Cauliflower Bagel BLTs

September 5, 2014

Cauliflower Bagel BLTs


Can we all agree that it's pretty hard to improve upon a BLT?
I mean, the BLT is a classic combination that just works.
Smoky bacon, sweet tomatoes, a nice crunch of lettuce, some really good bread, brought together with a little mayonnaise love.
An awesome sandwich, really.
That being said, I’m here to kick BLT into another dimension.
Ready?
First off, let me introduce you to my latest obsession. Cauliflower bagels.
BAM! There you go.

Cauliflower Bagels


Looks good, innit?
Can you believe that these bad boys are just made with cauliflower (a lot of cauliflower, actually), eggs, almond flour and coconut flour?
So easy. Super easy.
And good for you. Like they’re low carb with very few calories and zero gluten. Plus there’s a whole serving of cauliflower per bagel and a good amount of protein.

Cauliflower Bagel BLTs


What’s most surprising it’s the texture, just like bread (okay, almost like bread).
And the taste, oh so good.
You know what’s even better? That when making these bagels you don’t have to deal with thermonuclear hot cauliflower rice nor squeeze the bejesus out if it - like in all of the recipes for cauli crust I post here. None of that hassle, I promise.
This time around, you just have to mix all the ingredients in one bowl, form into shape and bake. SIK.

Cauliflower Bagel BLTs


BLT on cauliflower bagels...that’s where it gets exciting.
The classically American bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, just got healthier and tastier.
I put my own little twist on it to make it an even better sandwich and remind everybody what’s so awesome about the BLT.
Crispy bacon (not too crispy though, otherwise one bite and you lose the bacon), big slices of juicy tomatoes, crunchy lettuce, rich with mayo on a thick cauliflower bagel. It’s veggies (a lot of them) and meat in one bite.
Let me tell you guys, this is an absolutely delicious take on the BLT.
So hurry. Make yourself this great BLT. Because you deserve it.

Cauliflower Bagel BLTs


Cauliflower Bagel BLTs                                                                                                                                                                                           Print this recipe!
Cauliflower bagels inspired by Lexi’s Clean Kitchen

Ingredients
Serves 4

1 small head cauliflower, cut into small florets (should yield 3 cups of cauliflower rice)
3 tablespoons almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tablespoon coconut flour (I used Nutiva)
2 free-range organic eggs at room temperature
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of ground black pepper
Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, minced garlic or minced onion for topping

8 slices organic uncured thick cut bacon
1 large ripe tomato, sliced
4 leaves crispy leaf lettuce
4 tablespoons mayo (make your own paleo mayo with this recipe)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and place a rack in the middle.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange bacon strips about 1 ½ inches apart and bake 12 to 14 minutes until bacon is browned but not too crisp. Transfer to paper towel; cool. Halve slices and set aside.
In the meantime make the cauliflower bagels.
In a food processor rice the cauliflower florets (it should be evenly chopped but not completely pulverized).
In a large bowl combine 3 cups of cauliflower rice, eggs, almond flour, coconut flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Refrigerate the cauliflower mixture for 5 minutes - this will allow the almond flour and coconut flour to soak up some of the moisture.
Take out the fridge and give it another good stir.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease with olive oil.
Using your hands form 4 even sized buns (squeezing the mixture so it holds together) and lay onto the lined baking sheet.
Sprinkle toppings and lightly press them into the top. With the handle of a spoon/fork/knife make a big hole in the middle of each bun.
Bake in the oven for about 16 to 18 minutes, or until it reaches a bread-like consistency.
Turn on the broiler on high, and broil for further 2 to 3 minutes until the top is golden.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a rack before peeling them off the parchment paper.
Cut the cauliflower bagels in half and spread bottom with mayo. Divide the lettuce between 4 bagels. Add 2 slices of bacon, tomato and drizzle with remaining mayonnaise, then top with the other cauliflower bagel half. Secure with a cocktail stick and serve.

Nutrition facts

One cauliflower bagel BLT yields 190 calories, 14 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbs and 12 grams of protein.

