Chewy keto bagels do exist and they are delicious! This easy nut-free recipe takes only 5 ingredients and 40 minutes of your time. And with only 2.9g net carbs, they are perfect for a healthy keto breakfast.
I couldn’t be more thrilled with these keto bagels and I think you will be too. They have the perfect chewiness of the conventional kind, with a mere fraction of the carbs.
It took me quite a few attempts to get this recipe right, I will admit. I had to play around to get the perfect combination of cheese and keto flour. But once I did, I knew I had something pretty remarkable on my hands.
They remind me of traditional Montreal style bagels…smaller and denser than the New York kind, but full of flavor and delightfully chewy. They toast really well, and with a schmear of cream cheese, you can truly enjoy bagels again.
And just like my keto biscuits, they make great breakfast sandwiches too!
Why you need to try this recipe
This keto bagel recipe is a little different from others you may have seen. For one thing, it’s made with coconut flour rather than almond flour, which means it’s completely nut-free.
I have experimented quite a bit with fathead dough, which is typically made of cheese, almond flour, and eggs. Because almond flour has a high oil content, it causes a great deal of spreading during baking. This can mean that most keto bagels end up flat and shapeless.
I find that coconut flour provides much more structure and holds up better. It also makes the bagels chewier, like the real thing. And they don’t taste like coconut at all!
One reader says: “Chewy, rich, great texture, delicious! This dough was easier to work with than any other fat head dough I’ve tried.”
Ingredients you need
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- Coconut flour: I created this recipe using coconut flour because I really think it gives them the ideal texture. Do not substitute with almond flour as the bagels will flatten and spread too much. For best results, weigh the flour out by grams.
- Baking powder: Make sure your baking powder is not old or else your bagels will not rise and will be a bit flat.
- Xanthan gum: There really is no substitution for this as it gives the bagels structure. Remember, a bag of xanthan gum will last for several years. You can find it in the gluten-free aisle of most grocery stores, or you can purchase it online.
- Shredded mozzarella: Fathead dough is tricky, and some shredded mozzarella works better than others. I have had good luck with all sorts of brands like Whole Foods, Safeway, Trader Joe’s Organic, and Sargento. But for some reason, I have not had much success with Organic Valley.
- Eggs: Use large eggs for this keto bagel recipe. Extra large or jumbo eggs will make the dough too soft.
- Butter: Brush the top of the bagels with melted butter. It adds great flavor, browns the bagels and gives the toppings something to adhere to.
- Everything bagel toppings: Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced onion and coarse salt make these taste like classic bagels. You can also purchase everything bagel seasoning that is premixed.
Step by step directions
1. Whisk the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the coconut flour, baking powder and xanthan gum. Make sure to break up any clumps in the coconut flour.
2. Melt the cheese: In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the cheese on high in 30 second increments until well melted and almost liquid. The exact time this takes varies with the power of your microwave. For me, it takes about three 30-second zaps.
3. Add the flour mixture and eggs: Place the flour mixture over the melted cheese, then add the eggs. The flour will help protect the eggs from the heat of the cheese. Knead in the bowl using a rubber spatula.
4. Turn out the dough: Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper and continue to knead the dough until cohesive. Cut the dough in half and cut each half into 4 equal portions so that you have 8 equal pieces of dough.
5. Roll into logs: Roll each portion out on the mat to about 8 inches long. Then pinch the ends of the log together to form a circle.
6. Add the seasoning: In a shallow dish, stir together the sesame seeds, poppyseed, dried onion and salt. Brush the top of each bagel with melted butter and dip firmly into the everything seasoning. You can also just sprinkle the seasoning on top.
7. Bake until golden: Bake the bagels at 350ºF until they have risen and are golden brown.
Expert Tips and FAQ
Fathead dough is tricky, because so much depends on the right combination of shredded cheese and keto flour. So I have a few extra tips to help you get these keto bagels right. Be sure to watch the video in the recipe card for even more tips and tricks!
