Home » Recipes » Homemade Bagel Recipe
Updated on | Published on
Posts on Clarks Condensed contain affiliate links, which I earn a small commission from. These are provided for your convenience, and the price isn't increased at all.
If you haven’t noticed yet, I absolutely love bread and baked goods. And I think my favorite baked good is a bagel. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to buy the kind from Panera or Einstein’s very often, and store-bought ones just aren’t my favorite. It’s a real dilemma, I know.
In my recent kick of making homemade bread recipes, I decided to try out bagels. I was a little intimidated, because I always felt like it was going to be so hard. Which was silly, because these are not hard at all! Yes, they required a little bit of a time commitment, but in the end, it was so worth it.
These bagels were as good, maybe even better, than any kind I’ve ever bought from a bakery. In fact, I think they taste very similar to Panera bagels. They were chewy on the outside, super soft on the inside, and had a delicious flavor to them. I don’t know if I’ll ever buy bagels again! Plus, no high fructose corn syrup makes me feel okay about giving Jack these; and let me tell you, he loves bagels, especially with peanut butter, thanks to my dad!
And in case you love your bread maker, be sure to check out my friend Brenna’s adaptation of the recipe to be used with a bread maker! We’ve teamed up together to have her create bread machine adapted recipes of my bread recipes, so be on the look out for more recipes in the future.
Homemade Bagels
Yield: 8
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
- 1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 cups white flour
- 1 1/2 cups wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/4-1/2 cup honey
- Optional Toppings:
- Egg wash
- mixture of minced onion, poppyseeds, sesame seeds, minced garlic etc.
- Oats
- Cheese
Instructions
- In a small bowl, place 1/2 cup warm water, sugar, and yeast. Do not stir and let it sit five minutes. After five minutes, stir together sugar and yeast until dissolved.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flours and salt. Create a well in the middle, and pour in the yeast/sugar mixture. Pour half of the remaining water into the well and mix. Pour in the remaining water, 1/4 cup water at a time until it is a firm, moist dough (you may not need all the water, depending on where you live. I used all of it, but it's rather dry here.)
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes on a floured surface. Use additional flour as needed.
- Lightly coat a bowl with oil and place dough ball into it. Cover with a damp dish cloth and let it rise for about an hour in a warm place, until doubled in size. After the hour, punch down, cover again, and let rise about another 10 minutes.
- Divide dough into about 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a dough round (https://allrecipes.com/howto/forming-dough-rounds/ is a great site for instructions on making the perfect dough round.)
- Gently poke a hole through the center of each dough round with your finger, expanding the hole to be about 1/3 the size of the entire round. Place on an oiled cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough rounds.
- Cover the dough rounds with a damp kitchen cloth and let rest ten minutes.
- In the mean time, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of water, with 1/4-1/2 cup honey added, to a boil.
- Lower bagels into pot of honey water using a slotted spoon. Let them boil on each side for about 45 seconds. After boiling, remove with a slotted spoon, shake a little to remove excess water, and place back on cookie sheet. Brush each bagel with egg wash, and if desired, top with toppings. I did half with the everything mixture, and then half with oats on top.
- Bake for 20 minutes, and cool on a wire cooling rack.
Katie Clark
Katie is a Colorado-native, BYU graduated, and most importantly, wife to one and mother to three beautiful boys. She is passionate about sharing her experiences with others – especially about pregnancy, breastfeeding, cooking, and crafts. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She loves spending time with her family and helping others find joy in family life.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Shelby says
These came out great! They were a little on the thick side, but I think I could have made the rings a bit thinner and spread out. I also haven’t worked much with doughs so I know my techniques need improvement, but my fiancé loved these this morning.
I’m definitely gonna try putting cinnamon sugar in these next time 😀Reply
Katie says
I appreciate you coming back and letting me know what you think! I’m so glad you enjoyed them though — the dough is tricky, and I feel like they turn out differently every time. Cinnamon sugar would be fantastic!
Reply
Diana says
Found this recipe on Pinterest and trying it out right now! Just a quick question…recipe calls for1/2 cup of honey but I only see that you use 1/4 cup in the boiling water, where does the other 1/4 cup go? And am I missing something in step one? It says after 5 minutes, sugar and yeast….am I supposed to do something here?
Reply
Katie says
I apologize! It should just be 1/4 cup honey 🙂 And for step one, it should say mix sugar and yeast until dissolved. Good luck!
Reply
Lindsey says
Approximately how much water did you boil them in? Making these right now and I’m going to top with with cinnamon and sugar! Can’t wait to try them out!
Reply
Katie says
I hope you got my email, but it should be about 4 quarts 🙂
Reply
Hey, Katie- as usual, a fabulous post! Thanks for sharing in the OBC Friday night Pin Party! Have a great week Deb@Kneaded Creations
Reply
Jessica Peters says
I am with you, I love bagels. I just worry about the chemicals in them. But I can sooo make these. Thanks for sharing. You should make a recipe on flavored cream cheeses to go with them, like Panera does!
Reply
Katie says
Let me know if you do, I think you’ll like them. I totally will make a flavored cream cheese recipe; what a great idea!
Reply
Hezzi-D says
Yum! I LOVE making homemade bagels. We usually put different toppings on all of them. Which was your favorite? Yours look for plump and delicious!
Reply
Katie says
The one with the oats was definitely my favorite. I’m excited to try out some different flavors 🙂
Reply
