Bagels

This is a great bagel recipe from The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread by Bette Hagman. It's easy and dependable...you'll surprise yourself with the results! I have included my own instructions for forming the bagels and made recipe adjustments.

Wet Ingredients:
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water (110-115F)
1 tbsp room-temperature dry yeast
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup hot water
4 room-temperature egg whites

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
2 cups tapioca flour
1/2 cup instant dry milk powder
3 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar

Mix the sugar from the wet ingredients into the hot water along with the yeast. Mix well and set aside to foam. Dissolve the shortening in the hot water. Separate your eggs and set them aside.

With the mixer on low, blend the dry ingredients. Pour in the shortening and hot water mixture, then blend to mix. Add the egg whites and blend again. Then add the yeast mixture. Beat this on high for 4 minutes.

Shaping the bagels: Prepare by cutting 10 4"x4" squares of parchment paper and spraying these squares very lightly with cooking spray (I prefer Crisco spray because it doesn't brown as quickly). Separate the dough into 10 equal pieces. Working with greased hands (I spray mine with the Crisco spray), roll each piece of the dough into a bun shape, about 3/4" to 1" high, approximately 5" wide and place on the individual pieces of parchment. With a greased pointer finger, swirl the center of the dough to create the hole for each of the bagels. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let them rise until they are approximately doubled in height and look puffy.

Approximately 10 minutes before they are finished rising, preheat the oven to 375F. In a large pot, bring 3" of water plus 1 tsp sugar to a boil. Drop two bagels at a time into the boiling water by tipping them off of the parchment paper pieces. Boil for 1 minute, turning them after 30 seconds. Remove using a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel for a few seconds to remove the excess water from the bottom. Place on a sprayed cookie sheet. Repeat until all 10 bagels have been boiled.

Cover lightly with foil and bake for about 18 minutes. Then raise the temperature of the oven to 425F and continue to bake uncovered until the outsides of the bagels are lightly browned (about 5 more minutes).

These taste best when toasted, but they're good right out of the oven, too. They freeze very well. When taking them out of the freezer, I microwave them for about a minute until they are just soft, then slice and place them into the toaster.