59 comments:

  1. Looks absolutely delicious! I'll check it out. xo Celia

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  2. Looks amazing! So you never cook the cauliflower until you bake the formed bagels? You just use raw cauli "rice?"

    Thanks!

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  3. This looks so good, I'm lost for words...

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  4. YES!!!! You made your famous cauliflower bread-like-thingie in bagel form WITHOUT CHEESE!!!! I could hug you right now - a big virtual one! Thanks for these - These are the kind of bagels I adore - I gotta try these - might even have to throw some beet chips in with that bacon!
    How about some cauliflower cookies next? Duuuude - I think you could make a killing with a cauliflower everything cookbook!

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    1. Hmmmm...beet chips? I'm not sure about that ;)
      Btw, cauliflower cookies sound is an awesome idea. I'd better start working on that asap!

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  5. That looks delicious. I miss me a good bagel!!

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  6. You've got me on the whole not having to squeeze the cauliflower! I usually just make a BLAT salad, but sometimes you just crave something bready, and this looks delish!

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  7. These look amazing, you are the ultimate cauliflower king Mike! I agree with Shashi, you need an ebook or cookbook with all of your awesomeness. :-)

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  8. So basically I'm obessed with bagel sandwiches! They just make you feel like your eating something gourmet instead of a plain jane bread sandwich.. boring! But these... wow! Cauliflower bagel... you are a healthy genius!

    Can't wait to give this one try! Thanks Mike!

    Krista @ Joyful Healthy Eats

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    1. I don't think these bagels will live up to a NYC bagel, yet they're pretty darn tasty (and so much healthier!)

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  9. Can you freeze these bagels for use later? I live alone and would hate to lose half of them before I can get around to eating them.

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    1. I think so, but I haven't tried it. If you do it, please report back!

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  10. Alright, I am totally making these cauliflower bagels VERY VERY soon! I think I pinned them on Pinterest like 80 times thus far, LOL!

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  11. These look great! I would have never guess the buns were made with cauliflower.

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  12. I couldn't see baking powder in the method but I noticed in the ingredients list. I ended up adding with the flours etc. My bagels looked great but fell apart when I tried to cut up, we ended up eating with a spoon - very tasty!

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    1. Oh no Jenny, have you waited until they were completely cool? That's key. Still, I'm glad you found them tasty :D

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  13. Made these today for lunch. SO GOOD. I'm going to make them again and again!

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  14. I did hurry and prepared this BTL with a twist and it was..... delicious!
    Never thought something much lighter and healthier than the classic BTL can taste that good.

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  15. Hi Mike, love these, you have got to publish a cauliflower cookbook, this is amazing!

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    1. Thanks Cheri, I don't know about the cookbook though...I'll definitely think about it!

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  16. These bagel BLT's look awesome, Mike! Can I eat one with my coffee...like right now? #WolfpackEats

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  17. There he goes! He did it again! The Cauliflower Magician! I am sooo doing this, unfortunately I'm leaving on yet another trip that will keep me away from my kitchen for 12 long days. I cannot stand it.

    But once I return I am making this. it is a promise. You can nag me. You are not a nagger? Seriously? ;-)

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    1. California this time. Work related, but CA is always a ton of pleasure too, right? San Francisco and Los Angeles, with one night stop at Big Sur, which is paradise on Earth.

      I don't mind traveling, but 12 days is a bit too long... Now, if I tell you where I'm going to be at Thanksgiving I might give you a real case for envy.... Starts with a B, second letter is R, and it ends with L ;-) ;-) ;-)

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    2. Where are you heading to SallyBR? You're such a jet-setter...I do envy you, quite a bit!

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    3. You're going to Brasil...I HATE you ;)

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  18. Thanks Wendy, especially for the freezing pizza base part. I've never tried freezing it, but I'll definitely try now that I know how well it keeps.
    I'm so gonna try your mayo recipe ;)

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  19. Freezing the base flat makes for a quicker thaw. This is now my equivalent to the Friday night pizza delivery!

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  20. Just finished eating this as my lunch at work in the midst of a 12hr shift. A-mazing! Digging in so hard it was all over my face! Gonna fine tune it though as my bagel was still a bit moist. Think I may have over-riced my cauliflower just a bit.
    Thanks for the phenom recipe.

