I just posted a Bagel recipe the other day. My Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. And today I am posting these Homemade Sourdough Everything Bagels.
The thing is that I just found the most perfect bagel recipe!
I didn’t really find it, more like I conquered it, after so many attempts over the years.
It’s not that I was making awful bagels. They just weren’t perfect. Or up to my standards.
But not anymore!
Because I nailed it this time!
You can check out some tips about making homemade bagels on my Cinnamon Raisin Bagels post.
After I posted that recipe, I made these bagels again, in the savory version.
We enjoyed them in sandwiches, and mainly avocado toasts.
Making homemade bagels is a work of love, specially sourdough bagels.
Shape the dough into perfectly round balls.
To shape the bagels, simply cut a hole in the middle of the bagels with your thumb. Stretch the hole gently, as you roll the bagel around in your hands, making sure to stretch the dough evenly on all sides.
After letting the shaped bagels rise, brush it with milk.
Sprinkle bagels with seasoning. And you’re ready to bake.
About the seasoning for the top, I just used a bunch of stuff I had in my pantry. And you should do the same. Don’t be strict and limited, you can add anything to your bagel seasoning.
I used sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onions, dried garlic, coarse sea salt, and even some Za’atar I had in my spice cupboard. Za’atar
is a tangy spice blend you will love, once you try it.
So, these bagels were super delicious! I hope you check out my recipes, and once again, my tips for making the perfect bagels can be found right on this post.
Check out that perfect crumb!!
And these bagels kept really well for a couple of days, actually. Bagels tend to get hard and tough after a day or so, however, on the third day, I had a bagel sandwich and they were still awesome!!
Remember you can also freeze the bagels, split or whole, in a zip loc bag for up to 2 months.
If you freeze the bagels cut in half, all you have to do when it’s bagel time, is to just pop these in the toaster, and that’s it. It will feel like you just went to the best bakery in town and grabbed some fresh bagels for breakfast!
If you like baking with sourdough, here are some other recipes you can check out.
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Sourdough Everything Bagels
Ingredients
- 300 grams sourdough starter 1 1/2 cups, 10.6 oz.
- 295-350 grams warm water 90-100F (1 1/4 cup- 1 1/2 cup, 10-12 oz.)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup or honey
- 2 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (13.5 oz, 382 grams)
- 3 cups whole wheat flour (13.5 oz, 382 grams)
- To boil bagels
- 1 tablespoon baking soda for boiling bagels
Topping
- 1/4 cup milk
Everything Bagel Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried onions
- 1 teaspoon dried garlic
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt I use Maldon
- 1 teaspoon Za’atar.
Instructions
- Start by mixing the sourdough starter, 1 1/4 cup of water, vegetable oil, malt syrup, sea salt, and flours together in a bowl.
- Mixture will seem extremely stiff. That’s ok. Just make sure all the flour is getting hydrated. If necessary, pour that remaining 1/4 cup of water in, if you see too much dry flour that won’t incorporate into the dough.
- Cover bowl with a damp towel and let dough sit for 10 minutes.
- Kneading: I would recommend a stand mixer to knead this dough. Or a lot of elbow grease.
- Bagel dough should be kneaded at least 7 minutes by machine, probably double by hand. And it’s a very stiff dough, so it’s not the easiest to knead.
- It’s very important that you knead this dough properly, so the bagels will have their proper texture and gluten development.
- At the end of kneading, dough should be smooth, but still pretty stiff and dense.
- Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl.
- Cover with a damp towel.
- Let it rise in a warm place for about 4 hours.
- If your place is cold, let it rise 5 hours.
- Transfer dough to the counter.
- I split mine into 100 g (3.5 oz.) pieces, and ended up with 14 pieces.
- Turn pieces into balls by rolling them against the counter, with your hand in a cup shape.
- Use the counter to push the dough against itself and turn into a perfect round.
- There are plenty of videos on youtube that show this technique properly. Very easy, and you’ll always end up with perfectly shaped rolls, bagels.
- Now that you’ve rolled all the pieces into balls, start by making a hole in the center of each ball with your finger. Expand the center out with your hands, by rotating the bagel as you shape the hole in the middle.
- Check pics above to see how I did it.
- Then, place bagels in 2 baking mat or parchment paper lined baking sheets.
- I put 7 bagels in each baking sheet.
- