Let me show you how to make soft and chewy Keto bagels with just 6 ingredients! This easy low carb bagel recipe with Fathead dough contains only 3.4g net carbs per bagel. It is ready in 30 minutes.
Who else loves that moment when you bite into a warm, freshly baked bagel?
These Keto bagels taste very similar to traditional bagels. But, they are made with purely keto-friendly ingredients.
My favorite way to eat these almond flour bagels for breakfast is toasted and spread with butter and jam. They are smaller than regular bagels. But they are just as filling because of the nutrient-dense, high-fat ingredients.
Kelly: "These are delicious! A must-try, you won’t regret it!"
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What is Fathead Dough?
In case you are new to the keto diet, Fathead dough is an ingenious low carb dough made with shredded mozzarella and almond flour. I have made keto garlic bread with it, keto croissants and the best keto cinnamon rolls!
It is going to blow your mind because it tastes so similar to wheat dough recipes - fluffy, soft and light.
Ingredients
Let me run you through the six ingredients we need for a keto bagel recipe:
- Almond Flour: You need extra-fine almond flour. If you prefer to use ground almonds (or the coarser, regular almond flour), increase the amount as stated in the recipe card.
- Mozzarella - I used pre-shredded mozzarella. This is the slightly yellow, shredded kind you would top a pizza with. Some people find that the part-skim shredded mozzarella works better than the full-fat version. Personally, I don't see any difference between the two. It's also possible to buy a mozzarella block and shred it at home. Note: the soft, white mozzarella balls we use in salads are NOT suitable for this recipe.
- Egg - Room temperature and beaten.
- Cream Cheese - Must be full-fat. Makes the sough smooth.
- Psyllium Husk Powder - This is my secret ingredient. Psyllium makes keto bread extra fluffy, including these bagels. If you don't have psyllium husk powder, use two additional tablespoons of almond flour instead.
- Baking powder - Helps the bagels rise. Check that it is fresh. You can test this by putting some into a glass of water. It should fizz.
Instructions
Let me show you how to make keto bagels with fathead dough. Here are the basic steps. Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed method, ingredient amounts and nutrition information.
STEP 1
Melt the mozzarella and cream cheese in the microwave or in a non-stick pan over low heat. Stir until combined with a fork or spatula.
STEP 2
Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
STEP 3
Add the dry ingredients and the beaten egg to the mozzarella mixture.
STEP 4
First, combine the ingredients with a spatula. Then knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth and uniform.
STEP 5
Form a large ball and cut it into 6 segments.
STEP 6
Roll each segment into a log, lay them down in a circle and pinch the ends together to make bagel shapes.
STEP 7
Place the bagels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
STEP 8
Bake the bagels in a preheated oven on the middle shelf until golden.
Katrin's Tips
#1 The melted mozzarella is very sticky when it is hot. Just continue mixing it with a spatula and it will come together with the other ingredients to form a smooth dough.
#2 The dough should be at room temperature when you shape it. This makes it easier to handle and the bagels will retain their shape. If it is too warm it becomes soft and the bagels flatten out in the oven.
#3 To prevent the bagel dough from sticking to your hands, oil them lightly with a light live oil or walnut oil.
#4 Make the bagels tall and leave a decent-sized hole in the middle because they will spread a little during baking.
The bagels firm up as they cool down. They can be reheated in the microwave or lightly toasted.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can use a stand mixer, handheld electric mixer or a food processor to make fathead bagel dough. The only reason why I continued by hand was because I did not want to end up washing my bowl AND my mixer.
When fathead dough cools down, it becomes hard and difficult to work with. All you need to do is pop it back into the microwave to warm it up again.
They don't exactly taste like traditional bagels but come quite close - especially when they are gently warmed. They have the same chewy texture and crunchy crust. Almond flour bagels taste more like regular bagels than coconut flour bagels.
The cheeses in the dough are already salty. There is no need to add additional salt.
Some psyllium brands turn purple when baked. This does not affect the taste. I have used the Green Origins and Just Natural brands without issues. The NOW brand is also supposed to be fine.
Variations
Dairy-Free: Readers have replaced the mozzarella and the cream cheese with dairy-free substitutes and report great results. Try the “cream cheese spread” by Daiya or Kite Hill. Daiya also produces a non-dairy mozzarella shreds product. Note that I have not tried this yet myself.
Keto bagels with coconut flour: Replace the almond flour with ⅓ cup or 40 grams of coconut flour.
Nut free: Another nut-free option is to substitute the almond flour with a 50/50 blend of sesame seed flour and sunflower seed flour.
Toppings: Instead of sesame seeds or poppy seeds, sprinkle over Everything Bagel Seasoning, dried onions or nigella seeds.