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    1. It might also have to do with the coconut flour. If it's shredded coconut it will not absorb the moisture that well, it has to be coconut flour.

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  21. Wait, did you just make a bagel out of cauliflower? Dude, does your cauliflower wizardry have no end?!?!!?

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  22. Is it 5 NET carbs per sandwich?

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  23. I tried to make these bagels twice now, but unfortunately they always had the consistency of cauliflower mash inside. Golden on the outside, mushy inside. Because they were so moist inside, it was also hard to cut them open or spread stuff on them. They tasted nice, nonetheless, but I really want to get this right.

    I'm not sure where my mistake is ... the cauliflower simply seems to be too wet but this recipe is supposed not to require draining, right? I also baked them for 40 min (no kidding), first at the indicated temperature but then turned it down a bit so that they wouldn't burn ...

    Any ideas? I've tried it with 400g of cauliflower rice, 25g (slightly more than 3 tbsp) of almond flour, 15g (slightly more than 1 tbsp) of coconut flour and the rest as indicated.

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    1. I've made a batch of cauli bagels over the weekend with this recipe and they came out perfect. I think the issue you're experiencing might be related to the coconut flour you're using.
      It has to be coconut flour and not shredded coconut or coconut flakes (sometimes they sell the latter two as coconut flour). Coconut flour is very powdery, just like wheat flour or powdered sugar, if it's even a bit flaky or crumbly, it's not coconut flour.
      If you can't find coconut flour near where you live, you can pulse shredded coconut in a blender or food processor until the texture becomes like flour.

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  24. Hey, can I substitute the coconut flour? It's not available anywhere near where I live...

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    1. Can you find shredded coconut or coconut flakes near where you live?
      If so, you can pulse them in a blender or food processor until the texture becomes like flour.

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  25. Ohhhhhhh how excited I am for this! My boyfriend loves everything bagels, but is trying to follow my lead and eat healthier...yet he is still awful speculative about my "weird" versions of food. (Cauliflower pizza crust: thats not pizza!) lol I think these just might sway him! Off to buy a bagel form! If I pull this off, ill be girlfriend of the year lmao

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  26. Definitely going to try this, thanks!!! But one question...Is the coconut flour absolutely necessary here? Or can I just use all almond flour? I like to make my own almond flour and would love to keep the recipe more "natural" if possible =)

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  27. Wow, one of the most genius recipes I've read lately. Definitely need to try these and I have most of the ingredients, yay!

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  28. This recipe looks unreal! I'm cauli crazy, too :). Do you think oat flour would suffice as a substitute for the almond flour? Thanks!!

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  29. This does sound amazing--- finally no dairy! However, I am allergic to coconut.... any options for substitutions? Do you think rice flour would work? Still would be fairly low carb....

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  30. I am not sure where I messed up, but my bagels were very VERY moist and I baked them well over 30 minutes. Would high altitude be a significant factor? I am going to try these again (I LOVE CAULIFLOWER) and add more flour to see how that goes. The ones I made today were very flat, no way could I slice them to make a BLT sandwich with them :( Any suggestions on what I should change?

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  31. Can I use the bagel for any sandwich? What's the calorie count for the bagels alone?

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  32. Can I use the bagel for any sandwich? What's the calorie count for the bagels alone?

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  33. You just changed my life. THANKS! I may be eating these every single day even without the BLT part.

    http://livingwell.lynetteradio.com/cauliflower-bagels/

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    1. That's awesome Lynette, I'm so glad you enjoyed the Cauli Bagels this much! :D

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  34. Do you happen to know if I could I use all coconut flour instead of mixing coconut and almond due to a nut allergy?

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    1. Coconut flour is particularly absorbent and sucks up a lot of moisture, especially if compared to almond flour. Try replacing the 3 tablespoons of almond flour with 1 scant tablespoon of coconut flour.
      Alternatively you can try using GF flour in lieu of almond flour.
      Hope this help :)

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  35. HI! could i use egg whites instead of eggs?

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    1. Absolutely, use 4 eggs whites instead of 2 eggs and you'll be good to go!

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