Vegan Bunny Elle

A healthy, high-protein twist on the classic New York style bagels! Only 3 ingredients needed and you can make them gluten-free as well.

These tofu bagels are an instant classic! They have all the signature characteristics we all love about bagels – shiny hearty browned crust, soft and chewy inside, amazingly aromatic flavor, and of course the classic bagel shape.

And I stand firmly on if they’re not boiled, then they’re not bagels! To make the iconic New York style bagels, there are two secret ingredients you must add to the boiling water – baking soda, and barley malt syrup! The syrup might be a surprise to you but the deep, rich, and earthy barley malt syrup helps tremendously in the browning of the bagels as well as give the crust a touch of umami sweetness.

You can eat these bagels in all and any ways you like. Snack on them plain, toast them, or make a sandwich. I used vegan cream cheese, avocado, and my mung bean “eggs” recipe which provides the same satisfaction and high protein content as eggs.

Tofu Bagels 3 ingredients

A healthy, high-protein twist on the classic New York style bagels! Only 3 ingredients needed and you can make them gluten-free as well.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients Method Video

Ingredients

  

• 300 gram silken tofu
• 310 gram all purpose flour or gluten-free flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• Everything bagel mix optional

For the boiling water

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3-4 tablespoon barley malt syrup or as needed

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F;
2. In a large mixing bowl, crush the silken tofu into a fine paste;
3. Sift in the flour and baking powder, bring the dough together with your hand, keep crushing the tofu and kneading to incorporate all the ingredients;
4. You should now have a rough dough ball, it might not be very smooth at this stage and that’s ok, cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel, and let it rest for 15 minutes;
5. Once rested, uncover and transfer the dough to your work surface, knead again, it should be much softer and easy to knead now, continue to knead until the dough becomes very even, soft, but not sticky;
6. Divide the dough into four equal portions, work on one portion at a time and cover the rest;
7. Curve both of your hands like cups, cup around one dough piece, vigorously move it around your work surface while keeping it inside your hand “cup” to form a smooth ball, watch the video for better visual demonstration!
8. Then roll the ball into a rope, just long enough to wrap around your hand, flatten one end of the rope;
9. Wrap the rope around your palm, right where your fingers meet the palm, wrap the flattened end around the other end, close the two ends at the inside of your palm, then roll the ends against your working surface a few times to seal tightly;
10. Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces;
11. Bring a large pot of water to boil, then lower the heat to maintain a simmer, add in the baking soda, and stir in barley malt syrup, the amount of syrup really depends on how much water you use, you want the boiling liquid to be about the same color as strong tea but not as dark as coffee;
12. Carefully drop the bagels into the water, leave enough space between each two and boil 30 seconds per side;
13. Take the bagels out of the water, dip in any toppings you like to add, I used everything bagel;
14. Transfer to a lined baking sheet, bake for 25 minutes, rotate the baking sheet after 12 minutes;
15. Serve with your preferred fillings or spread, enjoy!

Video