2 Ingredient Bagels- No yeast!

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These easy bagels are made with just 2 ingredients- Greek yogurt and self-rising flour! Made from scratch, they have no yeast and need no mixers or kitchen gadgets to make! Easily made vegan and gluten-free. 

While I love my 3 ingredient cheese muffins, sometimes, I REALLY want a bagel. 

2 Ingredient Dough Bagels

Easy Bagel Recipe

Growing up, I’ve always been OBSESSED with bagels, especially with a generous smear of cream cheese or peanut butter.

However, fresh bagels were a rarity, as many Australian supermarkets and bakeries tend not to stock them, claiming them to be ‘too dry, too chewy, too bland’.

Um, no.

Now, with so many of us in quarantine and self-isolation, bread is something that can actually be hard to come by. 

Getting a fresh loaf of bread or some bagels tends to be hit or miss- People are stocking up on loaves and freezing them to ensure they also have some bread.

No more. 

Bagel lovers, rejoice- You CAN and WILL enjoy a homemade bagel that is 

  1. Healthier than store-bought
  2. Made with just TWO ingredients 
  3. Made with NO yeast and NO boiling
  4. No fancy kitchen gadgets, like a stand mixer, needed!

We are revisiting one of my aunts’ old Weight Watchers recipe– The famous 2 ingredient dough.

Easy homemade bagels

What is two-ingredient dough?

2 Ingredient dough is as the name suggests- a ‘bread’ dough made with self-raising (self-rising) flour and Greek yogurt.

When these two ingredients are combined together, they produce a thick and sturdy dough, that can be used for a myriad of things- bagels, pizza crusts, buns, pretzels and more!

Are 2 ingredient bagels healthier than traditional bagels? 

Two ingredient dough bagels are much healthier than traditional bagels. 

They have lower carbs and higher protein, thanks to the Greek yogurt. They also contain less sodium and less fat, but you’d never tell.

Now, as a bagel and bread connoisseur, they aren’t 100% like a traditional bagel. They aren’t as chewy, have a slightly more savory flavor, but are larger in size.

However, they 100% satisfy your bread craving AND use easy pantry and refrigerator ingredients. 

How to make 2 ingredient bagels from scratch

There are no crazy kitchen gadgets needed to make these easy bagels. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine your self-rising flour and Greek yogurt and mix very well, until fully combined and a thick ball of dough remains. 

Then, you’ll want to lightly flour a clean surface. Sprinkle some extra flour on top of the ball of dough, and transfer it to the floured surface. Lightly kneed the dough on both sides, flattening it into a circular shape. 

You’ll then divide the dough into 4 even portions. Using your hands, roll each portion of dough into a sausage-like shape. Connect both ends together, and place on a lined baking tray. Repeat until all 4 bagels are made.

Finally, you can either brush the tops with melted vegan butter, butter, egg yolk (if you aren’t vegan), before sprinkling with everything bagel seasoning (my favorite), sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or a mix of both.

Bake the bagels for 20 minutes, at 180C/350F, until golden around the edges. 

homemade bagels

2 ingredient bagels

How to make your own self rising flour

Self-raising/Self-rising flour is essential to ensure the dough rises and puffs up. 

If you don’t have any, you can easily make your own mix below.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, sift your flour until no clumps remain. Add your baking powder and salt and mix very well.

Store in a sealed container. 

Can I make 2 ingredient bagels with another flour?

As this is a simple 2-ingredient bread recipe, you cannot substitute the self-rising flour for another flour, like almond flour or coconut flour.

If you are looking for a bread recipe that is keto or paleo (grain-free), check out this 90 second English Muffin

Can I use another yogurt (e.g. plain yogurt?) 

