Easy Homemade Bagels
These homemade bagels are super easy, use just 5 main ingredients and can be made in just a couple of hours or overnight.
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer or large bowl
- 1 sheet pan
- 1 pastry brush
- 1 large pot
Ingredients
Bagel Dough
- 1 1/2 cups (12oz/360mL) water or beer for more flavor*
- 2 Tbsp (25g) granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 (1 package/7g) tsp active dry yeast or instant but skip the activating step*
- 4 1/2 cups (540g) bread flour spooned and leveled
- 1 1/2 tsp (10g) fine sea salt
Toppings
- 3-4 quarts water for boiling
- 1-2 Tbsp honey
- 1 egg white *optional
- Sesame seeds
- Everything bagel seasoning
- Poppyseeds
- Asiago cheese
Instructions
- Start by activating the active dry yeast. Combine the warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and let it rest for 10 minutes (skip if using instant yeast and just combine all the ingredients together).1 1/2 cups (12oz/360mL) water, 2 Tbsp (25g) granulated sugar, 2 1/4 (1 package/7g) tsp active dry yeast
- Once the yeast has foamed/bubbled on top a bit, add the flour and salt and use the hook attachment on the stand mixer to knead the dough just until it all comes together.4 1/2 cups (540g) bread flour, 1 1/2 tsp (10g) fine sea salt
- After a couple minutes minutes, I like to knead it by hand a little to smooth out the dough.
- Lightly grease the bowl, place the ball of dough into the bowl, cover it with a lid or plastic wrap and let it rest for 60-90 minutes in a warm place.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and split it into 8 even sections, about 4 ounces each.
- Form a round ball with each section of dough. I do this by pinching all the edges together and rolling it between my hand and the counter (see video).
- Once it's a round ball, poke a hole through the center of each ball of dough and try to stretch it out a little so it looks like a bagel shape.
- Place the bagel doughs on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper that's been lightly greased with baking spray or oil (I use an avocado oil spray so they come off the paper easily when boiling).
- After you've stretched out all the bagels and they're on the cookie sheet, go back through and stretch the hole in the center of each bagel out again because they tend to shrivel back up. I like to quickly rub the top of the bagel doughs onto the greased cookie sheet too before placing them down so the plastic wrap doesn't stick to the dough either.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let them rest for 25ish minutes at room temperature.
- About 10-15 minutes before the bagels are done resting, preheat the oven to 425F (218C).
- Fill a large pot with water and a couple of tablespoons of honey and bring it to a boil.3-4 quarts water for boiling, 1-2 Tbsp honey
- Reduce the heat to medium-high and gently place 2-3 bagels in the pot at a time. Boil each side for about 30-45 seconds, remove from the water and place back onto the cookie sheet. Repeat until all the bagels have been boiled.
- Place an egg white in a small bowl and use a fork or an egg beater to whip the egg white until it's a little foamy. Brush the surface of all the bagels with the whipped egg white.1 egg white
- Sprinkle or dip the bagels into desired toppings and place back on the cookie sheet.Sesame seeds, Everything bagel seasoning, Poppyseeds, Asiago cheese
- Bake the bagels for about 12 minutes, (turn halfway through if they're browning uneven) until they've browned nicely and feel light when you pick them up.
Notes
*if using beer, use instant yeast so you don't have to warm it up and skip the step where you activate the yeast (can also skip the sugar), simply mix all the ingredients together.
The beer will give it a distinct fermented flavor if that's what you're looking for.
Nutrition
Calories: 264kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 9gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 8mgPotassium: 78mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!