The idea for gluten free bagels occurred to me during my visit to Vienna. I spent a few days there and every morning I was going to Blue Orange Coffee & Bagel for a breakfast. That is one bright and cozy cafe/restaurant where beside the regular food, they also serve a vegetarian and gluten free sandwiches and bagels. The bagels are warm and specially packed. 

My experience with gluten free food in Vienna is very positive. Beside this bagel cafe I have checked a few more places, where I had the opportunity to try gluten free Wiener Schnitzel, to enjoy the gluten free pizza and got sweeten with tasty gluten free cookies and cakes. Unfortunately, people who have celiac disease, can’t be 100% sure that food which others guaranty for, is gluten free. We can trust in Crossed Grain symbol, gluten free marks in restaurants and gluten free menus, but we can never be safe as we are in our own kitchen. At the end you can’t live in a fear for the whole life. It is very nice when you can go outside and have a lunch or get a tasty chocolate cookie beside your favourite coffee. Still, you have to be careful. Restaurants with the gluten free menus are going through many special controls. Sometimes, I choose to trust them. After all, I live in Serbia, so that privilege to eat outside I get only when I go out of the country.

Bagels are different from other pastries because you have to cook them first, then bake. That gives them hard crust, while the inside remains soft. The ingredients don’t differ much from the ingredients for another baking:

Mix 200ml warm milk, 50g butter, 1 tbs yeast, 1 tsp flour, cover and leave it in a warm place for 15-20 minutes until the yeast starts growing. Then add: 1 egg white and 400g flour ( bread mix ). The flour I mostly use for all kinds of pastries is Schär Bread Mix, Mix B. Cover the dough and leave it in a warm place and let the dough rise for another 15-20 minutes, until doubled. Knead the dough once more and shape the bagels. Cook them for 2-3 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes at 250ºC, until golden. 

As you can see, the ingredients are simple, only the technique is different from usual. For detailed instructions check the following video: