Simple and easy New York style bagels made at home
Homemade bagels are easier to make than you might think. With just a few basic ingredients and some straightforward steps, you can enjoy warm, chewy bagels straight from your own oven. They’re perfect for breakfast or a sandwich for lunch!
Why Make Homemade Bagels? And what are the advantages of making bagels at home ?
Freshness: There’s nothing like the taste and aroma of freshly baked bagels.
Control: You can customize your bagels with your favorite flavors and toppings.
Simplicity: With just a handful of ingredients, you can create bakery-quality bagels.
Easy Steps to Homemade Bagels
Basic Ingredients: All you need to start are flour, water, yeast, salt, and a touch of sugar or honey. These pantry staples are all it takes to create the perfect bagel dough.
Mixing the Dough: Combine your ingredients to form a dough. Knead until it’s smooth and elastic. This process is straightforward and can be done by hand or with a stand mixer.
Shaping the Bagels: After letting the dough rise, shape it into bagels. This involves forming a dough ball and poking a hole in the center. It’s a fun and simple process that even kids can help with!
Boiling and Baking: Boil the bagels briefly in a baking soda and honey bath to give them their signature chewy texture, then bake until golden brown.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Homemade Bagels
Use Bread Flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content, which gives bagels their chewy texture. While all-purpose flour works, bread flour is preferred for that authentic bagel feel. The heart and soul of any good bagel is the flour so I highly recommend using bread flour.
Proof Properly: Allow your dough to rise until it’s doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 20 mins to 1 hour, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. This sweet mixture of honey or sugar and yeast really helps to activate the yeast which is why it’s important not to have expired yeast. If you really want to take the proofing of the dough to the next level you can let the dough proof over night in the fridge. You can let it sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours before shaping it.
Kneading the Dough: When mixing the flour into the yeast mixture you will start see the dough come together but it will also look very shaggy and dry but don’t worry that’s completely normal. The key is to keep kneading until it transforms into a smooth, ball of dough. You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment for this part if you like.
Don’t Skip the Boil: Boiling bagels before baking is crucial. The baking soda and honey really sets the crust and gives bagels their distinctive chewiness. This helps to create that glossy, chewy crust that bagels are known for.
Shaping the Bagels: My favorite method of making perfect bagel rounds starts off with rolling each dough ball into a long strip, form a ring, and pinch the ends together. It leaves you with the best and perfect shape and pinching the ends just ensures it won’t fall apart when you boil them.
Get Creative with Toppings: Everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, spicy jalapeño and cheddar cheese, can take your homemade bagels to the next level. Apply the toppings right after boiling, so they stick well. If you really love a flavor you can even knead the seasonings or toppings into the dough.
Freezing Method: You can shape your bagels, dunk them into the baking soda + honey bath and even bake them if you plan on freezing them. I find it easy to bake them and let them cool for 2-3 hours before throwing them in a ziplock bag and into the freezer. I usually let it thaw out for 15 mins before I toast it.
Different Bagel Combinations
Everything Bagels: The famous “everything but the bagel seasonings” is honestly my favorite and it all started from a bagel flavor. It’s a blend of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried minced garlic, dried minced onion, and salt.
Blueberry Bagels: Perfect if you want a little touch of sweetness for breakfast. Toast it up and spread some butter on, it will a bagel you’ll enjoy more than you think.
Parmesan Cheese Bagels: Finely grated parmesan cheese that’s baked till perfectly. This bagel is so good after it’s been baked because the cheese gives this nutty taste and you can use this bagel for an Italian style sandwich for lunch with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto.
Whole Wheat Bagels: If you want to take this recipe up a notch and make it a little bit healthier simply just love the taste of wheat you can switch out the bread flour for whole wheat bread flour.
Sesame Seed Bagels: Toasted sesame seed bagels were always my favorite growing up, the taste of the toasty brown nutty sesame seeds always adding an extra crunch but was always bursting with so much flavor.
Jalapeño Cheddar Bagels: These ended up being my husband’s favorite, I used a mixture of Colby jack and sharp cheddar cheese along with jalapeños from my garden and it was just magical. I never thought I would hear pure silence when my husband was trying this bagel out for the first time. He literally said “we’re never going to buy a breakfast sandwich again” This bagel or any other bagel you make pairs so well with my roasted jalapeño cream cheese.
Making homemade bagels is a simple, rewarding process that yields delicious results. With minimal ingredients and easy-to-follow steps, you can create bagels that rival your favorite bakery’s. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or a beginner, homemade bagels are a great project that will fill your kitchen with the delightful smell of fresh bread and provide you with a satisfying, chewy treat
1 & 1/2 cups warm water (additionally 1/2 cup water needed for kneaded)
Baking Soda Bath
8 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp honey
Toppings:
Egg wash – 1 egg and + 1 tbsp milk whisked together
Sliced jalapeños
Shredded cheese
Everything bagel seasonings
Sesame seeds
Instructions
Dough
Into a bowl add 1 & 1/2 cups of warm water along with the yeast and sugar. Whisk until everything is dissolved. Let it sit for 5-7 mins until you see the yeast foaming.
Next add the salt and bread flour. Mix everything together until the dough starts to look a bit shaggy.
Transfer the dough onto a clean surface or a silicone mat and start kneading the dough. If the dough still looks dry after kneading it and doesn’t form together add 1 tbsp at a time from that reserved 1/2 cup water.
After the dough has been kneaded, place back in the bowl and drizzle some oil on top and cover with a tea towel or lid. Let the dough double in size which takes 30mins -1 hr.
Once the dough is doubled, divided into 8 pieces and roll out each ball. Roll out each ball into a long thick strip and wrap in a circle pinch the ends together to form a bagel shape.
Baking Soda Bath
Into a large pot bring water to a boil and add the baking soda and honey. Stir until everything is well incorporated.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400F
Add 2 bagels at a time into the baking soda bath and boil for 1 minute on each side. Remove from the bath and place on the baking sheet.
Baking
In a bowl, whisk the egg and milk until it’s well incorporated.
Brush the egg wash onto the bagels and top with your favorite toppings.
Bake for 20 – 24 mins until the bagels are golden brown and crispy on top.
Just an East/West coast girl living the southern life. I love sharing all my tested and perfected recipes here, along with some travel guides and a little bit of my lifestyle
