Back in January, I started waking up in extreme pain. It was terrible. Getting out of bed was so painful, and it would get worse as the day went on. I was fighting tears when I’d go to bed at night. I have some sort of undiagnosed autoimmune disease– suspected that I have hashimoto’s. But, that is a whole other long, frustrating story. I decided that I was going to cut gluten out of my diet to see if that helped at least reduce the inflammation in my body. Within a month of going gluten free, the pain was gone. I started getting regular chiropractic adjustments, which has also helped. I did NOT want to give up gluten. I love baking bread. I love eating bread. You have to understand the amount of pain that I was in to reach this point.
It has been nine and a half months. If I have accidentally consumed any wheat, I have regretted it. I recently decided that I wanted to make an einkorn flour sourdough starter, and give that bread a try. Einkorn is a very low gluten flour. Sourdough breaks the gluten down and makes it even easier to digest. My starter was ready, and I whipped up a batch of sourdough bagels. I ate a fresh bagel, and so far everything has been ok. This will be a game changer for me! Einkorn also has a great protein content. It is so nutritious and has this amazing buttery flavor. I hate gluten free flours because it is all starches and fillers.
I wanted to share my recipe for einkorn bagels with you.
Ingredients:
dough:
1/2 cup active einkorn sourdough starter
1 cup filtered water
2 Tablespoons maple syrup (honey or sugar would be ok)
2 teaspoons of salt
4 cups of all-purpose einkorn flour
*For boiling- water, 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking soda
Makes- 8 bagels
You will want to start with active einkorn sourdough starter that has risen and is nice and bubbly. If it floats on the water, you are all set. Honestly, I’ve used starter that didn’t quite float and it turned out ok.
Put all of your dough ingredients into your mixer, and mix it until it’s combined. This dough is thick and stiff. If you mix by hand, you’ll probably need to get it out of the bowl and knead it to get the flour incorporated all the way. Place your dough in a bowl and cover it with a towel. Leave it to ferment overnight in a warm place. I like to turn my oven light on and put the dough inside overnight. Just make sure to leave a note on the oven to NOT turn it on. (Ask me how I know.) If you need more time before baking, you can put it into the fridge to deal with whenever you get a chance. You do not have to bring the dough to room temperature after refrigerating before moving to the next steps.
When you’re ready to make your bagels, lightly flour your counter and place the dough on it. I like to use a bench scraper to cut the dough into eight equal pieces. You can use a knife or your hands to tear the dough into pieces. There are two ways to shape your bagels, and either one is just fine. You can roll your dough piece into a snake, just like playing with play-doh and twist the ends together to create your circle. If you prefer, you can roll your dough piece into a ball and pierce a hole with your thumb. Gently stretch the hole until it’s about two inches wide. Place your shaped bagel onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I like to put a tiny bit of oil on the parchment, because the bagels do stick to it. Continue doing this until you’ve shaped all of your bagels. Cover your baking sheet with a towel to let the bagels rest for a little bit while you get the oven preheating and water boiling.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Fill a large pot with water and put your baking soda and brown sugar into the water. Once the water is boiling, drop 2-3 of your bagels into the water. They will sink to the bottom of your pot at first, and then float to the top. Once they’ve floated to the top, remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and place them back onto your baking sheet. Continue doing this with all of your bagels. Do not skip this step. This is what gives bagels that delicious flavor and chewy texture. If you want to top your bagels with anything– cheddar cheese, everything but the bagel seasoning, etc.– do this after taking them out of the water. My kids love when I sprinkle shredded cheese on top.
Once the oven has finished preheating, and your bagels have all taken their baking soda baths, put them in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes, or until they are a nice, golden color.
These bagels are so delicious fresh from the oven, or toasted up at a later time. We also love to eat them as sandwiches. They freeze wonderfully, too!
If you try them, let me know what you think!
