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Bagels

How to Make Bagels that are perfectly chewy, golden brown, and flavorful! This homemade bagel recipe is so easy to make - plus I share tons of topping ideas and bagel tips.

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword bagels recipe, how to make bagels
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yields: 10 bagels
Recipe by Tessa Arias

Ingredients

Dough:

  • 6 cups (762 grams) bread flour
  • 1 tablespoon (9 grams) instant yeast*
  • 1 tablespoon (18 grams) fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (32 grams) barley malt syrup or brown sugar
  • 2 cups (473 grams) lukewarm water

Water bath:

  • 2 quarts (64 ounces) water
  • 2 tablespoons barley malt syrup, molasses, or brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda

Topping:

  • 1 egg white
  • Desired toppings

Directions

Prepare the dough:

  1. Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Knead on medium-low speed for about 7 to 10 minutes (or knead vigorously by hand for 10 to 15 minutes). The dough will be stiff yet tacky and hold its shape without spreading. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until puffy but not necessarily doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Shape the dough:

  1. Punch down the dough and transfer to a clean work surface and divide into ten equal pieces. Roll each piece into a tight ball. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

  2. Starting with the first ball you formed, pierce one or two fingers through the center to form a hole. Twirl the dough around your fingers to stretch out the hole to about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Repeat with remaining dough. Place all shaped bagels on two greased parchment lined half sheet pans (5 bagels on each pan).

  3. Cover and let them rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until visibly puffed but not doubled.

  4. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Prepare the water bath:

  1. In a large wide pot, combine the water, malt syrup, and baking soda. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle boil.

  2. Gently transfer bagels, two to four at a time (don't overcrowd the pot), to the boiling water. Cook the bagels for 1 to 2 minutes (2 minutes for a stronger crust and chew), gently flip them over, and continue cooking for 1 minute. Use a skimmer to remove the bagels back to the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining bagels. Beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water and brush egg wash on the smooth side of each bagel. Place your desired topping(s) in a shallow dish, and place each bagel, egg white-side down, onto the toppings to coat.

  3. Bake the two pans of bagels for 17-25 minutes, or until they reach your desired brown color and exterior crunch, rotating the pans and switching shelves halfway through. Remove the bagels from the oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes.

  4. Uncut bagels can be stored up to 48 hours in a paper bag (or loosely wrapped in parchment), then sliced and briefly toasted to serve.
  5. To freeze bagels whole, wrap each in plastic then place in an airtight container. To freeze bagels sliced, slice them and place on a baking tray in the freezer until solid. Remove to an airtight container. Toast directly from frozen.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

*If you don’t have instant yeast, you can always substitute with the same amount of active dry yeast. Simply add the active dry yeast to the warm water and let it proof for 5 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.

*To prep the dough in advance, please see the pink tip box above the recipe for more details on reducing the amount of yeast.

If you can't find barley malt syrup (which I find on Amazon or at Whole Foods), use brown sugar.