Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Cinnamon Raisin bagels
Pre-Celiac, I was never a fan of Cinnamon Raisin bagels, but these bagels rock my gluten free world. I swear, I will never complain about wishing I could eat the old gluten-filled bagels again.

I'm a make-it-from-scratch kinda gal. I don't mind hauling out what seems like a million containers of flour from my pantry just to make 12 muffins or 8 bagels or a loaf of bread. But we had houseguests, so I awoke before everyone else, tiptoed down to the kitchen and got to work. I wanted everyone to awake to the aroma of freshly baked bagels. I dug around and found a bag of Bob's Red Mill Cinnamon Raisin bread mix in my pantry and in a few hours, we sat down to a delicious breakfast of freshly baked bagels and coffee.


Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
9 large bagels

click here for printable recipe

1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp warm water (105 degrees)
1 tsp agave (or other sweetener)
1 bag Bob's Red Mill Cinnamon Raisin Bread mix (includes yeast packet)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp raisins
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp oil
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 tbsp sugar for boiling water
cornmeal
2 tbsp turbinado sugar mixed with 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle cornmeal onto a 2 baking pans.

Sprinkle the yeast into the water and add agave. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in order to develop a foamy skin. This is how you know the yeast is active.

Meanwhile, place the bread mix, ground cinnamon, and raisins into the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn mixer on low speed and blend. Leaving the blender on low, add the oil, eggs (you can quickly bring them to room temperature by placing in bowl of hot water for about 5 minutes), and water/yeast/agave mixture. Once the wet ingredients are mixed into the dry ingredients, turn the mixer on high and blend for 2 minutes.

Oil the inside of a large ice cream scoop (or use well-oiled hands or an oiled measuring cup - size will determine size of bagels). Scoop out the bagel batter and place on the two baking pans. When all the batter has been used, wet the palm of your hand and gently flatten each scoop of batter. You will have to re-wet your hand frequently.

Wet your pointer finger and "drill" a hole into the center of each unbaked bagel. You will have to wet your finger before making the hole in each bagel. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for one hour.

About 45 minutes into the rising time, fill a large pot with water and add one tbsp of sugar. Cover and bring to a boil (covering the pot will help the water boil faster).

After the bagels have risen for one hour, oil a spatula. Gently lift each bagel and place in boiling water - you should only be able to fit 3 or 4 at a time into the boiling water. After 1 minute, use a slotted spoon to flip the bagels in the boiling water. After another minute, remove and place on cooling rack so that the water drips off the bagel. Allow to drain for a few minutes and then transfer to baking pan. Repeat with all bagels.

Brush each bagel with some water. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven; after 5 minutes, transfer bagels to cooling rack.

If you can wait, it is best to let them sit for at least 30 minutes before eating. It's worth the wait, trust me:).