Delicious, quick and easy animal-based bagel thins take just a few minutes to prep and bake. They taste amazing with jam, butter or cream cheese! Gluten-free, grain-free, keto, primal.

Making bagels doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming

Bagels definitely used to be one of my favorite breakfasts. They are so dense and filling, and paired with delicious butter or cream cheese, they are so incredibly savory. Even better in my opinion is a really big cinnamon raisin bagel with butter slathered over it. The combination of sweet from the cinnamon and raisins, and salty from the butter is such a winning blend.

It had been so long since I made any bagels that I had actually forgotten how dearly I loved them. A few years ago when I was on the keto diet, I had tried fathead dough bagels. They were great! I’m honestly not sure why I only made them a few times, but after the keto diet, I essentially forgot about them.

I recently trialed an animal-based diet (spoiler alert: I LOVE it, and will be talking more about this in a future post). Without almond flour, I wasn’t sure if making this recipe, or something similar would even be possible. I’m avoiding coconut flour for a bit, so I decided to try this recipe using ground pork rinds, and it ended up being way better than I was expecting!

The bagels are incredibly flavorful and cheesy, but can also easily be combined with cinnamon and raisin for that delicious sweet and savory kick I mentioned above. They’re honestly way more delicious and perfect in texture than I was expecting. These bagels will surely be in my regular breakfast rotation going forward.

Just a few simple ingredients can make lots of different flavor combinations!

To make these bagels, you will need the following ingredients:

Cream cheese
Mozzarella cheese, shredded is best
Eggs
Pork rinds, I like the Epic brand, which some grocery stores carry. You’ll need to blend these into a flour using a blender, food processor or mortar and pestle.
Baking powder. I have a homemade version that does not have corn starch or aluminum, for those who are sensitive.

For the optional ingredients, you could do:

Plain salt (simple and delicious!)
Everything but the bagel seasoning, if you can tolerate garlic and seeds
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds or other seeds of your choice
Cinnamon, raisins and a dash of maple syrup (my favorite!)

To make the dough, you will need to melt the cream cheese and mozzarella. The microwave is easiest in my opinion. Once the cheese is melted, stir vigorously until both cheeses have mixed together fully.

Mix in the pork rind powder and baking powder until well-incorporated. Once the mixture has cooled to the touch, add in your eggs (you don’t want them to scramble), and stir once more.

Once the mixture is fully incorporated and smooth, separate the dough into four to six evenly sized balls. Do four balls if you want really big bagels, and six balls for medium size. Roll the balls out into logs and connect the two ends to form the donut shape.

Bake in a preheated oven until the bagels are a nice golden brown. Allow them to cool to the touch before slicing in half and slathering with butter, jam or more cream cheese.

These bagels are best enjoyed warm, and can be reheated in a toaster oven. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen for up to a month and then thawed prior to consuming.

Can I use something other than pork rinds in this recipe?

Yes, chicken skin chips would also work here. Alternatively, you could make these low-carb bagels with almond flour, if you tolerate nuts.

Can these bagels be toasted?

Absolutely! They get very crispy when toasted, similar to a regular bagel. Just be aware that these do not get as fluffy as regular bagels, so you likely don’t need to toast them for very long.

If you give these animal-based bagels a try, please let me know what you think in the comments below. Also be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest so you don’t miss a recipe!