Foolproof Homemade Bagels Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
It is 100% possible to make excellent bagels at home without any unusual equipment or ingredients! Follow the step-by-step guide below; wake up to homemade bagels tomorrow 🥯🥯🥯🥯
My bagel-making experiments began earlier this summer in, of all places, the modestly equipped kitchen of a rental cabin at Lake George. We had just tasted the first good summer tomatoes, found at a farm stand in Bolton Landing, and all at once, all I wanted to eat was a good, toasted bagel, smeared with cream cheese, topped with a beefy tomato slice, sprinkled with sea salt.
I’ve longed to find/adapt/create an easy or easy-ish bagel recipe, but past summers have escaped without more than the odd experiment. It was time to take a deep or deep-ish dive.
Having had success using the peasant bread dough to make many various bread forms, I hoped it might take to the bagel format, too, but I quickly learned it would not: the peasant bread dough is way too wet (high hydration*) and my first experiments yielded flat, dense disks, edible but not acceptable.
I’ll spare you all the details, but after many experiments, I’ve learned that the process of making bagels is a real departure from the one I’m so used to. Bagels require kneading, shaping, boiling, and egg washing. But they can, I think, be easy-ish. I find these to be just that, kind of fun to make, very tasty, and perfect for my ideal breakfast this time of year. Good enough for me. I hope you approve.
How to Make Homemade Bagels
• 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. After reading a Stella Park’s article, I decided to do this in the food processor, which takes 90 seconds.
• As always, a digitial scale is essential for consistent results, but it’s even more essential here—lower hydration* doughs are less forgiving. I never weigh the water for peasant bread recipes, but I do here, and I also weigh the salt, which, in this humidity, has been feeling lighter in the measuring spoons than usual.
• To prevent the shaped dough rings from turning into pancakes upon being boiled, the dough hydration* needs to be relatively low. In other words, the dough should be relatively stiff.
• If you have the time, an overnight rise in the fridge is best.
• 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—remember, I’ve embarked on a deep-ish dive—an egg wash is a fine substitute. It does not help with crispness, but it gives the bagels the look.
• An optional but nice ingredients to use in your homemade bagels is barley malt syrup, which can be ordered online or found in specialty shops or, as one commenter shared, in beer making supply stores. Stella Parks says that in addition to providing flavor, barley malt syrup promotes “a more delicate texture in the crust, one that’s chewy and crisp rather than crunchy and hard.” I’ve had a jar on hand since reading her article, and I’ve been happy with the texture of my homemade bagels as a result, but know that you can create very good bagels at home without it. I recently learned that the chef, David Wurth, of Cross Roads in Hillsdale, who makes exceptional bagels, uses maple syrup in his boiling solution, so if you don’t feel like hunting down barley malt syrup, you don’t have to.
PS: Foolproof Homemade Bialys: A Step by Step Guide
* Hydration is not something I ever talk about here or in my book, because typically I find the concept confuses and intimidates people rather than helps. Hydration is the percentage of liquid in a dough. I mention it today only because I think the most significant difference—more than kneading, boiling, shaping—between bagels and the peasant bread (and so many breads I love) is the hydration. Bagels are low hydration; peasant bread is high. Bagels are not light and airy; they are chewy and dense. These bagels are 69% hydration (calculated by dividing the weight of the water by the weight of the flour), whereas the peasant bread dough is about 94% hydration.
How to Make Homemade Bagels: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Gather your ingredients and equipment. A digital scale and a food processor or stand mixer make this recipe nearly foolproof:
- Whisk together the water and barley malt syrup:
- Add the liquid ingredients to the flour, salt, and instant yeast, and knead for 90 seconds:
- Use greased hands to transfer it to a bowl. Coat it with a little bit of olive or grapeseed oil. On the left: just-mixed dough. On the right: dough after a night in the fridge.
- After 12 hours (or more or less) in the fridge, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
- Portion the dough into 12 pieces:
- Ball them 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.
- Prepare the water bath by boiling water with barley malt syrup or maple syrup.
- Get ready to boil:
- Boil 30 seconds a side:
- Transfer boiled bagels to a tea towel-lined sheet pan.
- Brush bagels with an egg wash:
- Dip in desired seasonings:
- Bake until golden.
Invite some friends over for brunch. Find yourself some good tomatoes; enter summer-morning breakfast nirvana.
Foolproof Homemade Bagels Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 12-14 hours
- Yield: 8-12 bagels
Description
Equipment Notes:
As noted above, I find a scale to be imperative here: I use it to weigh not only the flour but also the water, salt, and yeast.
A large sheet pan is so handy — it fits all 12 bagels at once. If you don’t have a large one, use two standard sheet pans, and bake 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. I love my 14-cup Cuisinart.
Note: Watch your food processor closely! If you make the larger amount (12 bagels), it’s a lot of dough for even a large food processor. You’ll only run the machine for 90 seconds, but it will work hard during those 90 seconds 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:
Many bread authorities swear by using high-gluten flour. This is something I have yet to try, but I imagine it would only improve the chewiness. But if you don’t feel like picking up another product, don’t hesitate to use all-purpose flour, which is what I typically use in all of the breads I bake.
