Zero Carb Almond Flour Bagel Bites

Bagel bites with zero carbs that actually… taste like bagels? Is it possible?

Well, you’re reading this recipe, so of course it’s possible!

I am not keto, so my tastebuds are extremely critical when it comes to carb-free alternatives. Considering bagels are about as high-carb as they come, I truly did not expect a keto-friendly version to taste remotely similar to actual bagels, but I am here to tell you that these bagel bites do not disappoint.

In fact, you can ask my 3-year-old taste tester, who devoured many of these bagel bites without hesitation.

My Protein Bagel Recipe is one of the most popular recipes on my blog, and I have had countless people ask me if you can use almond flour instead of regular flour to make them.

I assumed that answer was “no” for years, but after giving it a try, I can confidently say that it does indeed work. Not only do these bagel bites have a great fluffy texture, but the almond flour means that they are carb-free (okay, technically they have 0.5 grams of carbs, but it’s from fiber) AND have a little bit of extra protein too.

Each bagel bite has just 35 calories with 0g net carbs and 2g of protein. Even if you’re not following keto, these are worth making.

Ingredients and Why They Matter

My original two-ingredient protein bagels are made with flour and Greek yogurt, and they work perfectly. But when I tried swapping it for almond flour using a 1:1 substitution, the results were disappointing.

Since almond flour lacks gluten, you don’t get nearly the same fluff, so the end result is a comically tiny, calorically-dense bagel.

When I switched to cottage cheese instead of Greek yogurt (inspired by those viral cottage cheese bagels), they were slightly fluffier, but I was still stuck with disappointingly small bagels.

That’s when I realized that instead of trying to force the issue with tiny bagels, I could just form bagel bites instead! Going this route works significantly better with each bite containing just 35 calories and achieving a much better fluff than the full bagels did.

Cottage cheese creates a fluffier texture than Greek yogurt, though both work fine. The key is blending the cottage cheese first to eliminate those curds using either an immersion hand blender or regular blender.

Blended cottage cheese is a cheat code for making many high-protein sauces, like in my Creamy Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta recipe. In this case, it helps create a fluffy texture without getting any chunks of cottage cheese in the final bagel bites.

Almond flour and cottage cheese are the two main ingredients for this one, and all you’ll need in addition to those is a tiny amount of salt and sugar substitute to round out the flavor. Since almond flour has a nutty flavor to it, a small amount of sugar substitute helps to balance it out.

How to Make Zero Carb Bagel Bites

Start by blending your cottage cheese until it’s completely smooth. You can use an immersion blender or regular blender for this step.

Mix the almond flour, salt, and sweetener in a large bowl first. Then add the blended cottage cheese and mix until everything comes together into a sticky dough.

The dough will be much stickier than regular bagel dough, which is completely normal. Transfer it to parchment paper and use just a tiny dusting of flour to help manage the stickiness.

I used all of one or two grams of all-purpose flour to eliminate the stickiness. The carb impact of two grams is extremely minimal, and that tiny bit of flour goes a really long way.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces and roll each into a long rope. Don’t worry about making them perfect- since we’re cutting these up into bites, it won’t matter.

For everything bagel bites, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with seasoning. For cinnamon sugar bagel bites, flatten the rope, add the cinnamon sugar mixture inside, roll it up, then brush with an egg wash to help with browning.

Note: I simply mix sugar substitute and cinnamon together in a bowl until I have the flavor I’m chasing. I typically don’t measure how much of each I am using.

You should get about 12 bagel bites for each roll, but the exact number will depend on how long you rolled your dough out to be.

Bake at 375°F for exactly 18 minutes until they’re golden brown. Despite not having any gluten, these keto bagel bites will actually fluff up quite nicely!

These bagel bites will be ready to eat right out of the oven, but if you want to go the cinnamon sugar route, there’s one small step we have to take.

While still warm, toss them in the extra cinnamon sugar mixture you have. The residual heat helps the coating stick better along with the butter spray.

These are best served warm, but I left mine out on the counter for the entire day and enjoyed them hours later. The texture is softest when they’re slightly warm, so if you are storing leftovers for later in the week, a quick reheat in the microwave for about 10 seconds will work great, although it isn’t necessary.

I love pairing the everything version with cream cheese or the cinnamon sugar ones with almond butter for a more indulgent breakfast option. But they’re also great on their own as a quick snack!

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. Since they contain cottage cheese, don’t leave them out longer than that unless you are planning to refrigerate them.

You can also freeze these and then give them a quick reheat as needed. If you go that route, just be sure to leave the cinnamon sugar coating off the bagel bites until after you reheat them, or else the sugar will melt.

More Low-Carb Recipe Options

If you love these zero-carb bagel bites, you might want to check out some of my other keto-friendly recipes (that I promise taste great even if you aren’t keto):

Share The Love