so the batter slides out. When it slides out, it should still hold the form of the measuring cup, much like a cup of packed brown sugar.
To shape bagels, use one finger to create a hole in the center. Then slowly widen and stretch out the hole. Use your hands to round the edges and top of the bagel. When you are finished, the bagel should be about the size of a cake donut and the surface should be as smooth as you can get it.
Whisk remaining egg. Brush on bagels. Sprinkle generously with everything bagel seasoning.
Bake bagels for about 21-22 minutes or until tops are a dark golden brown. When you apply pressure to the surface of the bagels, they should bounce back rather than collapse in. Allow bagels to cool slightly before eating
Store any uneaten bagels in fridge or freezer. Reheat in oven or toaster oven.
TIPS:
I found some batches were a little soggy, so either leave them in longer, or don’t worry and take them out. Then once cooled (or for breakfast the next day) I popped them in the toaster and they crisped up a little and were even better!
To achieve the crusty exterior, it is important to bake these bagels free form. You do not want to put them into a donut mold or anything similar. Allowing them to bake out in the open will allow the surface to dry which allows it to form the crust.
This recipe requires you to dry the cauliflower. If the cauliflower is not dry, the batter will be too moist and the bagels will not be able to achieve the chewy texture. They will be fluffy and bread-like only. You can do this with the microwave or cheese cloth. For this recipe, I used this cheese cloth.*
For both methods, you first need to chop the cauliflower very fine. Even finer than the cauliflower rice that is now sold at most markets. Keeping the cauliflower this small will make it easier to dry out and to blend it into the dough so you aren’t left with chunks of cauliflower. If your chunks are too big, your measurements will also be off. I recommend chopping up the florets in the food processor until they resemble large crumbs.
Cauliflower holds a lot of moisture. When you are done wringing it dry, you should only be left with 1 ½ cups of cauliflower. If you have too much leftover cauliflower, your cauliflower is likely not dry enough. This could lead to the bread being too moist and it could also make the mixture too crumbly.
A little coconut flour does a lot for these bagels. Without the coconut flour, the bagels are not as fluffy and do not rise as much.
I recommend a low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese. I use mozzarella instead of other cheeses in this recipe because it has less sodium, so using so much does not make the bagels too salty. Melted mozzarella is also more stretchy and chewy than other cheeses, which helps to create the chewy texture.
The bagels are not as smooth and puffy as regular bagels. Try to smooth out the surface as much as you can before putting them in the oven. Also these bagels are smaller than your standard bagels. They will only rise a little and be about the size of a donut.
Original recipe by Kirby Cravings