If you are looking for a quick, no frills, low sodium recipe for bagels you have come to the right place. Don’t let the simplicity of this recipe fool you – their ease belies their deliciousness.
This will be the last in my three part bagel series. This recipe is super quick and easy – they don’t require kneading, rise time, or boiling (like more traditional bagels), which makes them a great addition to a quick dinner. I prefer the texture of the Homemade Bagels from last week, but let’s face it – we don’t always have the time (or desire) to make them. These are a great alternative and taste really great.
You have probably seen a salty version of this recipe floating around online, and luckily it converts really nicely to a low sodium version. There are basically two forms of this recipe that I have seen. The first is one that uses self-rising flour, like the one from Bella Gets Waisted. Her basic recipe is awesome, but self-rising flour is basically just all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt added. Since both of those ingredients are super high in sodium, self-rising flour ends up packing about 400 mg sodium per quarter cup (compared with zero sodium in all-purpose flour). Another version is one from SkinnyTaste, which subs the self-rising flour with a combination of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. They are essentially the same recipe, so I guess you could say I adapted from both. 🙂
So I mention these are easy, but how easy are they? Well, the dough has three ingredients (flour, sodium-free baking powder, and Greek yogurt).
You simply mix those up until you have a nice dough. then you knead the dough for a few turns just to make sure everything is evenly combined.
When it comes to shaping the bagels, I use the same method described in my post for Homemade Bagels. I essentially form uniform balls of dough and then poke a large hole in the center.
You can either bake the bagels as-is, top them with an egg wash and bake them, or top with an egg wash and some optional toppings (like Everything Bagel Seasoning, dried onions, sesame seeds, and so on).
Then you just bake, cool, and enjoy! Soooooooo easy and sooooooo good.
30-Minute Bagels
SODIUM COUNT: 22 mg sodium per bagel; 89 mg sodium in the entire recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp sodium-free baking powder ((like the one from Hain Pure Foods))
- 1 cup Greek yogurt ((I use Fage))
Optional*
- 1 egg ((for egg wash))
- 1 Tbsp water ((for egg wash))
- other toppings (Everything Bagel Seasoning, dried onion flakes, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, etc.)
Instructions
- Move an oven rack to the top 1/3 of the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and sodium-free baking powder.
- Add the Greek yogurt to the flour mixture and stir together until well-combined.
- Knead the dough for about 5-10 turns until it smooths out a bit and all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. (You may need a bit of extra flour if it it gets sticky while kneading.)
- Divide the dough into four chunks. Shape each chunk into a smooth ball by rolling the ball in a circular motion against your work surface.
- Pick up a dough ball and press a hole into the center. Stretch the hole until it is roughly 2-3 times as large as you would like it to be when the bagel is cooked. Place the bagel on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with each piece of dough.
- If you are using the egg wash, whisk the egg and water together in a small bowl. Brush on bagels and add optional toppings.
- Bake the bagels in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden. Cool and enjoy!
Notes
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION – Yield: 4 servings (1 bagel per serving)
Sodium: 22.3 mg, Calories: 147.3, Total Fat: 0.3 g, Saturated Fat: 0.1 g, Cholesterol: 0.0 mg, Carbohydrates: 26.2 g, Fiber: 0.9 g, Sugar: 2.4 g, Protein: 9.2 g.
* Optional egg wash and toppings are not included in the nutritional information.
You may have saved me from going crazy with my new diet! Is there another brand of sodium free baking powder other than Hain? I can’t seem to find it anywhere online or in person.
Yes – Ener G also makes sodium-free baking powder. I haven’t worked with their baking powder, but I’ve heard from others that it works fine. 🙂
Thanks!
Ener-G Baking Powder. You use twice the amount that your recipe calls for. It works great. I ordered mine on Amazon.
FYI to all, if there is a Whole Foods near you, they carry in their stores the Hain Pure Foods Featherweight No Sodium Baking Powder that is called for in this recipe. It is a lifesaver in low-sodium baking! Happy New Year to all.
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Raymond -I purchase Ener-G baking soda substitute and also their baking powder. You can order on Amazon. You get more for your money than you do the Hain and from my experience the use by date is much better also. Both work great – you just use twice the amount that the recipe calls for.
Thanks, Sue! I started using Ener-G and it works fine.
Thank goodness I found this site. I was about ready to abandon any recipes with self rising flour because of the sodium. I see it does work with sodium free baking powder. Hooray!!
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Can the dough be boiled before baking to add more of a bagel crunch?
I haven’t tested it, but I don’t think this dough would hold up to boiling. If you’re looking for more of a bagel texture, try this recipe: https://www.sodiumoptional.com/homemade-bagels/.
I have to use gluten free flour ( 1:1) but I find that the dough is too gooey. I tried adding more flour little by little, but not really very manageable. Do you have any suggestions on the adjustments I need to make for this to be gluten free? Thank you.
I don’t have an answer to your question but I also tried gluten free flour with a different recipe.I tried making the rolls and they did not rise so they stayed very small and heavy.
Can I make this dough the night before and bake in the morning?
Great question! I haven’t tried that, so I don’t know whether they’d turn out.
These have become a staple in my house – thank you!! We even use them to make & freeze mini pizza bagels for my 3 year old each week (best pizza bagels ever). For regular bagels we prefer them fresh baked over reheated, but mornings are early, so I will test this out and let you know!