While reading status updates on Facebook a few weeks ago, I noticed one of my allergic friends (actually, her daughter is the allergic one) said that she had made homemade bagels. Being a foodie I did what any good foodie would do and asked how she made homemade bagels. I mean, come on, aren't bagels hard and something only true, professional bakers should try to make?
She surprised me and told me that the recipe was from one of the blogs we follow, Food Allergy Mama. First, if you've never read this blog you should, it's fabulous and full of lots of allergy-friendly bakery recipes and the pictures are amazing. Second, it was an older recipe that I hadn't seen or from before I started following her. Not only is the recipe allergy friendly it is also quite easy to make. Granted, like anything worthwhile, it does take some time to make, but once you get the process down it's only about an hour total, start to finish. Not to bad for homemade bagels if you ask me!
Here was the catch 22 for me: there was nothing remotely healthy about them other than being homemade (which ups the health quotient of any food since no preservatives or other "stuff" needs to be added). I took one look at the recipe and new I could make it healthier. And I did.
It seems to be a bit of weird thing to me- though I fully admit I am not like most people, and I happen to think it's a good thing- that we in the food allergy community are so obsessed with finding ways to eat sweets and treats. Granted, they are the hardest thing to find allergy-free and I understand that. Over processing and the industrialization of food has made it impossible to find any packaged item that doesn't contain trace amounts of at least one of the top eight allergens. So, when you are suddenly deprived of these items it makes you want them more. It's part of the psychology of food, but I digress. This obsession though leads us to wanting to eat lots of sugary unhealthy things because we can't eat them like other people to do- we have to read the labels and ingredient list with a magnifying glass and still then run the risk of having complications from the food in case some cross-contamination wasn't listed. It makes the idea of finding an allergy-free treat, even something as seemingly benign as a bagel, a luxury and indulgence. But in our unending quest to get those indulgences they become overindulgences really quickly! And for the one community that needs to make sure their health is in top notch shape at all times because we are already at a disadvantage, I wonder why we don't focus more on healthy options as the standard, and when we reinvent these recipes make them healthier in the process, too. Just some food for thought. Plus, why are we focusing so much on sharing allergy-free recipes that are sweets?
Ok, off the soap box.
I wanted to make the bagels a worthwhile treat that could actually become a really healthy breakfast. The original recipe used all-purpose flour and regular sugar. Easy fix, I switched to whole wheat pastry flour and used honey for the sugar. The result was the amazing bagels I pictured above.
I decided that I could still make them even more fiberlicious (I invented that word, you heard it here first) and full of healthy goodness so I made them in to Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat Bagels. They were so good I could not stop eating them and made them two weekends in a row. It's my new Sunday morning routine. I'm having a hard time veering from the Cinnamon Raisin bagels though, I know I should make more mixtures but I don't know if any of them can beat it.
This picture is actually of the first batch. I added about twice as many raisins the next week. So good! And extra tasty covered in my low-dairy buttery spread and with agave nectar poured on top. I know, I know, I just made them less healthy with the toppings, but give me some credit for improve the recipe so much to begin with!
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