These homemade bagels have become a staple in our household! Delicious and easy, I usually double this recipe leaving us fresh bagels all week long! If you’ve never tried a freshly warm bagel straight out of the oven now is your chance and I promise once, you see how easy and tasty these are you’ll never want to buy storebought bagels again!
Inflation is real… I can no longer justify spending over $5 on a pack of bagels that never taste nearly as good and with the amount of bagels my family goes through, we’d be spending almost all our budget on just bagels alone! This is an incredibly affordable alternative you have to try we use them for of course breakfast, but also as sandwich bread for all our lunches!
In all honesty you can use either, my preference if I have it on hand, I like to use bread flour since it really does give a chewy traditional bagel texture. However, I have definitely and continue to use all purpose flour if I need to and it still makes a delicious bagel!
You definitely don’t need a stand mixer. A stand mixer makes life easier as is cuts down on time spent needed and always you to walk away for a few minutes. Bagel does is a tad dense, so I don’t let my kitchen aid stand mixer mix the dough 100% I let it go for about 5 minutes until its mostly incorporated then turn it over on a lightly floured surface to finish it off by hand until smooth.
If you don’t have a stand mixer add all the contents to a large bowl and mix with a spoon. Once its all mixed flip it over on your lightly floured surface and you’ll want to hand knead for about 15 minutes or until a smooth ball is formed.
Homemade bagels are surprisingly one of the easiest beginner bread recipe I encourage everyone to try! Nothing beats a warm, fresh and delicious bagel that's wonderful to share with all your friends and family!
Yeast needs sugar and nice warm water to activate so, combine water yeast and honey in a bowl and let the yeast bloom. This step should take about 5 minutes.
Troubleshooting: having a nice bubbly bowl of yeast is a crucial first step to achieving delicious bagels so if after 5 minutes your yeast hasn't bloomed a few things might have occurred.
– your water was too hot
– your yeast could be too old
While your yeast is activating now is a good idea to combine your dry ingredients.
Add your flour and salt to your stand mixer (if you don't have a stand mixer just use a large bowl)
Once combined add in your yeast mixture. If using a stand mixer turn in on with a dough hook and use at a low speed for about 10 minutes. If kneading by hand knead the dough for at least 15 minutes or until its smooth but stiff.
Next move your dough to a well-oiled bowl and cover it with a tea towel for an hour and a half.
Once its ready to dough will be nice and puffy and it's time to shape. Put your dough on a lightly floured surface and cut it into 8 equal pieces. Next, roll them into a smooth ball and flatten it slightly to get the shape of a bagel. Finally poke a hold in the center of the dough and stretch it out slightly.
Transfer your shaped dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover and let your bagels once more for 20 additional minutes.
Once your bagels are almost finished with their second rise now is a good time to bring your water to a boil and add in your honey.
Preheat your oven to 425° F
When your water starts to boil you'll add your bagels in 4 at a time cooking each side for 1 minute.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer your bagels back to the baking sheet
combine 1 egg white and a splash of water and use as an egg wash for the tops pf the bagels.
Place in the preheated over for 20 minutes or until tops are golden.
Transfer to a cooling rack and ejoy!
