Chewy, golden, seed-crusted bagels at home? Yes. You. Can. This dough comes together in 90 seconds. Find step-by-step instructions below 🥯🥯🥯

A sheet pan filled with freshly baked bagels.

Unlike many of the bread recipes in this site’s archives, bagels are made with a low-hydration dough and, as a result, require kneading to allow the dough to come together. Moreover, due to their nature, bagels require shaping, boiling, and egg washing.

But overall, the process is simple — the dough comes together in 90 seconds — and the result — a chewy vessel perfect for cradling juicy summer tomatoes or cream cheese and lox — is well worth the effort. Find three tips for making deliciously chewy bagels at home and step-by-step instructions below.

3 Tips for Excellent Homemade Bagels

  1. Knead the dough. To get that characteristic chewiness—in other words, to ensure bagels don’t simply taste like bread shaped like bagels—the dough needs to be kneaded. You can do this in the food processor, which takes 90 seconds.
  2. Pick up a bottle of barley malt syrup. I learned from this Stella Parks article that barley malt syrup, not only provides flavor, but also promotes “a more delicate texture in the crust, one that’s chewy and crisp rather than crunchy and hard.” If you don’t feel like picking up another product, you can use honey, molasses, or maple syrup in its place.
  3. Use an egg wash. To get that nice, golden sheen during the baking, an egg wash is essential. Commercial bakers often boil their bagels in a lye solution, which promotes browning and gives the bagel crust a crispness. As lye is something I am unwilling to experiment with, an egg wash is a fine substitute.

PS: Foolproof Homemade Bialys: A Step by Step Guide

How to Make Homemade Bagels: A Step-by-Step Guide

First, whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. You can do this in the food processor or stand mixer, depending on which you are using.

A counter with bagel-making ingredients.

Whisk together the water and barley malt syrup:

A jar of barley malt syrup.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, and knead for 90 seconds:

Bagel-making ingredients in the food processor.
Bagel dough in food processor.

Use greased hands to transfer it to a bowl. Coat it with a little bit of olive or grapeseed oil. Cover the bowl with a lid and transfer to the fridge (see recipe box if you want to skip the overnight rise). On the left: just-mixed dough. On the right: dough after a night in the fridge.

Two bowls filled with rising bagel dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.

Bagel dough on counter.

Portion the dough into 12 pieces:

Bagel dough portioned into 12 pieces.

Ball them up and let them rest for 1 hour, covered with a towel or plastic wrap:

Bagel dough portions balled up.

Shape them into rings, by using your thumb to poke a hole in the center of the round, then both hands to stretch the dough out and under—don’t be afraid to be aggressive.

A board with shaped bagels.

Prepare the water bath by boiling water with barley malt syrup or maple syrup.

A jar of barley malt syrup aside resting, shaped bagels.

Get ready to boil:

Bagels ready to be boiled.

Boil 30 seconds a side:

Boiled bagels.

Transfer boiled bagels to a tea towel-lined sheet pan.

Boiled bagels on sheet pan, drying.

Brush bagels with an egg wash:

Bagels brushed with egg wash.

Dip in desired seasonings:

Bagels coated in seeds.

Bake until golden.

Just-baked bagels.
Just baked bagels all together.
Just-baked bagels on board.
Halved bagels on board.

Invite some friends over for brunch. Find yourself some good tomatoes; enter summer-morning breakfast nirvana.

Bagels + cream cheese + tomatoes + salt on a plate.
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A sheet pan filled with freshly baked bagels.

Foolproof Chewy Homemade Bagels

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Description

Chewy, golden, seed-crusted bagels at home? Yes. You. Can. This dough comes together in 90 seconds. Find step-by-step instructions below 🥯🥯🥯

Notes:

  • Ideally the dough will spend at least 12 hours in the fridge, but if you wish to skip this rise, simply increase the yeast to 2 teaspoons, use lukewarm water, and let the dough rise at room temperature until it has doubled in volume, roughly 2 to 3 hours. Then proceed with the recipe. 

Equipment Notes:

A scale is imperative to ensure you are measuring accurately. 

A large sheet pan is so handy — it allows you to bake all of the bagels at once. If you don’t have a large one, you can squish them onto a standard sheet pan or use two standard sheet pans, and bake 5 to 6 on each. 

You’ll need a spider or a slotted spoon to remove the bagels from the boiling water to a sheet pan.

A food processor or stand mixer will allow you to knead the dough quickly and powerfully.  If you are using a food processor, be sure it is at least 14-cup capacity: I love my Cuisinart.

