These bagels come from the same nut-free baking lineup as Nut-Free Keto Bread and Nut-Free Cinnamon Roll Chaffles — all built without almond flour.
Once these Nut-Free Bagels come out of the oven and cool on a wire rack, slice one in half and the inside is tender and slightly chewy — the kind of texture that doesn’t fall apart when you pile it with toppings. The crust is golden and has enough structure that toasting a day-old bagel is genuinely worthwhile and brings it right back to fresh.
What makes these work is the combination of flax meal, sunflower seed meal, and coconut flour — three nut-free flours that together give the bagels body and a mild, slightly earthy base flavor that stays out of the way of whatever you put on top. The egg whites are beaten separately and folded in carefully at the end, which is what gives the interior its lift and keeps things from getting too dense despite the heavier flours. Make a batch on Sunday and breakfast is sorted for most of the week.
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💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- No almond flour needed: These bagels skip almond flour entirely and use a trio of nut-free flours — sunflower seed meal, flax meal, and coconut flour. If tree nuts or peanuts are a concern at your table, this recipe was built with that in mind from the start.
- The egg whites give real lift: The egg whites are beaten separately until light and fluffy, then carefully folded into the dough. That step is what gives these bagels a lighter, more open interior — without it, the dense nut-free flours would produce something far heavier.
- Season them your way: The recipe includes optional onion powder, garlic powder, and dried oregano. Half goes into the dough and the other half gets pressed into the tops before baking. Use all three, just one, or skip the seasonings entirely if you prefer to let your toppings do the work.
- Built for meal prep: One batch makes 10 bagels, which is a solid amount to work through across the week. They store at room temperature for 2–3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to one month — so a single bake session covers a lot of ground.
- Goes savory or sweet: The flavor is neutral and slightly earthy, which means these bagels work equally well under lox and cream cheese, a spread of no-sugar-added SunButter, or just a pat of butter straight from the toaster.
- Color surprises are harmless: Purple or green spots in the finished bagels are a known, harmless result of the psyllium husk or sunflower seeds reacting with the baking soda during baking. The lemon juice in the recipe helps minimize the green reaction, and the bagels are completely fine to eat regardless.
⏲ How to make this recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer in a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until light and fluffy.
To a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients, adding half of optional seasonings at this time.
In another large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, mix together remaining wet ingredients (excluding egg whites from the other mixing bowl).
Using an electric mixer with a spiraled dough attachment, add mixed wet ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients and mix until well-combined.
Slowly, with electric mixer, mix in egg whites, being careful to not overly mix egg whites, otherwise they will collapse.
Generously coat cavities of bagel pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Spoon dough mixture into individual cavities, flattening the tops slightly with a knife or your fingers. Sprinkle and gently press down remaining half of optional seasonings into dough.
Transfer pan to oven and bake until golden, about 40-50 minutes, being careful to not bake too long as the bagels will continue to firm up once they are removed from the oven as they cool.
Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing bagels from cavities and placing on a wire rack to fully cool.
Serve with desired toppings.
👉 Easy ingredient swaps
- The recipe uses ground sunflower seed meal as one of the primary flours. Sara confirmed in the comments that almond flour substitutes at a 1:1 ratio, though she hasn’t personally tested it due to her own almond allergy.
- If coconut flour is a concern, the post notes that Sara follows American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology guidance, which holds that the vast majority of tree nut allergies do not extend to coconut — so for most people, coconut flour remains an option even when avoiding tree nuts.
- The lemon juice in the wet ingredients is there for a specific reason: it helps counter the green color reaction that can occur when sunflower seeds and baking soda are heated together. Keep it in the recipe — SunButter’s own baking guidance points to lemon juice as the fix for this reaction.
- The optional seasonings — onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano — can be left out entirely if you prefer a plain bagel, or swapped for cinnamon and a sweetener if you want to go in a sweeter direction.
✨ Variations
- For a sesame bagel, press sesame seeds into the top of the dough just before it goes into the oven. The recipe lists sesame seeds as an optional topping — pressing them in slightly helps them stay on through baking.
- For an everything bagel style, use a homemade everything bagel seasoning mix pressed into the tops in place of the individual spices. Onion flakes, garlic flakes, sesame, and poppy seeds all work well here.