Barley malt syrup is hard to find. Shops like Whole Foods Market typically sell it. I order it online. Also, as one commenter noted, beer making supply stores carry barley malt syrup.
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 8 bagels:
- 4 cups (512 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons (13 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp (4 g) instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cups (350 g) lukewarm water
- 1 teaspoon barley malt syrup, maple syrup, or honey + more for boiling
- grapeseed or olive or other neutral oil
For 12 bagels:
- 6 cups (768 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons (20 g) kosher salt, I use Diamond Crystal
- 1.5 tsp (6 g) instant yeast
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoon (530 g) lukewarm water
- 1 heaping teaspoon barley malt syrup, maple syrup, or honey + more for boiling
- grapeseed or olive or other neutral oil
For baking:
- 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water
- various toppings: everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, dukkah, etc.
Instructions
- 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.)
- With oiled hands, transfer the dough from the food processor to the bowl. The dough will feel warm and sticky. 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 with a tea towel, cloth bowl cover or plastic wrap. Transfer bowl to the fridge for 12 hours or longer.
- Place a large pot of water on to boil. When it simmers, add a big glug (about ¼ cup) barley malt syrup. Preheat an oven to 425ºF. Line two sheet pans or one large pan one with parchment paper (see notes above). Prepare the egg wash if you haven’t already. Place toppings of choice in shallow bowls.
- Remove bowl with dough from fridge. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. For perfectly even bagels, use your scale to portion the dough into 8 or 12 pieces, depending on the quantity of dough you made—if you weighed your ingredients, each dough ball should weigh about 105 to 110 g. Form each portion into a ball, using the pinky edges of your fingers to create tension. After all of the balls have been formed, dust your hands with flour and 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-liked shapes upon baking. Truly: Be aggressive with the shaping. Video guidance here.
- 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.
- 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 an extra large sheet pan (see notes), you can bake all 12 at once. If you have a smaller pan, bake 6 to 8 at one time.
- Transfer 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.
- Category: Bread
- Method: Boil & Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: bagels, everything, sesame, food processor, stand mixer
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
109 Comments on “Foolproof Homemade Bagels Recipe”
These are now my go-to bagels that I’ve made large batches of on separate occasions. They are perfect! I haven’t been able to find barley malt syrup, but have been making them with maple syrup or honey.
★★★★★
You can buy the barley malt syrup online thru iherb. Mine just came. Free shipping on $20. Always use the opportunity to purchase vanilla extract. Reasonable prices.
Such a great tip, Patti! Thanks 🙂
So nice to hear this Sarah! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
hi! Without a mixer, how long would you suggest I knead the dough by hand?
★★★★★
Hi Chloe! I think it will take about 5 minutes to get the ingredients all blended and the dough looking shiny and smooth.
Hi Ali,
I actually haven’t tried your bagel recipe yet but I plan on trying it soon. Just really like all your step by step instructions, using weights and the awesome video. Just a helpful suggestion is the
“barley malt syrup” can be found at all beer making supply stores! Usually sold in large cans or sold by the ounce. Bring a jar with you for them to fill.
Who knew! Hope this is helpful 😁
Happy bagel making!!!
Great tip, Robin! Thank you so, so much for sharing. Will add a note in the recipe now. Thanks for writing!
This is wonderful easy method! Any chance you’d do a sourdough bagel tutorial?
It’s on my list of things to try! Soon!
Ali, where can I buy the bowl cover you used in this video? Thank you jk
Hi! It’s from Dot and Army: https://www.dotandarmy.com/collections/best-sellers/products/extra-large-bowl-cover-perfect-for-breadmaking
Love it!
Ali, thank you for responding.
I will be buying this cover, jk
Wonderful!
We’ll see how this goes, but I might have messed up with the flour. I live in Japan and used what I thought was all-purpose flour, but noticed that the protein content is only around 8%. The bread flour in Japan is around 12%. There appears to be a “middle” strength flour here too around 10%. After mixing I got a very sticky / runny dough and added more flour to get closer to the consistency that I saw in the video. Haven’t baked them yet as the dough is still in the fridge. Going to be interesting to see how they come out. Going to have to try bread flour next time around.
Some of the stronger flours here are around 13 or 14%, do you think that would be too much? What % protein in the typical all-purpose flour you use?
Hi Joe!
Bummer about the flour situation! If when you are trying to shape the bagels, the rounds don’t hold their shape, you could scrap the bagel idea and just dump the dough into a large loaf pan if you have one. (9×5 inches or 10×5 inches). Let it rise till it doubles in volume or fills the pan; then bake it.
Next time, I would use one of the 12%, 13%, or 14% protein flours. Here, all-purpose flour is around 11.7% and bread flour is 12.7%.
