Homemade Bagels

This easy and delicious Homemade Bagels recipe is chewy and perfect and will have you baking them on repeat!

Do you ever wake up and think, "I really want to bake something today"? Those are my thoughts just about every weekend. From the moment I taught myself how to bake, I've been a little obsessed with this hobby. My husband has been reaping the benefits though! Let me tell ya. Every single time I bake something that is delicious, the next day he asks, "can you make that again???" And I have to kindly remind him that I don't have a magic wand. 😉

So, on a sunny Saturday in February, I woke up and remembered that we were out of bread, and thought about what I could make as a substitute. I went through the list of things in my head and then came the idea of Homemade Bagels. I got out all the ingredients and went to work! And magic was born. Maybe I do have a magic wand, after all. 😀

How to Make Homemade Bagels

Yeast Mixture

• Warm water - it's best to use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water so that it's not too hot or too cold. I like mine around 110°. Anywhere between 105-115 should be good.
  • If the water is too hot, it could kill the yeast.
  • If too cold, the yeast could take a lot longer to activate
• Sugar or honey - You can use whichever you prefer, but we need something to feed the yeast.
• Active dry yeast

Add all the ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 10-15 minutes for it to bloom. It will activate and become foamy.

Homemade Bagels Dough

• Bread Flour - We use bread flour in this recipe because it contains more protein, which produces more gluten, and helps the Bagels achieve that chewiness. I use King Arthur Bread Flour but you can use whatever you find at your local grocery store.
• Honey
• Salt
• Warm water

Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment and knead, adding in the yeast mixture. Let the dough knead for at least 15 minutes. Then let rise for at least an hour.

How to Shape Homemade Bagels

Once the dough has risen, divide into 8 equal sized pieces. I like to use a kitchen scale to make sure I have even sized balls.

Roll each piece into a ball using your hand. Create a sort of C shape with your hand and roll (see GIF).

Once they've all been shaped into balls, using your finger, dip it in flour and then poke a hole in the center of the ball and stretch it between your fingers. See GIF below.

Place the Bagels on an oiled baking sheet and prepare the honey bath.

How to Make Honey Bath for Bagels

• 10 cups of water
• Honey

In a large pot, let honey and water come to a boil, then slowly drop the Bagels into the bath. Let sit for a minute and then flip them.

Can I Skip the Honey Bath?

No! It is so important for that outer crisp and chewiness that we know and love about Bagels! So it's so so so important to keep this step. I like to use honey, but other recipes use baking soda, brown sugar, or barley malt.

Baking

Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes.

There's no need to add an egg wash unless you're adding a topping that would be a little hard to stick. Otherwise, an egg wash is not necessary. These Bagels come out with perfect texture, color and taste!

Bagel Toppings

Anything and everything! What do you like? What do you have on hand? The options are endless. But to give you some ideas:

• Plain
• Anything But The Bagel Seasoning
• Sesame Seeds
• Cheese
• Poppy seeds
• Cinnamon

Enjoy these smothered in cream cheese! If you try out the recipe, please let me know how you like them!

If you'd like a video on how I made them, check out my Instagram, and follow along. I'll be posting more dough recipes soon.

If you'd like another breakfast idea, check out my Banana Bread recipe.

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