So, I’ve experimented with several types of yogurt, and this is what does and doesn’t work

  • Full Fat Greek Yogurt– This works very well, and the dough was extremely easy to mix together. The cooked bagels looked fantastic and tasted delicious. I didn’t need to add any salt to the tops of the bagels, as the yogurt added some natural saltiness.
  • Non-Fat Greek Yogurt– Like the full-fat counterpart, non-fat Greek yogurt worked well too. I didn’t notice a difference between non-fat and full-fat so if you are watching your calories, go non-fat!
  • Greek-Style Natural Yogurt- Greek-style natural yogurt has the texture of natural yogurt, so it isn’t thick. As such, the dough was a little more difficult to form into a dough, but I got there eventually. The taste was fantastic. 
  • Plain Yogurt (not Greek)– I had difficulties using plain yogurt, as the dough became extremely sticky and hard to knead together. 
  • Dairy Free Greek Yogurt– This worked well (as pictured). I would have preferred to add around 1/4 teaspoon of salt, as the dough was a little bland. 
  • Dairy Free Plain Yogurt– It may have been the brand I used, but dairy free plain yogurt was NOT fun to work with. Even after adding extra yogurt, it just became more and more sticky. I don’t recommend it. 

Can I make these gluten-free?

YES!

I’ve used gluten-free self-rising flour, and it worked just as well as the standard all-purpose flour.

However, I have NOT tried it with a homemade gluten-free flour blend. 

Storing and freezing 2 ingredient bagels

If you are anything like me, you struggle to get through a package of bagels or a loaf of bread. As such, I recommend storing it in the fridge or freezer to enjoy later.

To store: Place cooked and cooled bagels in a ziplock bag. Bagels generally keep fresh for at least 5 days. You CAN keep them at room temperature, provided you eat them within 3 days.

To freeze: Either place bagels in ziplock bags individually or all of them together in one bigger bag. Frozen bagels will keep for 6 months.

To thaw: Allow bagels to thaw in the fridge overnight, or at room temperature. 

Tips and Tricks for PERFECT 2 ingredient bagels

  • If your flour is not smooth, sift it prior to making the bagels- it will be so much easier.
  • Use a wooden spoon to mix the dough together, before using your hands (after washing them!). Using your hands to form the ball of dough makes it incredibly easier to combine the ingredients.
  • Be sure your surface you work on is floured, as there is no risk of the dough sticking.
  • Avoid using a rolling pin to form the bagels, as they become too thin and fall apart.
  • Do not try and make circles and placing a hole in the center- this results in the holes closing up.

2 Ingredient Bagel Flavor Variations 

  • Wholewheat bagels– Use wholewheat self-rising flour. 
  • Poppyseed bagels– Fold through 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds into the dough, and top the bagels without the sesame seeds.
  • Asiago bagels– Add 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt to the dough, along with 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Top the bagels with 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese and dried mixed herbs. 
  • Cheese and garlic bagels– Add 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder into the bagel dough. Lightly sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese and coarse sea salt. 
  • Garlic and Onion bagels– Fold through 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder and 1 teaspoon of salt into the dough. Top the bagels with coarse sea salt. 

2 ingredient bagels

More foolproof bread recipes

two ingredient bagels

2 Ingredient Bagels

5 from 908 votes
Easy and foolproof 2 ingredient bagel recipe made with Greek yogurt and flour- That is it! No yeast, no boiling and no mixers needed, they can easily be made vegan and gluten-free!
Servings: 4 Bagels
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes

Ingredients 
 

  • 1 3/4 cups self rising flour Use gluten-free, if needed
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt See post for ALL tested options
  • 1 tablespoon butter of choice * See notes
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds Optional, to top
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds Optional, to top

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour and Greek yogurt and mix well, until fully combined and a ball of dough remains.
  • Lightly grease a kitchen surface with extra flour. Place the ball of dough on top, and top with a little extra flour.
  • Gently kneed the dough on both sides, flattening it out into a circular shape. Slice into 4 even pieces.
  • Use your hands to roll the dough into a thin, sausage shape. Join both ends of the dough to form a bagel shape. Place on the lined tray and repeat until 4 bagels are formed. Lightly brush the tops of each bagel with either butter, egg, milk or water. Sprinkle the seeds on top.
  • Bake the bagels for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Notes

* You can use either butter (dairy free), egg yolk, egg white, milk or even water. One of these MUST be used, otherewise, the seeds will fall off. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1BagelCalories: 227kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 12gFat: 1gSodium: 19mgPotassium: 125mgFiber: 1gVitamin A: 4IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 1mgNET CARBS: 38g
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Author: Arman Liew
Tried this recipe?Give us a shout at @thebigmansworld or tag #thebigmansworld!