Sweet bagel: Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of allulose to the bagel dough.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some ways we like to serve keto bagels. They work for breakfast, but also make a delicious lunch:
- Simple - Toasted and spread with butter
- Sweet - add sugar free nutella or sugar free strawberry jam
- Classic Scandi - smoked salmon, cream cheese, black pepper, fresh dill and lemon juice
- Lunch - Top with scrambled eggs, avocado and bacon rashers, keto tuna salad, keto chicken salad or keto egg salad. Enjoy with a crunchy green salad.
Storage
Low carb bagels stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
They also freeze well for up to 3 months. I pre-slice them and toast them straight from the freezer. Or, just take one out and defrost overnight.
More Keto Bread Recipes
I love baking keto bread and rolls. Here are some of the recipes we have on regular rotation:
- Keto Buns Recipe30 Minutes
- Almond Flour Biscuits20 Minutes
- Almond Flour Keto Bread Recipe50 Minutes
- Keto Irish Soda Bread1 Hours
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Bagels
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup / 175g shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup / 100g almond flour extra fine. Increase to 1 ¼ cup / 125g when using ground almonds.
- 1 egg large, beaten
- 4 tbsp / 50g cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- poppy / sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit.
- Melt the mozzarella and cream cheese in the microwave (60-90 seconds). Or, melt on the stovetop over low heat in a non-stick pan.
- In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients - almond flour, psyllium husk powder and baking powder.
- Add dry ingredients plus the beaten egg to the melted mozzarella mixture. Combine with a spatula, then knead with your hands until you have a smooth dough. Alternatively, mix in a stand mixer or food processor.
- Form a large dough ball and cut it into 6 segments.
- Form each segment into a log (11 centimetres long). Lay them down in a circle and pinch the ends together to make bagel shapes.
- Place the bagels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
First published in January 2019. Republished with new tips and recipe steps in 2024.
Kelly
These are delicious! A must try, you won’t regret it!
Judi
Everyone liked these. Served them warm with butter. Dressed them with sesame seeds.
Sara S
Tastes amazing! Just can’t get mine to rise at all. Any tips how to make them fluffier?
Katrin Nürnberger
Check that your baking powder is fresh. That's the problem most of the time when there's issue with rise.
Sara S
I bought a brand new baking powder, so that shouldn't be the issue. I was wondering if I can add some yeast into the recipe for it to rise a little, or would that not work?
Katrin Nürnberger
You could try and see what happens. I have never tried using yeast with fathead dough recipes. Let me know how it turns out!
Carole
Amazing. Absolutely delicious. I will be making these every week for lunch at work. Love your recipes.
Carolyn Stoker
I just made these with the following substitutions and they are fantastic! 1/2 cup coconut flour in place of almond flour. Added 1/2 tsp xanthum gum. And added 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries chopped up. Still used the Psyllium husk powder with this and they rose great and don’t taste like coconut at all.
Taynith Walker
Hi, just about to try these...thanks for sharing the recipe. Are the macro's you provide at the bottom of the page for the entire amount or per bagel?
Katrin Nürnberger
I always calculate the nutrition per portion - in this case, per bagel 🙂
Amy Smith
Absolutely amazing recipe!! I have made fathead dough before but this recipe turned out much better, had a lovely bread like crust and light and fluffy inside!! Perfect!! I am slowly making my way through your other fantastic recipes! Thanks Katrin- you’re the Queen of Keto!!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Amy, so good to hear you like what you're finding! Keep me posted and write me a review if you try anything else. 🙂
Mary
What can I use as a substitute for psyllium husk powder?
Katrin Nürnberger
You could use 1 1/2 tbsp of ground flax or double the amount of additional almond flour
Orliris
I used flax seed. Same amount. It was perfect.
Julie
They tasted great, but turned out purplish? Did I add too much psychlum powder?
Katrin Nürnberger
Oh, it's the curse of the psyllium powder. I have not quite gotten to the bottom of it. Personally, I have used three different brands and never had a problem (BonPom and Green Origins among them). I have heard that the Now brand also works fine - though recently someone reported it made their bread turn purple. I haven't tried that brand myself, but I know it's popular in the US.
I recently heard that the whole purple thing could in fact have something to do with a reaction to baking powder that contains aluminium. Could that be the case with you? Check whether your baking powder contains it, maybe that's the culprit!
Hope this helps 🙂
Tanya
re Psyllium turning food purple, I read somewhere that adding vinegar or lemon juice to the recipe helps neutralise the purple. Now I always include lemon juice with psyllium, and so far , no purple LOL
Katrin Nürnberger
That's so interesting! Thanks for the tip, this may help others who've had the purple issue.
Patricia Moffett
ah great - I'll try that next time - they taste delicious but the purple was a surprise!
Irene Tomlinson
Another brilliant recipe Katrin! Been making fathead dough a while but these were fabulous:)
Katrin
That's great news! I'm really happy you like them 🙂 Thanks for your comment!