Thank you Alexandra for the alternative baking idea. While I did end up adding a fair bit more flour to the recipe to get the right consistency, the bagels came out better than I expected. The kids still asked for the bagels every morning for breakfast, so I’d say it was a winner. The next time I’m going to be trying a bread flour and see how things turn out. Good to know on the protein ratios there. Been learning more about flour in the last week than I never knew before. Just some interesting reading for anyone that’s looking for a breakdown of flours in Japan that I’ve found useful to get my head around things. https://illmakeitmyself.net/resources/guide-to-flour/
Wonderful to hear this, Joe! And thanks so much for sharing this flour resource. So helpful for others, too!
Love this recipe along with the bialy recipe!!! Wish I could add a picture. Flavored the dough with scallions & serrano peppers. Topped some with everything seasoning, some with cheddar cheese, and some with sesame seeds. Scaled out at 105 grams and was able to make 14 bagels, a nice size for me. Thank you for the excellent directions and video.
★★★★★
Oh my goodness, scallions and serrano peppers sound amazing in combination with everything seasoning and cheddar and seeds … brilliant! Love this so much. Thanks for writing.
Hi, I have been working on bagels for a while with improving…results. Just discovered using the food processor, Hallelujah. I use a sort of “lye” I found online. Put a sheetpan of baking soda in the oven at 250degrees for an hour or more. Cool it, store in a canning jar. I add a few tablespoons to the water with the syrup. It does make them shiny and crisper. It is not supposed to be caustic, and I have had no problems with it. It is apparently distantly related to the real, and scary, lye. I saw some one add a spoon of sourdough starter before kneading, in addition to the yeast, said it would improve the flavor. Your recipe looks great, and it my next attempt.
Margaret, this is so interesting! I’m totally intrigued and will definitely try that method the next time I make these. Thanks so much for sharing this information.
I am so sorry. I forgot that when I bake the baking soda you should place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pan! Mine has lasted so long that I forgot that part. I don’t know what difference it makes, but it might clean your pan and deposit the stuff in the water when you boil it. You can also cook it for more than an hour to dehydrate it well.
Wonderful! Thanks again so much for sharing. I can’t wait to try this.
The bagel recipe is great and my bagels look and taste great, but they’re not as crusty as I think they should be.
I’m wondering what I might be doing incorrectly.
Hopefully you can help!
I look forward to your feedback!
Thanks
Chuck LaCortiglia
bceagles48@twc.com
So great to hear this, Chuck! In terms of getting a more crusty bagel, you could try simply baking them longer. Are you happy with how golden brown the bagels are? One other thought is to bake the bagels on the sheet pan but also on a preheated baking stone or Baking Steel. Do you have a baking stone?
Love the recipe. Just having trouble getting my bagels to brown up. Any suggestions.
★★★★★
Hi Sara! Questions: what type of flour are you using? Does your oven run cool? Are you doing the eggwash?
I’ve tried several bagel recipes and this is by far the best. The overnight rise is key! Alexandra makes it so easy and my hubby goes gaga for these. And he is very picky about his bagels. Thank you!
★★★★★
So great to hear this, Erin! Thanks for writing 🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯
Loved this recipe! It easy easy as promised, and a great weekend project. Listen to her about making an aggressive middle of you want the hole to be there after baking because they puff up and grow a lot.
★★★★★
So great to hear this, May! Thanks for writing 🙂
These bagels are so much fun to make–truly easy–as well as beautiful to behold and taste! I have wanted for years to make bagels but was put off by the idea of lye, and well, I guess a little fear of disappointment. I did buy some excellent flour from “Bakers Authority,” a supplier I discovered when stores of flour dwindled in the early months of the pandemic. It’s a great resource, and the particular flour I used is called Super Bagel High Gluten Flour. The bagels are so chewy and really taste like New York bagels. The video guidance offers excellent visual help: I watched it three times, especially to understand how to stretch the dough into a ring. I made a half recipe for New Year’s day breakfast, but we’ll see if there are any left by tomorrow! I do think that mixing the dough in the food processor in 2 batches might be prudent especially if you make more than 8. When toasted the crust is very crisp–whether that has to do with the barley malt syrup or the flour, I’m not sure.
★★★★★
So great to hear all of this, Mary! My mother introduced me to that flour and I have had great success with it as well here… I’ll add a note to the recipe box.Thanks so much for writing and happy New Year!
Hi Alexandra. Thanks for the great recipe and video. Have you ever tried making these by just letting them rise after making the dough and not leaving them in the fridge for 12 hours? Just curious how big of a difference there would be. Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Nicki! I have not, but I think you could. I think the overnight rise helps both the crust and crumb, but I imagine you will still get something very bagel like by skipping the overnight rise. Go for it!
I tried it with a 90 minute proof and they came out great! I’ve been needing to add a little extra water, but I’m guessing that is due to the cold weather in NY right now.
Thanks so much for the great recipe! This is the fifth recipe I’ve tried and it is by far the best! I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why all of my previous attempts tasted great but flattened like pancakes after boiling. Your explanation about the levels of hydration cleared things right up! Looking forward to trying your other recipes. Stay well!
Oh wonderful! So nice to hear this, Nicki! Great to hear the 90-minute proof worked well. And nice work adjusting with more water. I do find all of my doughs to be so much stiffer in these winter months. So interesting.