Arman Liew

I’m a two time cookbook author, photographer, and writer, and passionate about creating easy and healthier recipes. I believe you don’t need to be experienced in the kitchen to make good food using simple ingredients that most importantly, taste delicious.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Wow! For this recipe I need to be in the kitchen 5
    Minutes haha.
    I need to try. If I like then I will make it very often.

  2. 5 stars
    These are great, so easy to make! Next time I might add some flavouring to the dough to make either cinnamon and raisin or garlic/onion. Thanks so much for the recipe. Do you think I could use spelt flour instead of self raising?

    1. 5 stars
      I replaced 3/4 cup of all purpose flour with spelt flour and it came out great! I’m so impressed by this recipe. They taste better than the bagels I made from scratch and they’re so much easier!

  3. 5 stars
    What a wonderful way to make bagels! I made these yesterday for the first time and they are amazing and so easy compared to my usual bagel recipes. The only change that I made was using my bread machine for the dough and it worked well. This is my best new bagel recipe, thank you!

  4. 5 stars
    Wow, I can enjoy bagels again without feeling guilty—and one bagel is quite filling, which is a bonus! I made self-rising flour using white whole wheat flour. Made the dough with nonfat Greek yogurt and skipped the seed topping due to sesame allergies, but still brushed the tops with a mix of soy milk and olive oil. I’m making another batch and freezing them for those Saturday mornings when I want to indulge but need a a quick breakfast!

  5. 5 stars
    Never made bagels before and these were so good. Glad the recipe made only four or l would have been in trouble for eating them all 😂

  6. Tried making these today and they were so easy(even for me!)and delicious
    Thank you

  7. 5 stars
    I made these today and all I have to say is try it out!!!! These are going to be my new bread go to. They remind me of a thick English muffin type bagel. I feel so good about the little ingredients and Greek yogurt. Excited to try other recipes on this blog thank you!!!

  8. 5 stars
    I stopped purchasing bagels after I tried this recipe. No fail recipe. I am NOT a baker and even I successfully made them. Will try making buns for burgers with this recipe.

  9. 5 stars
    I used oat flour, plus baking powder & salt & they worked out great! Love all the suggestion & extra tips provided.

  10. Hi Arman,
    I’m making this as I bought bread flour for bagels and then realised I had no yeast! Do you think boiling these bagels like you would traditionally w yeast bagels before baking would work?

  11. 5 stars
    Here’s my comment: “wow, wow and wow!!!” 👏🏼👏🏼
    My bagels turned out amazing 🤤 and vanished in no time! I did adjust a little bit, adding yogurt until the dough was good enough to kneed.
    Imna’ make them every day now 😉

    So happy I stumbled upon this recipe! Thank you 🙏🏼

  12. Have you tried boiling and then baking these like a traditional bagel? Would love to know if that’s possible to get that chewy inside crispy outside NY Bagel texture?

  13. I made this by using 1 cup flour and 1 cup yogurt 2 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 salt. Egg white wash on top and sprinkle Toping of your choice. 350 top rack 25 to 30 mins. They come out great. I see your recipe calls for more flour and the same amount of yogurt, I will have to try it. I will buy the self rising flour and see how it turns out.

  14. I’m excited to try this, and other, recipes. I was recently diagnosed with several food sensitivities and thought bagels, knots, naan were dead to me. I have hope now. I don’t have self rising gluten free flour, but I can easily make a mix I’m sure. The issue will be finding a dairy free Greek style yogurt as I can’t have soy, oats, or almonds … and live in a small rural town in Vermont, but I will find what I need. Thank you so much for putting these recipes together. I am so excited to try them all.

  15. I’m used to boiling a bagel first before baking to get that chew. Do these have that without the boiling step? Because this sounds amazingly simpler!

  16. 5 stars
    Love these bagels! A quick suggestion for a chewier, more bagel like texture. Bread flour, then add the baking powder and salt for self rising. You won’t regret it!

  17. No amounts were listed. well 2 cups flour, but no yogurt or what to look for as mixing in yogurt. I dont kneed (lol) all the yak, but making ingredient amounts easy to see would be nice.

  18. The link to the one brand of gluten free self raising flour brings you to one small package from one brand that IS MORE THAN $32. Can you make this with one to one gluten free flour and just add baking powder and salt?

