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Homemade Bagels

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Prep Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 8 bagels

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 c warm water
  • 2 3/4 tsp instant or active dry yeast
  • 4 c all-purpose flour
  • 1 TBS granulated sugar or brown sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg beaten with 1 TBS water; for egg wash

For Boiling

  • 2 quarts water
  • 1/4 c honey or sugar

Toppings

  • Shredded Cheese
  • Sliced Jalapeno
  • All-Bagel Seasoning
  • Salt & Pepper

Instructions
 

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. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or Danish dough hook.
  • Add the flour, sugar, and salt. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. The dough is very stiff and will look somewhat dry.
  • Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 6-7 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface. If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. 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.
  • 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.

Shaping 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. 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.

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.
  • Place bagels onto lined baking sheets. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of each bagel. Add any desired toppings.
  • 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.

Notes

  1. Storage: Store at room temperature in zip lock bag for a few days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
  2. Overnight Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare the dough through step 4, but allow the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature for 60-90 minutes. The slow rise gives the bagels wonderful flavor! In the morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let the dough rise for 45 minutes at room temperature. Continue with step 5. I don’t recommend shaping the bagels the night before as they may puff up too much overnight.
  3. Halve or Double: You can halve this dough recipe by simply halving all of the dough ingredients (do not halve the water or honey for the boiling step). No changes to the recipe instructions. For best taste and texture and to not overwhelm your mixer with excess heavy dough, I do not recommend doubling this dough recipe. Instead, make separate batches of dough.
Keyword bagels