SLO County cottage bakery is serving up gluten-free bagels that taste like ‘the real thing’

Looking for gluten-free bagels that taste like “the real thing?”

Michael “Mike” Milch of Los Osos launched his cottage bakery business, Salty Bagel, in March 2022 with an aim of creating quality baked goods that he and his daughter, who have been diagnosed with celiac disease, could eat safely and enjoy.

“I’d been a real avid baker before the diet,” Milch said. “You go through a period of mourning about the foods and texture, smells and sensations you’ve known, but all of a sudden they’re gone, along with the ability to order off a menu, or go out to eat wherever you want. It’s jolting.”

What he missed most were bagels — genuine New York-style bagels with a soft crumb, yeasty flavor and chewy crust that pulls back when you bite.

So Milch decided to make his own gluten-free versions, experimenting for months to find an ideal blend of specialty flours and starch.

Then the home baker went pro.

What is Salty Bagel?

As the owner of Salty Bagel, Milch currently offers a variety of bagel flavors: sesame, onion, garlic, everything and salt, as well as cheddar and feta cheese-flavored versions.

His product line includes regular and miniature-sized loaves of gluten-free banana bread and delicate, streusel-topped blueberry or strawberry muffins, served in mini loaf form.

Milch sells his baked-daily products from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Morro Bay farmers market and a weekly pop-up that starts around 2 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of Avocado Shack, 2190 Main St. in Morro Bay.

Customers can also order baked goods via Salty Bagel’s website, SaltyBagelSLO.com, for delivery countywide on Tuesdays and Fridays via Harvestly, a San Luis Obispo company that connects customers to local farmers and food producers.

Pre-ordering via the website a day or two before pickup means that enthusiasts will get a discount as well as the varieties they want, because favorite flavors often sell out early.

Los Osos man, daughter diagnosed with celiac disease

After decades of worsening digestive symptoms, doctors in 2016 diagnosed Milch with celiac disease — an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and other foods.

Extensive further testing in 2017 showed Milch has Type 2 refractory celiac disease, a more complex autoimmune disorder than so-called “common celiac.”

Meanwhile, his daughter April, then 8, was diagnosed as having common celiac disease.

Treatment meant adhering to an absolutely gluten-free diet, making home cooking complicated and eating out became a minefield of risks.

Milch’s wife, Charlotte, eats a gluten-free diet “in solidarity” with her husband and daughter, Milch said, but their son Emmett, 11, does not. “He’s very good about it, but I don’t want him to be that restricted in what he eats,” his dad said.

“A few years went by,” Milch later wrote on Salty Bagel’s website, “years spent eating the sorts of awful baked goods you probably imagine when you hear the term ‘gluten-free baked goods.’”

How did SLO County cottage bakery start?

Then Milch’s life underwent some more wrenching changes. The coronavirus pandemic hit, Milch was laid off when his company downsized and his father died suddenly.

Milch needed a creative distraction from his grief over the death of his dad, New York resident Bob Milch, in June 2021.

So he revisited a former hobby — baking — that he had sidelined for the sake of his busy life as a commercial writer, husband and father of two.

“Baking was something to do with my hands,” he said. “I realized that’s how I process emotions, giving myself something creative to focus on, such as measurements and techniques. At the same time, in the corners of that process, you also think about your grief, but you can’t dwell on it.”

Making gluten-free bagels proved to be a whole lot harder than he thought it would be, he said.

The process of making a proper bagel begins by mixing ingredients and rolling the dough by hand into ring shapes.

The yeast-leavened roll is allowed to rise a bit, then boiled in a special solution to give the crust that shine and put the bounce in the bite.

Because non-wheat flours take more time to absorb liquid, the dough often requires more resting time on the bench before they’re topped and baked.

In October 2021, Michael Milch made his first gluten-free bagel.

After six months of refining his recipes, and acquiring a San Luis Obispo County license to bake professionally at home, he started selling directly to customers.

Customers can try samples

Milch seems to have found the right formula for “fresh bagels that aren’t hot garbage,” as he says on his website.

Fans say they’re hard pressed to tell the difference between regular bagels and his gluten-free ones.

For those who need a little convincing, Milch offers samples.

“If you’ve been by my booth, I’ve probably accosted you into taking one of the bagel bites I give out as samples,” Milch said. “They’re not an example of emotion lost, but of joy found.

“I’ve started calling those samples Bagel Bobs after my dad, so he can be there to experience it, too.”

“My only regret is he never got to see” the business flourish, Milch said of his dad, “and that’s not even a regret so much as a wish against time.”

For more information about Salty Bagel, go to saltybagelslo.com or follow Salty Bagel on Facebook or Instagram.