Hey, friends!
A few weeks ago, I saw a bagel recipe on Instagram and I quickly decided I wanted to try to make them since I hadn’t before, and I love bagels. You can add fun toppings and eat them for breakfast, lunch, or a snack. If you’re wanting to bake something new or love bagels, this recipe is for you!
bagel topping ideas
If you want something more than just plain bagels, add any of these toppings to your bagels before you bake!
- Cinnamon Sugar: mix some cinnamon and brown sugar, sprinkle on the bagels, and you have a sweet and delicious bagel.
- Shredded Cheese: I haven’t personally tried this one but I’ve heard it’s delicious so maybe you’ll love it! Comment below if you like cheesy bagels. 🙂
- Everything Bagel Seasoning: I loveeee this seasoning on my bagels. You can buy the seasoning or throw together your own with this quick recipe: 2 tbs poppy seeds | 2 tbs sesame seeds | 1 tbs dried minced onion | 1 tbs dried garlic flakes | 1 tbs coarse salt – after the egg wash, dip your bagels into this seasoning and pop them in the oven!
- Chocolate Chips: adding chocalote chips literally made these taste like chocolate chip cookies. They were so good!
- Cinnamon Raisin: similar to cinnamon and sugar but with raisins. Here’s a recipe from my favorite recipe website for cinnamon raisin bagels. I’m hoping to try this one when I bake my next batch of bagels.
how to shape the bagels
Shaping bagels is easier than it looks. Poke your finger through the center of the ball of dough, then use 2 fingers to widen the hole to about 1.5 – 2 inches. That’s it! I don’t really do anything fancy and the bagels don’t need to be perfect. Mine definitely aren’t!
bagel water bath
Bagels must cook for 1 minute on each side in a pot of boiling water. This is actually the most important step in the whole recipe.
- Boiling the bagels gives the bagel its beautiful shine. But looks aren’t everything—this shine is a result of the dough’s starches gelatinizing which creates a crisp, shiny coating.
- Boiling bagels cooks the outer layer of dough, which guarantees they’ll hold their shape in the oven.
The water bath isn’t hard to do and is an essential part of this recipe, so don’t skip it. 🙂
the best homemade bagel recipe
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups warm water (between 100-110°F, 38-43°C)
- 2 and 3/4 tsp instant or active dry yeast
- 4 cups bread flour, plus more for work surface and hands
- 1 tbs granulated sugar or packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- coating the bowl: nonstick spray or 2 teaspoons olive oil
- egg wash: 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
Water Bath
- 2 quarts water
- 1/4 cup honey
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm water and yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. The dough is very stiff and will look somewhat dry.
- Knead the dough: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 6-7 minutes. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading. The dough is too heavy for the mixer to knead it.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape the bagels: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. (Just eyeball it—doesn’t need to be perfect!) Shape each piece into a ball. Press your index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole about 1.5 – 2 inches in diameter. Watch video below for a visual. Loosely cover the shaped bagels with kitchen towel and rest for a few minutes as you prepare the water bath.
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Water bath: Fill a large, wide pot with 2 quarts of water. Whisk in the honey. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high. Drop bagels in, 2-4 at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Cook the bagels for 1 minute on each side.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of each bagel. Place 4 bagels onto each lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. You want the bagels to be a dark golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow bagels to cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice, toast, top, whatever you want! Cover leftover bagels tightly and store at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
now, it’s your turn!
If you make this recipe, make sure to comment below and let me know how your bagels turned out!
What’s your favorite bagel topping? Have you made homemade bagels before?
Yum, I absolutely love bagels! I can’t wait to try these!
you’ll have to let me know what you think of the recipe! 🤍 enjoy making them!
You are so brave to try anything you want to make!!
thank you 😂 even if it doesn’t turn out haha
They were delicious
i knowww.
These bagels were SO good. I don’t have a stand mixer, so I did everything by hand and it still turned out amazing. I also (haha) forgot to do the egg wash, but it was not the end of the world. The bagels still came out nice and chewy. All part of the process. 😂 My mom and I are currently enjoying them with cream cheese and strawberry jam. Would 100% use this recipe to make these bagels again! (Just, maybe, doing all the steps next time around). 😜
10/10 would recommend!
ahh yay i’m so glad you tried them and liked them! thanks for commenting jo 🤍