If you don’t have a microwave, you can melt the cheese in a pan over very low heat on the stovetop. Remove the pan from heat before adding anything else and stir very quickly once you add the egg. Don’t let the pan get too hot or it will curdle the egg.
If the bagels spread too much or turn out a bit flat, it usually means you didn’t have enough coconut flour to give them structure. I strongly recommend weighing the coconut flour for accuracy.
The brand of shredded cheese can also be an issue, so it can take a bit of experimentation. Look under the ingredients section for the brands that have worked best for me.
Store bagels in a resealable container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They tend to get quite firm when refrigerated, although you can warm them up gently to make them softer again.
This keto bagel recipe has 5.5g of carbs and 2.6g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.9g net carbs per bagel.
This keto dough is made with mozzarella cheese, eggs, coconut flour, xanthum gum and baking powder. It produces a chewy and delicious bagel that tastes similar to regular bagels. And they toast well, too!
More fathead dough recipes to try
Fathead dough is a game-changer for keto recipes, as it is so similar to real pizza dough. Here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:
- We use it to make keto pizza crust frequently. The kids love cheese and pepperoni, but my husband and I really like to make Jalapeno Popper Pizza.
- You can also use it to make fabulous keto cinnamon rolls! The dough is elastic enough to roll up nicely with a cinnamon filling.
- I modified the dough to make this fun Keto Everything Bagel Bread. It’s fun to serve at parties or just make some to snack on at home.
- Craving calzone? Fathead dough is perfect for that. I filled my Keto Calzone with a creamy mixture of spinach, artichokes, and cheese.
Related recipes
Keto Bagel Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut flour (60g)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 12 oz pre-shredded mozzarella
- 2 large eggs
Optional Topping for Everything Bagels
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon poppyseed
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with a silicone liner. Lightly dust with coconut flour.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, baking powder, and xanthan gum. Set aside.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the cheese on high in 30 second increments until well melted and almost liquid. Stir in the flour mixture and the eggs and knead in the bowl using a rubber spatula.
- Turn out onto the prepared baking sheet and continue to knead together until cohesive. Cut the dough in half and cut each half into 4 equal portions so that you have 8 equal pieces of dough.
- Roll each portion out into a log about 8 inches long. Pinch the ends of the log together.
- In a shallow dish, stir together the sesame seeds, poppyseed, dried onion, and salt. Brush the top of each bagel with melted butter and dip firmly into the everything seasoning. Set back on the silicone mat.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the bagels have risen and are golden brown.
Kathy says
I forgot to click the stars on my previous comment. I’d give it 10 stars if I could!! Easy and delish!!
Carolyn says
Thanks so much!
Kathy says
These bagels are so easy to make and are to die for!!! Just made them and of course ate one right away for a late lunch. I could hardly wait for them to cool enough to get one in my eager little hand. My husband calls me a cake eater because I love carbs. You have made keto a sustainable possibility for me with your yummy recipes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Genine A says
My cheese turned into a glue consistency while melting in the microwave. It never became liquid form so consequently I was never able to truly it roll into a ball or rings. It seems that the shredded mozzarella is low in moisture does not work for this recipe.
Carolyn says
Actually it works perfectly because that’s what I use. Sounds to me like you overcooked it.
Mike says
I had a similar issue but I’m a pretty novice baker… any suggestions on how to get the mozzarella cheese to melt more liquidy instead of more glue like consistency? Should I take out after each 30 second interval and mix? Thanks!!!
Carolyn says
What brand of mozzarella was it?
Esther R. says
This is a great recipe , I use to make everything .
Diane says
Hi! I’m super excited to try this recipe, but for the cheese, what’s the difference between the part-skim and whole mozza? I always thought we were supposed to use whole cheeses for keto? Thanks!!
Carolyn says
Part skim just makes this a lot less oily…much easier to work with. Believe me, it’s plenty high fat in the end anyway!
Rebecca says
I finally made these today and they turned out great! Such an easy recipe! Thank you!
Jill says
So good! So easy too. I used my hand mixer/beater to stir this up. I also used Whole milk mozzarella. Turned out great! I will definitely make these again. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Julie says
Can we substitute gelatin for the xanthin gum? Would it be the same measurement.
