It’s been quite some time since I last made bagels. Here’s why: they are very addictive! My all time favorite is blueberry bagels, but a very close second is everything bagels, especially with my homemade everything bagel seasoning recipe.
Related: 50+ Healthy Breakfast Recipes
What’s sort of strange about making bagels is you have to boil the dough before baking. This process creates a chewy interior crumb while the outside is browned and almost crisp.
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons (one package) active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used both black and white)
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon coarse grain sea salt
1 egg
In a bowl, combine the water and sugar and stir to dissolve. Pour in the yeast and allow this to sit for 6-8 minutes. In a larger bowl, whisk together the flour and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Once the yeast mixture has had time to activate, pour it in to the flour mixture and stir until a crumbly dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 6-7 minutes until the dough begins to become elastic-like. You can also do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into eight equal pieces. Shape into a ball and press your finger through to form the center hole.
Once you have shaped all the bagels, allow them to rest for 10 minutes or so. Now, place them into a pot of boiling water. They should float. Let them cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side, then remove to your prepared baking sheet.
Whisk the egg plus 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl and brush this over each bagel. Sprinkle on the seeds! The egg wash will help them stick as well as add a pretty brown sheen to your bagels.
Eureka! After you add the seeds bake at 425°F for 20 minutes. If you don’t eat them all in one day, store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Serve these with cream cheese at breakfast or make a bagel sandwich for lunch. 🙂 Enjoy! xo. Emma
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Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup water (warm)
- 1 ½ tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one package)
- 3 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used both black and white)
- 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 teaspoon coarse grain sea salt
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the water and sugar and stir to dissolve. Pour in the yeast and allow this to sit for 6-8 minutes. In a larger bowl, whisk together the flour and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. Once the yeast mixture has had time to activate, pour it in to the flour mixture and stir until a crumbly dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 6-7 minutes until the dough begins to become elastic-like. You can also do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into eight equal pieces. Shape into a ball and press your finger through to form the center hole. Once you have shaped all the bagels, allow them to rest for 10 minutes or so. Now, place them into a pot of boiling water. They should float. Let them cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side, then remove to your prepared baking sheet.
- Whisk the egg plus 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl and brush this over each bagel. Sprinkle on the seeds! The egg wash will help them stick as well as add a pretty brown sheen to your bagels.
- After you add the seeds bake at 425°F for 20 minutes. If you don’t eat them all in one day, store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This looks incredible!
I just made these for breakfast tomorrow, and they are completely delicious and easy! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe; I would have been incredibly intimidated to try making bagels from scratch on my own.
I made these today (sans the “everything” toppings, none of which I had, but with coarse salt) and they are seriously delish and easy if you’re willing to be patient while the dough rises.
I just made these bagels and they are HANDS DOWN the best bagels I’ve ever tasted!! Kind’ve a lot of work but 100% worth it! A bunch of people have already asked me for the recipe so I’ve sent them the link to this… hopefully you’ll get some new readers! Thanks so much!!
Oh thank you – I just returned from NYC yesterday and fell in love with bagels!!!
Have made these twice now, SUCH a good recipe. Do not substitute brown flour though, it is not nearly as good. I agree they are very addicitive, can’t wait to make the blueberry ones!
Perfect!Thank you for this basic recipe!
I never made bagels but always wanted to try and now I have the perfect recipe,thanks to you!
xoxo
There is NOTHING like homemade bagels! I don’t buy them from the store anymore. My husband tells me he wants more bagels by buying cream cheese. If I see that in the fridge, I know its time to make some more. 🙂
made these today with whole wheat flour and love them! thanks for sharing the recipe!
I just made these and WOW, these are the best bagels I have ever eaten!! And they’re vegan (soy milk instead of egg at the end)! Whoop!!
Thanks so so much for the recipe 🙂 I will make these again and again!
And btw: I just loved the cooking part so much.. First I thought how strange this is, but then I couldn’t stop giggling at these little guys floating and kinda popping up 😀
wow, I’ve just made them (just not everything, but with oatmeal on top due to lack of seeds..) and they’re perfect! better than anything I’ve ever eaten at a bagel house. finally a perfect, vegan bagel I can make at home!
and btw: I loved the cooking part so much.. I thought it was very strange, but then I giggled the whole time at how they float and kinda pop..
thank you so so much for this recipe!!
Made these last night and was so excited to wake up on this snowy NYC day and have one with my coffee. Great recipe. I didn’t have plain sesame seeds so I used wasabi sesame seeds… they add a little something.
These are SO AMAZING. I made them today and it’s seriously hard not to eat them all. The dough was pretty shaggy, so I was grateful for the help of my kitchenaid mixer this time.
Perhaps next time mine will be as gorgeous as yours! I was lazier with the forming than I should have been. The imperfections stick around instead of “rising out” like they do with bread loaves.
Wonderful stuff.
I made these a few days ago, they were wonderful! Thank you for this recipe.
omg!!, thar look amazing!
Making this right now! Mine are definitely not as shapely and will probably end up being a trial run but i am loving trying this new recipe!
I made these yesterday and they were amazing. I try to avoid eggs , so I brushed them with olive oil instead. I also tweaked the topping mix to suit what I had in my pantry: I included sesame seeds, poppy seeds, maldon salt, a bit of onion and garlic powder. My mother, who lives in Spain, without access to bagels, was so jealous of the pictures I sent her that she made some too. She loved them. Thanks again for the recipe!
I made these last night – they’re amazing. Great simple recipe and the best bagels I’ve ever had.
Made your bagels yesterday -completely loved them -thanks for the inspiration! Ate them with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Xxx
Hi Emma!
I’d never left a comment here before, but I tried these today at a meeting with friends at home, and they were completely DELICIOUS.
We had them with:
1. Low-fat cream cheese & ciboulette
2. Home-made guacamole
3. Brie & Basil
Thanks a lot for the recipe, kisses from Buenos Aires =)