Note: Watch your food processor closely! This is a lot of dough for even a large food processor. You’ll only run the machine for 60 to 90 seconds, but it will work hard during that time and may jump around a bit — at any sign of the blade jamming, stop the machine and remove the dough. Also, after you add the liquids to the food processor, begin the kneading immediately to prevent the liquid from escaping through the center hole.

If you don’t have a food processor or a stand mixer, knead the dough by hand briefly, using as little additional flour as possible.

Ingredient Notes:

Bread flour or high-gluten flour makes for an especially chewy bagel, but if you don’t feel like picking up another product, don’t hesitate to use all-purpose flour. I have used it many times and my bagels always turn out chewy. 

Barley malt syrup is hard to find. Shops like Whole Foods Market typically sell it. I order it online. 

For homemade everything bagel seasoning, combine:

  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds
  • 1/4 cup poppy seeds
  • 3 tablespoons dried onion flakes
  • 3 tablespoons dried garlic flakes
  • 2 tablespoons flaky sea salt

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 6 cups (768 g) bread, high-gluten, or all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons (20 g) kosher salt, I use Diamond Crystal
  • 1.5 tsp (6 g) instant yeast
  • 2 cups (454 g) water, room temperature or cold tap water
  • 1  heaping teaspoon barley malt syrup, honey, molasses, or maple syrup + more for boiling
  • grapeseed or olive or other neutral oil

For baking:

  • 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water
  • various toppings: everything bagel seasoning (see above), sesame seeds, dukkah, etc.

Instructions

  1. Make the dough: *Please read all notes above before proceeding, especially the top note about timing.* In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment (or in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook), pulse together the flour, salt and yeast (or, if using a stand mixer, stir on low). In a medium bowl, whisk together the water and the barley malt syrup. Add it to the food processor (or stand mixer) and immediately (see notes above for why) blend for 60-90 seconds, standing nearby the entire time — at any sign of the blade jamming, stop the machine. (If using a stand mixer, knead on medium speed for 90 seconds or until the dough comes together and is tacky to the touch.)
  2. With oiled hands, transfer the dough from the food processor to the bowl. The dough will feel warm and tacky. With oiled hands stretch the dough up, then down toward the center several times to form a ball. (See video for guidance.) Lightly rub some oil over the dough to coat — this will prevent a crust from forming on the dough. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap. Transfer the bowl to the fridge for 12 hours or longer.
  3. Portion the dough: Remove the bowl of dough from the fridge. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. For perfectly even bagels, use your scale to portion the dough into 10 to 12 pieces (I prefer 10). For 12 smaller bagels, each dough ball should weigh about 105 grams; for 10 slightly larger bagels, each dough ball should weigh 125 grams. Form each portion into a ball, using the pinky edges of your fingers to create tension. Place the balls on a lightly floured work surface and cover them with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Let them rest for 1 hour. 
  4. Prepare your work station: When the hour is nearly up, place a large pot of water on the stovetop to boil. When it simmers, add a big glug (about ¼ cup) barley malt syrup. Preheat your oven to 425ºF. Line two sheet pans or one large pan one with parchment paper (see notes above). Prepare the egg wash. Place toppings of choice in small, rimmed plates. 
  5. Shape the bagels: Lightly flour your hands. Use your thumb to poke a hole into the center of each dough ball. Use your hands to stretch the dough into a donut shape—don’t be afraid to really tug outward and under, almost as if you were going to turn the dough inside out, but stop before you do. Note: If you don’t pull out and under, the bagels will puff into cone-like shapes upon baking. Truly: Be aggressive with the shaping. Video guidance here.
  6. Prepare for boiling: Line a sheet pan with a tea towel. Have a stopwatch (or your phone or a clock) nearby. Drop 4 of the dough rings into the boiling water at one time. Boil 30 seconds on each side. Use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer the boiled rings to the towel-lined pan. Repeat until all of the rings have been boiled.
  7. Egg wash: Brush each ring with the egg wash. If you are using any toppings, dip the egg-washed bagels into the topping-filled bowls, then transfer to the parchment-lined sheet pan. If you are using an extra-large sheet pan (see notes), you can bake all 12 at once. If you are using a standard/smaller pan, bake 6 to 8 at a time.
  8. Transfer the pan or pans to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bagels are evenly golden all around. If you are using two pans, rotate the pans halfway through. Let bagels cool on sheet pans.
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Boil & Bake
  • Cuisine: American