Carolyn says
No, that won’t work.
Lisa says
What is the xanthan gum used for? Wondering if it could be used in other bread type recipes.
Carolyn says
It’s a thickener and a stabilizer.
Krystal Miccio says
AMAZING!! I promised my co-workers (3 of which follow keto) I would make these and bring them in. I felt like a rock star!! Our morning break with your Keto bagels and cream cheese was a huge hit! My son (18) hung around the oven until they were golden and got “first dibs.” A hit at home and at work. Double win! Thank you Carolyn!
Carolyn says
Yay!
shawna says
About those gnocchi…please share your results!
I LOVE gnocchi and would love to have some. How much coconut flour did you add?
Thanks in advance!
Jamie G says
Great recipe! Closest thing to bagels I’ve tried. Made 6 regular and 8 mini bagels out of this using donut and mini donut pans. Mini bagels took about 15 min and regular took 20 min, using a cookie sheet underneath the pans to cut down on overbrowning. Super tasty! Raised a bit and did not fall. Used Trader Joe’s Everything Bagel seasoning on the regular bagels and chocolate salt on the mini bagels, and was generous with the butter. Next time I’m going to flavor the mini bagels with cinnamon-monkfruit ‘sugar’!
Thanks for the hard work on all your recipes!
Carolyn says
So glad you like them, Jamie!
Swith says
Hi Carolyn, I made these and they were amazing!!! I can’t thank you enough. The neighbors came over and stole half of them so now I need to bake more.
Just wanted you and your readers to know: I don’t have a microwave and I didn’t melt the cheese. I used a Cuisinart food precessor and chopped the grated cheese very fine. I added all the powdered ingredients and kept pulsing until it was sandy. After I added the eggs, I pulsed until it came together as a dough.
Hand formed the bagels as described. I couldn’t believe how well they rose! And stayed puffy! I did not use Bob’sRedmill coconut flour, I just used Presidents Choice. Also used old baking powder LOL!
This is a fantastic recipe. Thanks again.
Sarah Stillwell says
Thank you for sharing your experience making these with your food processor. I used mine as well when the eggs began to cook in the hot cheese mixture. I put everything in the food processor and processed until it became a cohesive dough and it turned out very well. I am going to try it the way you described as that would be a lot easier. With this dough I made a couple of hotdogs by wrapping the hotdog with some of this dough and it was very good dipped in sugar free ketchup and mustard. This is a great recipe Carolyn, thank you.
Amy says
I just tried making these using the food processor method and for the life of me could not get this into a workable dough. It looked so promising!! I think I may have had too much coconut flour because I weighed this time and it was definitely more than 1/2 a cup. My dough was very crumbly and impossible to form into anything but mounds of mashed together “dough.” They are in the oven so we shall see how they come out!
I like this method because I know the cheese is really well combined with the other ingredients. Just need to figure out a way to make the dough come together! I wonder if melting it some in the microwave before adding the eggs would help.
Erica says
“I wonder if melting it some in the microwave before adding the eggs would help.”
Yes…just like the recipe instructs! ???? I’ve made this recipe as written, and it’s really good. The steps are there for a reason, and it’s worthwhile to follow them at least the first time. Just my opinion.
Erica says
After posting this comment, it occurred to me that I used pre-shredded whole milk mozarella, because I don’t buy part-skim. So, I cannot truthfully say that I followed the recipe exactly as written. However, as someone who experienced success with the method prescribed by Carolyn’s recipe, I do stand by the recommendation to follow it.
Annette says
Carolyn thanks
Tami says
I just made these and they are amazing. We have bagels and smoked salmon every for Christmas morning, so I tried a Keto bagel last year. This recipe is much better. The dough was very easy to work with and they came out great. Thank you! Can’t wait for Christmas.
Carolyn says
Hi Tami, thanks so much. I am delighted to have come up with a recipe you can use for your Christmas morning!
