Bagels

I’ve been keeping sort of a LCHF diet for the past 18 months or so. No bread, rice, pasta, potatoes etc. I haven’t missed any of it. Except for the bread. I love bread and most of all I love bagels.

 

So after a year and a half I got a bad craving for bread and bagels in particular and since bagels aren’t common in grocery stores over here I decided to try baking my own.

 

I used a recipe in Swedish that I found online and it wasn’t tricky at all. A bit time consuming since you have to boil them besides baking them in the oven but tricky, no.

 

So I vowed that if they turned out ok I’d invest I something better than the old 80’s hand mixer (which almost turned red hot) I used to knead the somewhat dense dough.

 

They turned out way better than just ok so meet my new bagel buddy! I found Arty via Blocket (our Craigs List). He is very gently used by the previous owner and I have a serious crush on him. Next up baguettes! And yes, thus my bread eating days are back.

Comments

[Yoko]

You did it great! I was about to pick one through my computer display! Look so yummy!

[Messy]

Oooooo, jealous! And may I say, *that* is the way to talk yourself into treating yourself! ;-)
Have fun with your new kitchen crush. I'm sure it's going to be like it was always there...

[Jend'isère]

A well desrved kitchen Buddy! Surrounded by bakeries we could never give up fresh bread here in France! What were the effects of giving up carbs?

[Amycapdet/May]

They look delicious! I've gotten a Kenwood Chef myself a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't be happier. Congrats for your new buddy and for the yummy results :)

[Carlos]

Jend'isère - it has helped a bit with my IBS. Not completely but a little bit.

[Helen F]

Love your kichen aid. Baking is so much easier when you've got a proper machine to do the dough. I have a chrome "assistent" från elextrolux. And I can also have a great longing for bagels and I'm thinking about just eating carbs I've made myself, like your bagels.

Enjoy!

[Carlos]

Helen F - I love the idea of only eating home made carbs!

[Golla]

Oh, how I miss bagels from my years in Chicago. All the Norwegian and Danish bagels I have tried are "short", always a dissapointment. Never thought I could make them at home, but will certainly try with this recipe, thank you! Now to hunt down a bagel buddy...

[Lauren McF]

A crush on Arty or the Previos Owner? Hee Hee.

L

[Carlos]

Lauren - Actually the previous owner was gorgeous too but sadly taken:)

[jja]

What do you eat for side dish? Only vegetable?
Wow you eat like this for 18 months!? Great for you.
I eat like this for 3 weeks and have cravings and no idea what to idea already... And wow again I wish I could find shortly used KitcheAid somewhere…and then of course in white.
Would you buy another colour if the price was right?

[Claire/Just a little less]

A white Kitchen Aid - made for you :) Yummy bagels too.

[RebeccaNYC]

I also do not eat wheat (or cornsoydairysugarpotatoestomatoeseggplant..oh my) for other inflammatory reasons ...but ANYWAY I love bread (and wish I could eat it) and my husband loves to make it, but he never tried bagels. As a New Yorker, I am very impressed! Here's your niche to moving to Brooklyn, Benita! Artisanal Swedish bagels!!!!

[Carlos]

jja - I usually have avocado and cottage cheese on the side instead of carbs. And no I wouldn't buy a funky colored KitchenAid even if it came cheap :).

[Josseline Wood]

Very impressive! You often say you are not a cook but making your own bagels? You ARE a cook. They look delicious. What do you like on them? Butter, cream cheese, peanut butter? PB is my current favorite.

[Carlos]

Josseline - I love to bake but I don't like to cook. To me they are two completely differnt things :). I love my bagels with peanut butter or cream cheese!

[Jend'isère]

Agreed homemade baked goods straight of the oven are heavenly. Though bread baked twice a day makes fresh bread from boulangeries make reducing our carbs difficult in France.

[Sandy (USA)]

Coincidently I'm eating a bagel with cream cheese at my desk as I read your post (just got in to work .... shhhhh). The bagels look delish! I have that exact same one. You're gonna love that sexy thang even though I find Arty to be heavy beast.

[Catherine]

I have that exact same Kitchenaid too. Love it! I made bagels with a friend once and they turned out great. I haven't bothered to do it myself though but I just might have to after seeing these yummy pictures.

[Missy]

Will Arty live on the counter? Are you going to cover him or put him in a closet? I inherited a stand up mixer that is ugly, so I'm looking for ways to disguise it.

[Michelle of Montreal]

The extra step of boiling them in honey water is totally worth it. That's what they do with Montreal-style bagels and it's so tasty.

