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These 4 ingredient homemade plain bagels take less than an hour to make, start to finish. No yeast, proofing, kneading, or advanced baking skills required! They taste so delicious and are the perfect breakfast, any day of the week. If you love bagels (but don’t love how time consuming they are to make), you have to give this recipe a try!
No yeast? No problem.
These homemade plain do not require yeast of any kind. All you need is a little baking powder! Because you don’t need to let the dough proof, this recipe can be made start to finish in about 45 minutes. It’s that easy!
What ingredients will I need for these homemade plain bagels?
You’ll need just 4 simple ingredients to make these bagels. Here’s what you’ll need:
- flour (all purpose, whole wheat, or a measure for measure all purpose gluten free flour)
- unsweetened plain yogurt (regular or dairy free)
- baking powder
- salt
You’ll also need a couple other ingredients for an optional egg/oil wash and for boiling the bagels.
- water
- honey (or baking soda)
- 1 egg (or olive oil/coconut oil)
What kind of gluten free flour do you recommend?
Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1-1 baking flour, King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour, and Walmart’s gluten free flour are all great gluten free flour options. Another great option is Cup4Cup gluten free flour, though it is not dairy free.
What kind of dairy free yogurt do you recommend?
I typically use Forager Project unsweetened cashew milk yogurt. I love this yogurt because there are no added sweeteners, preservatives, or artificial ingredients. Another great option is Kite Hill plain almond milk yogurt, though I haven’t tried it in this particular recipe yet.
What is an egg wash and do I have to do it?
An egg wash is whisked/beaten egg, brushed on top of a pastry before baking. If you don’t want to use an egg wash on top of these bagels, you can simply brush the bagels with olive oil or melted coconut oil instead. Adding an egg or oil wash will help to ensure a shiny and golden crust!
Can I use Greek yogurt for these homemade plain bagels?
I haven’t tried this recipe with Greek yogurt, but it might work! If you want to use Greek yogurt, you will most likely need to add more than 1/2 cup, just because it is so thick!
Can I use other gluten free flours?
While this recipe turns out the best with all purpose gluten free flour, it also works pretty well with both almond flour and oat flour (though the measurements are a bit different). You can find my oat flour bagel recipe here and my almond flour bagel recipe here.
Do I have to boil these homemade plain bagels?
You do not need to boil the bagels before baking them, but I highly recommend doing it if possible! I find the bagels look and taste better after being boiled. Bagels are traditionally boiled before being baked and doing so will give your bagels the classic bagel taste.
Should I use honey or baking soda in the boiling water?
I have found that both honey and baking soda work well to boil the bagels. If I had to pick, I would say to boil the bagels with honey! It gives the crust a sweet aroma and taste, as well as a golden color.
Can I use another sweetener in the boiling water?
Honey and molasses are both great options to use for boiling the bagels. I have also used date syrup and that works great as well!
Looking for more bagel recipes?
If you’re in the mood for more homemade bagels, try some of my other recipes!
Ready to make these homemade plain bagels? The full recipe is below!
Homemade Plain Bagels
Ingredients
Bagel Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour (regular or a gluten free blend)
- 1/2 cup yogurt (regular or dairy free)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Other Ingredients
- water (for boiling the bagels)
- baking soda and/or sweetener (for boiling the bagels)
- egg or oil (for an egg or oil wash)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a medium sized baking tray with parchment paper.
- While the oven preheats, bring a pot of water to a boil.
- While the water is heating up, mix together all of the bagel ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix until the dough begins to take the shape of a ball. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. If it’s too dry, add more yogurt.
- Once the dough is mixed, split it into 2 evenly sized pieces and add it to a lightly floured surface.Â
- To shape the dough into bagels, gently roll each piece of dough into a log shape using the palms of your hands. Then pinch the ends of the each dough together to form a circular bagel shape. Another option is to simply roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball and make a hole in the center using your fingers. Then gently flatten into a bagel.
- Once the water is boiling, add in some honey (and/or baking soda) and stir to dissolve. Add enough honey to give the water a brown tint.
- Transfer the bagels to the boiling water and allow them to boil for 30 seconds on each side.
- Once the bagels have been boiled, transfer them to the lined baking tray. I recommend brushing the bagels with an egg wash or with some olive/coconut oil.
- Bake the bagels in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through.
- Once the bagels have finished baking, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely.
- Once cooled, slice your bagels, toast, top, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You do not need to boil the bagels before baking them, but I highly recommend doing it if possible! I find the bagels look and taste better after being boiled. But they will turn out fine without being boiled. Bagels are traditionally boiled before being baked and doing so will give your bagels the classic bagel taste.
- This recipe either makes 1 large bagel, 2 medium sized bagels, or 3 small bagels I would recommend baking a large bagel for 30-35 minutes, the medium bagels for 25-30 minutes, and the small bagels for about 20 minutes.
- See the body of the blog post for the specific gluten free flours and dairy free yogurt I recommend.
Hi. I tried the recipe and the bagels looked like dough before putting them in boiling water. I added an additional 1/2 cup of flour and they rolled out beautifully. They fell apart in the water however after 30 seconds. They kind of turned to mush. Maybe 30 seconds was too long for my flour blend. The 2nd batch I didn’t boil and they turned out much better, I actually sprinkled Everything Bagel on them then air fryed them at 325 for 25 minutes and they came out like they had been in a toaster. I am going to try a 3rd time and boil them 15 seconds and see what happens. Thanks for the easy recipe.
Hi Patti! So glad to hear the second batch turned out so well! Depending on the flour/yogurt you use, you may only want to dip the bagels in the water for a couple seconds so they don’t get too mushy. So glad to know the air-fryer works too, that’s great. Thank you for the feedback!
I love this recipe! I use it all the time with gluten free and regular flours and they come out beautifully every time!
I am so glad to hear it! What gluten free flours have you found work best? I get asked this question all the time and I love having additional flours to recommend to others!
How much honey or baking soda do you add to how much boiling water?!?!?
I usually do about 1 TBSP of either!