Brenda Rintisch says
Carolyn,
Made these the day they were posted. Tasted great but mine didn’t look like the photo. Mine didn’t puff up. What went wrong? What does it mean to melt mozzarella “until almost liquid?” Perhaps that was it. Guessed at the cheese by using 1/4 Cup grated cheese for each ounce as I had some cubed in the freezer. Perhaps that was it. Would like to try again after your reply.
Brenda
Carolyn says
Okay so your cheese was an issue. I specify the pre-grated kind because it has a touch of starch and that helps the bagels.
Annette Mahoney says
Carolyn I made these last night and hubby was so excited to try one with cream cheese and lox as that was one of his favorite things to eat pre keto. He didn’t even wait till they were cooled and loved every bite. We have tried other keto bagels but they taste like coconut flour only. These are a keeper and I see no need to freeze as they wont last that long. Thank you for all the work you do. I think these would be great to take on a plane trip as they are stable.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it, Annette!
Gail Virgin says
Hi Carolyn! I absolutely LOVE your site, I have your two cookbooks and am awaiting your dessert one to arrive! ???? I am usually never disappointed with your recipes….they are always spot on!
So….sadly, I made these bagels and they did not really turn out for me. They certainly have a “chewiness” to them and taste good….but did not rise very well at all and are pretty small and flat looking. I used 12 ozs of Cracker Barrell, pre-shredded, part skim, Mozzarella cheese, 71 grams of Bob’s Red Mill Coconut flour, the Xanthan gum (no where near the BB date) and non-GMO, organic, aluminum-free Baking Powder (again, no where near the BB date)! Not sure what I did wrong!? What brand of cheese do you use? I melted the cheese and it was VERY soft, but definitely not liquid. When I added the coconut flour mixture & eggs it did not incorporate all that well. I continued to kneed it on parchment paper by hand and it held together, but seemed quite dry and was very difficult to roll and stay together….even though I tried warming up a couple of the pieces in the microwave! I WANT these to be as wonderful as yours look and as many reviews indicate! Could the cheese have not been melted enough? Does the brand make a difference? Thanks for any tips you can offer! ????
Sherry Marshall says
same issue here, it never really turned to “near” liquid – I did what you did, kneeded it by hand to try to get all the ingredients together, I too put into microwave about half way through because they wouldn’t roll out anymore – couldn’t get them to stretch to the “abt 8 in” so they were smaller and didn’t rise well. So my question is about how long does it “normally” take to get the cheese to the proper consistency? I was afraid to just keep going. They tasted very good, just not large enough to treat as a bagel, ate more like a “roll”. Thank you!
Carolyn says
I can’t give you a “normal” amount of time in the microwave, since they all vary so much. But the cheese should be so melted that it’s almost pourable.
Carolyn says
Hi Gail, I used simply the 360 brand from Whole Foods. It’s so very hard to pinpoint what went wrong here. I don’t know for sure if the brand of cheese makes a difference, because with my magic mozzarella dough, I’ve used any number of brands and it works in all of them. Obviously you can see from the comments that this has worked for about 90% of people, but a few are having the same difficulties you did.
The cheese needs to be so liquidy it’s almost pourable, if that helps any? I will try these a few more times so I can pinpoint issues but so far, they’ve worked for me every time too. One final question…what brand of xanthan gum? Oh also…what are the additional ingredients in the Cracker Barrel cheese? Maybe they add something to it that’s an issue…
Amy says
How long do they last covered at room temperature?
Carolyn says
Three or four days.
Valerie says
Best bagel yet! 20 minutes and they looked great. Tried one warm- and it had a great real bread texture.
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Betsy Stokes says
Like I say above, I loved this recipe! I wonder, though, if anyone else noticed a change in texture over time when saving them in the covered container on the counter? It seems like these are best the day of baking and soon after. I am thinking of making up a batch of dough and baking them fresh when desired. Has anyone tried that? Thanks!
Carolyn says
I think that’s certainly worth a try. I would shape them and then refrigerate as the dough loses elasticity once it’s put in the fridge.