[Zosia]

Kitchen Aid are so expensive in Europe. You were lucky to find one gently used and a white one for that.

[Zosia]

P.S. Have you decided to drop the weekly photo round up for the rest of the year?

[Mary H]

Your bagels look delicious. I hope you treated yourself to some while you were in NYC.

[Sandy (USA)]

Oh, I forgot to ask ... just curious what exactly is that thing up against your back splash behind the mixer? I believe I have seen that laying flat on your table too and also on another european blog. Looks like it's wooden.

[Carlos]

Missy - Arty will love on the counter.

Zosia - I'll still be doing the weekly photos for myself but I might not post them all or perhaps bunch a few weeks together, havent decided yet.

Sandy - They are trivets http://www.finnishdesignshop.us/tableware-trivets-trivet-set-p-113.html

[Carlos]

Missy - How about building or buying a wooden box to go over it as a lid and painting it a color that goes with your kitchen? When you want to use it you just remove it. If building you could make it without one of the sides so you can slide it off towards you.

[Sandy (USA)]

Thanks Benita for sharing! Awesome trivets!

[june olsen]

hmmmm...they look yummy....shame about the diet, but hey....
Like the way you rewarded your efforts....arti looks great!! Have you got the receipy for those yummy bagel...I'm actually Norsk, so a Swedish link would be fine.....thamks for posting!!

[Carlos]

June - There's a link in the post!

[Dana from CT]

ooooh! Those looks so yummy. And if I skip the egg wash they would be safe for my son. I have a hand-me down Kitchen Aid mixer circa the 1970s. It weighs a TON but still works :-) And it is white!!

[M.E.]

Congratulations! Those are seriously good-looking bagels! Enjoy!!

[Emma]

Hehe, funny how kitchen aids get called into action to make things not otherwise easy to get. Ours here in New Zealand makes rye bread for my Danish husband!

[Nora]

oooh I'm jealous (neidisch even!!). what a purdy thing to have in the kitchen :)
Hi from a German in New Zealand

[Valerie]

Hahaha! You are on a slippery slope, my friend! I more-or-less gave up carbs and sweets about 9 months ago, and I know (think Christmas) if you go too far off track it is very hard to climb back on board. Giving in to a ittle temptation here and there ...ok...but too much and UH OH! :)

[Mae]

I really really want to try making these. Wow. Looks so good homemade.

Can you translate the recipe for us?

I tried Google translate for the ingredients but the instructions would be tedious to translate.

THANKS.

[Carlos]

May - Bagels are way more common in America than over here so it makes more sense to google a recipe in English than for me to translate it :).

[Robyn]

I used to buy bagels in all sorts of flavours back in the UK, but haven't seen a single one since moving to Australia more than 2 years ago. I've just got a Kenwood Major Premier for my birthday in May and bagels are SO on my list to make! And with winter on this side of the world, the timing is perfect!

[Jackie B]

Those bagels look amazing! Glad you aren't giving up on bread!

[Kelly]

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=PKffm2uI4dk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPKffm2uI4dk

Thought you & Willie might appreciate this. Their plight is an international one....

[Kathy]

If you're interested in an LCHF recipe for Bagels, check out this post for 2 different recipes: http://mariahealth.blogspot.ch/2012/05/bagels-and-why-no-wheat.html

I am insulin-resistant so I MUST eat LCHF. Since no-one has heard of LCHF here in Switzerland, I order a lot of ingredients from Amazon.com or Vitamin Shop as they ship internationally.

[Robin]

They look amazing. I make bagels for my kids and they gobble them up!

[MareePSasja]

@Robyn, I don't know where you are living in Australia but bagels have been readily available for about 20 years in most supermarkets! And they are the real boiled ones too. Plus many good bakeries sell them, decent cafes, farmers' markets often have stalls run by artisan bakers, and often they sell bagels. There are even specialty bagel stores!

[Michelle]

I'm so impressed that you made your own bagels - they look great - I might give it a go. Like you I love to bake but don't like cooking.. Enjoy..

[Libris]

Hei!

Just curious: how do you FEEL after starting to eat bread again? As far as I am concerned, my stomach does dot feel ok while sometimes earing some bread after being without it for a long time. And how about your energy levels: Did you start to eat bread in the mrnong? Nowadays I feel so hungry after a few hours if started the morning without my routine omelett : )

[Carlos]

Libris - I do feel a bit bloated and the first day my stomach was acting weird but I don't eat bread every day, just on weekends.