Yum Nonsense: Air Fryer Bagel Balls

Aaaahh Bagel Balls… my go-to food of quarantine. The delightful taste has become synonymous with working from home, a delicious escape in between WebEx meetings. They’re simple to make, and they’re simply scrumptious. To the point where I make them 3-4 times a week. Creature of habit? I know what I like.

This recipe is inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks – The Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook – with a few experimental tweaks thrown in. I chose to make these guys into little balls as opposed to true bagels with holes because they just taste too good to put a hole in. But do what you will to fill your belly/cup! Improvisation encouraged.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons almond milk
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup flour (I personally like to use coconut flour because it gives a slightly sweet element to the taste)
• Optional seasonings (e.g. everything bagel)

Steps:

1. Prepare a lightly flour-dusted work surface (I like to use a big cutting board) for rolling out the dough
2. Place the oats into a food processor/blender with the baking powder and salt and blend until it becomes a fine, flour-like texture
3. In a medium bowl, mix yogurt, honey, almond milk, and 1 teaspoon of the egg whites
4. Add oat flour mixture to the bowl, stirring in until you have a crumbly mixture
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on work surface until the dough feels like Play-Doh (not super sticky), adding little bits of flour as needed to achieve this texture
6. Divide dough into 4-5 balls depending on the size you want, keeping in mind that the dough will expand and rise a bit once cooked
7. Coat the dough balls with the egg whites and seasonings of choice
8. Preheat the air fryer to 280 degrees
9. Place dough balls into the basket without overcrowding, and cook for 15-16 minutes, rotating them halfway through
10. Allow balls to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting
11. Devour these guys with your favorite toppings! Butter, schmear, mashed avocado (my recipe for this one coming soon…)

A few notes…

If you have dough left over, you can just plop it into a container and place it in the refrigerator.

I have not tried to make these in a conventional oven, but you should be able to replicate with a baking sheet and parchment paper, baking on the top rack for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Bon appetit, and stay nonsensical, friends.

Gee