- For a plain, versatile bagel that works with any topping, skip all the seasonings and dress the bagels after slicing — the neutral base handles savory and sweet equally well.
〰️ How to serve
- Slice in half and serve warm with cream cheese and lox. The sturdy texture holds the toppings without going soggy.
- Spread with no-sugar-added SunButter for a nut-free topping. Since the bagels already contain sunflower seed meal, SunButter (made from sunflower seeds) is a natural pairing.
- Toast a day-old bagel at 350°F until warmed through and serve with unsalted butter or ghee — it refreshes the crust and the interior stays chewy.
- Layer cream cheese and Pickled Red Onions on top for a sharp, savory combination, or press Everything Bagel Seasoning into the dough just before baking for extra crunch on the crust.
💬 FAQs
Why did my bagels turn purple or green?
Both are normal reactions from the ingredients, and neither is a reason to discard the batch. Purple coloring comes from the psyllium husk powder — some brands cause discoloration when heated, and the intensity can vary quite a bit from one brand to the next. It tends to show up more often in yeast-leavened breads, but it can appear here too even without yeast. Green spots happen when the chlorogenic acid naturally present in sunflower seeds reacts with the baking soda as the dough heats and then cools. SunButter notes that adding lemon juice in recipes can help reduce this green reaction, which is exactly why lemon juice is included in this recipe — so don’t leave it out. Bagels with any of these color variations are completely safe and fine to eat.
Why are my bagels a different shade than the ones in the photos?
The color of your finished bagels can vary depending on which brands and types of ingredients you use. Brown flax meal produces a noticeably darker bread than golden flax meal. Different brands of psyllium husk powder can also shift the color of the finished bagel. The taste and texture won’t change — it’s purely cosmetic.
What equipment do I need to make these bagels?
You’ll need an electric mixer for two separate jobs: first to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks in a smaller bowl, and then to mix the wet and dry ingredients together using a spiraled dough attachment. You’ll also need at least two large mixing bowls (one for dry ingredients, one for the remaining wet ingredients), a separate smaller bowl for the egg whites, a bagel pan with individual cavities to hold the dough in shape while baking, and nonstick cooking spray to coat those cavities generously before filling. A hand mixer works fine — no stand mixer required.
How do I store these bagels, and can I freeze them?
At room temperature: place on a plate covered with a muslin cloth and eat within 2–3 days. In the refrigerator: store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. In the freezer: place in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. To reheat from frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight first, then warm in a toaster or a 350°F oven until heated through. One key baking note: pull the bagels from the oven before they look completely firm — they continue to set as they cool on the rack, and overbaking leads to a dry result.
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Nut-Free Bagels
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 3 egg whites
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoons 45 mL avocado oil
- ½ cup 4 oz room temperature water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Dry Ingredients:
- ¼ cup + 2 tsp, 70g psyllium husk powder
- ⅓ cup ~37g flax meal
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup 28g ground sunflower seed meal
- ¼ cup 30g coconut flour
Optional Seasonings:
- 1-2 teaspoon onion powder, divided
- 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- 1-2 teaspoon dried oregano, ground thyme, and/or dried rosemary, divided
Optional Toppings:
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- Lox
- Cream cheese, not for dairy-free or paleo
- No-Sugar-Added SunButter
- Unsalted butter or ghee
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Using an electric mixer in a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until light and fluffy.
- To a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients, adding half of optional seasonings at this time.
- In another large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, mix together remaining wet ingredients (excluding egg whites from the other mixing bowl).
- Using an electric mixer with a spiraled dough attachment, add mixed wet ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients and mix until well-combined. Slowly, with electric mixer, mix in egg whites, being careful to not overly mix egg whites, otherwise they will collapse.
- Generously coat cavities of bagel pans with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon dough mixture into individual cavities, flattening the tops slightly with a knife or your fingers. Sprinkle and gently press down remaining half of optional seasonings into dough.
- Transfer pan to oven and bake until golden, about 40-50 minutes, being careful to not bake too long as the bagels will continue to firm up once they are removed from the oven as they cool. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing bagels from cavities and placing on a wire rack to fully cool. Serve with desired toppings.
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