  19. Checked out this and the pretzel recipes… but why do you keep calling them 2 ingredient recipes, then list 3+ ingredients?

  20. I would like to know if this recipe can be used to make pizza crust without adding a third ingredient.

  21. I have made these many times. They are easy and delicious. This last time, I didn’t have Greek yogurt and used regular plain. Although yes the dough was harder to work with, they still came out great!

  22. I make these gluten and dairy free. The trick is when you end up with a sticky dough from the plant based yogurt you’re gonna have to have your hands or tool coated with oil to creat a barrier but be careful to keep the oil on the outside so it doesn’t get mixed into your dough. I make my own flour mixed with brown rice flour or sorgum and tapioca and psyllium husk, whatever I have on hand at the time. Sprouted brown rice flour is my favorite. Like half a teaspoon each of baking soda and cream of tartar. But you can totally use dairy free yogurt, I’ve used cashew and almond yogurt doesn’t have to say Greek on it.

  23. I love a.l of your recipes. Have made so many things, including the knots, bagels and muffins. Tonight I didn’t feel like making bagels so I just shaped the dough into balls and voila, buns, my family loved them. My question can I make self rising flour using whole wheat flour, seems like a stupid question I know.

  24. Would really love to make this recipe, but have absolutely no access to any types of yogurt! Are there are alternatives to yogurt that I might be able to use?

  25. Mixed up a batch in my mixer with the dough hook. Sprinkled on everything bagel seasoning and these are fabulous! When the pandemic is calmed down I’m going to try some of the variations. Thanks!

  26. Despite having to “make” my Self Rising flour and using low carb peach and strawberry greek yogurt, my bagels came out OK. They even taste like bagels! Mine tasted a little bit like strawberry and peach (from the flavors in the yogurt). Though interestingly, it took forever to bake. My temperature might have been a little low initially, but it was nearly 40 minutes before they were done. Not sure exactly why so long but they came out nicely.

    1. Thank you for the feedback, David- Not sure why it took so long, it usually shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes!

  27. Arman, thank you for the recipes.
    Using cassava flour, with baking powder and salt added, I added 1 cup of coconut yogurt to 1-3/4 cups flour which only made crumbles that would not hold together. After adding enough yogurt to barely make a crumbly dough, the bagels did not rise, did not cook in the middle. My attempt was dreadful; I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

    1. Hi Doug,

      This recipe doesn’t call for Cassava flour, it calls for self-rising flour. That is where the error has occurred.

  28. A friend shared your recipe recently and I can’t wait to try it!!! I love the information included in the article before the recipe as well, it’s super useful. Thank you!

  29. Just can’t get the flour right with any of these recipes. I’ve made my own gluten free mix and also ordered the gluten free self rising flour from Amazon (which is really expensive for the small box you get). I was hoping not to use regular flour.

  30. I made these Bagels today and they are fabulous! So easy. I used my food processor with the dough hook to put the dough together and then kneaded a bit. Turned out great!

      1. 5 stars
        These are great and I wish I knew about them sooner! So quick and easy. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  31. Hi Arman, today, I am making the recipe. It’s actually in the oven and smells delightful. Thank you!

    I don’t live in an area that has vegan Greek yogurt…so I had to use what I had, Silk Almond milk Yogurt Alternative. It’s been sitting awhile, so it settled, and I used the thicker portion to make the bagels with. They held together very nicely though I should probably have made them a little smaller around. It won’t affect the taste however. 🙂

    I also used a blend of my own, added psyllum husk powder (1 tablespoon) and the mix included a mix of 2 commercial blends, some buckwheat, millet, amaranth, sweet sorghum and teff flours…I like a hearty mix, lol. Thank you kindly for this, I will be sure to keep it bookmarked for the future. Blessings!

  32. I haven’t made any of the 2 ing recipes yet, but I plan to. Any recipes that call for more than 3 ing, I’m not making 😉

  33. Arman, to make self rising dough for the 2 ingredient bagels, can I start w Almond Flour or Almond/Coconut flour mix,+ add the other ingredients to make it self rising??

      1. Bread flour works great! You have to flavor the ingredients. I added two tsp of Monkfruit sugar and 1tsp salt.