Here we are – a day late with the latest TWD post. There were literally just not enough hours available this past week to pull this off on time. Our sincere apologies. Since this approach to bagels is a brand new one for us, it allowed us to experiment with a new take on a recipe, developing it and putting it through all the usual stages we demand of any recipe that ultimately gets our stamp of approval.
When looking at the photographs you might say, these bagels look pretty good, where is the problem? Well, looks are not the only determining factor for a successful outcome, don’t you think? While we managed to achieve the perfect look and flavor, we feel strongly that our recipe needs to be developed just a little more, in order to achieve the desired “soft chewiness” one looks for in a bagel. The inside of the bagels is almost there, but we would like to work on removing the tougher outer crunchiness and adding quite a bit more moist chewiness to the inside. All bakers come across obstacles when following recipes (even the gluten varieties), but creating them gluten free requires tweaking all across the board, not only by the substitution of gluten free ingredients, but the ratio of liquids to flour, the potential addition of eggs, binding ingredients, or even the length of time for baking. The temperature and moisture levels in your home also play a huge role in the actual preparation of the dough. In our case, we are also faced with the added challenge of corn allergies. So many commercial gluten free flour blends and baked products do contain corn, because it rises beautifully and adds that soft chewiness to baked goods.
The final dough in our present stage of recipe development can actually be kneaded and is very pleasant to work with. It withstood the boiling process and puffed up during baking. We are close, but not quite there.
Since we are still in the midst of developing a perfect gluten free bagel, our own recipe suggestions will have to wait until the end of this month, October 30 to be exact, when we will post our results on the TWD option for making up any recipe yet to be completed.
Again, our apologies to those eagerly awaiting our gluten free version of bagels. Meanwhile, do check all the other TWD bloggers’ successful recipes (albeit with gluten). You can check them out here. This week’s lovely host is Heather at Heather’s Bytes, who also has the recipe and directions.
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Inge and Gillian: you are certainly right when you say that your gf bagels “look pretty good”, actually I would rather say that they look just terrific. They have a wonderful warm color and shape! And I have the utmost respect for all the enormous efforts you put into developing a gf bagel recipe! And I will come back and look at the “final version” of your recipe! I really do enjoy all your posts and I often think of you when I see packaging in the health-food stores around here with labels such as “glutenfrei” and ask myself whether you would “approve” of them.
Hi Andrea, we always love hearing from you and enjoy visiting your site. Yes, as we are learning through family members living in Germany, purchasing most commercial products with the label “glutenfrei” can be challenging. Most contain undesirable fillers, too much starch, and mostly too much corn (Mais). The European gluten free labeling laws also permit the addition of wheat starch, which doesn’t make any sense at all. That being said, there are many other terrific gluten free products available to you, that are impossible to find here. Living gluten free, requires you to be ever vigilant. We look forward to connecting with you again on the 30th. Best wishes.
Your bagels looks great! I’m also looking forward to your gf version!
Thanks Heather. Again, thanks for being such a gracious host this month.
The bagels are wow! I was so hoping that you will attempt the recipe and post the results. And you are testing the recipe one more time…Glad to see more sesame bagels – it is the most famous flavor after all 🙂
Sesame, poppy seed and onion bagels are our favorite. Making bagels gluten free, and authentic, does not fall into the “most easy to do” category, but we are embracing the challenge. Looking forward to seeing you on the 30th.
Kudos for actually making the bagels! I skipped them but now wish I hadn’t. Maybe for the makeup week later this month…
It is definitely a recipe worth trying. See you on the 30th.
Well done on your bagels! I admire those who create, tweak and perfect recipes of their own (something I’m not good at!) — makes me very confident to cook/bake from them 🙂 Look forward to returning on the 30th for your GF version.
Thanks Athena. This recipe is a challenge. Stay tuned.
Your passion and care comes across the page…good luck with your testing. Your bagels look great.
Carmen
http://sometimessavory.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/twd-baking-with-julia-bagels-with-lox-and-the-fixings/
Carmen, thank you.
Bravo for persevering to make the perfect gluten free bagel! I do think they look beautiful and I am looking forward to your Bagels Part II.
Thanks Elaine. Endeavoring to create authentic looking and tasting baked goods that are also free of too much starch and undesirable ingredients is not always easy to achieve. Still working on a couple of different approaches to this recipe, in order to improve the texture. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you on the 30th.
Your gf bagels look lovely. I’ll be looking forward to reading about your final results. Although I don’t have to worry about gluten, I have friends who do.
By the way, I’m from Albuquerque (trapped in California) and spent many years in the Seattle area. Miss those freshly roasted green chiles!
Thanks Judy. The roasting of green chilies has been well under way for a few weeks now and is one of our favorite events this time of year. We love California though, and miss Seattle, and enjoy visiting both, whenever we can. We look forward to connecting with you again on the 30th. Thanks for stopping by.
gluten free bagels!! just so that you know.. I am really waiting for that recipe.. because the ones I made are more of flour bombs!! 🙂
Thanks. We still have a couple more trials up our sleeves. Wish us luck. See you on the 30th.
I am impressed that your first try was so, so close…they look marvelous! I know your tweaks will make them even better and look forward to your results!
Thanks. As always, tweaking these recipes is an adventure. See you on the 30th.
These look great! Looking forward to part 2!
Hi Cathleen, Thanks. Always great to hear from you and we look forward to connecting with you on the 30th, with our, hopefully, much improved bagels.
I’m so glad for you that you were “nearly there” with your gluten free recipe. You are making a master of works in transforming BWJ recipes into gluten free recipes. I do respect you and admire you a lot!
Your bagels really look beautiful and I hope that, since I’m late commenting (can you believe that I’ve visited almost all the 85 LYL blogs!) you found the right ingredients balance.
Actually, from your comment of “The inside of the bagels is almost there, but we would like to work on removing the tougher outer crunchiness and adding quite a bit more moist chewiness to the inside.” it doesn’t sound like it’s “nearly there”… it sounds just about perfect, except for maybe the “more moist chewiness inside” part… A proper bagel (NY Style, NOT a-la Einsteins) does have a distinct “crust”, like a really good soft pretzel… The outside should be solid, like you could pull it away from the inside so it is firm and chewy and a bit crusty… NOT soft!! The inside however, is soft but firm and also chewy…
I’d be interested in seeing your recipe as it stands now… before the “final tweaking”… 🙂
Thanks for visiting and we apologize for the delay in getting back to you. This first version may have looked nearly perfect, but the outer crust was much tougher than any NY bagel we ever tried. However, our ‘Part 2 version’ was just about perfect. In the context of TWD rules, we are not allowed to disclose the recipe. However, if you read our Part 2 version more closely, we do list our substitutions and our method. Just read up on the TWD host’s site for that particular recipe, or the actual book, Baking with Julia, for the original recipe and take it from there. When and if you try making this recipe, please let us know how it works out for you.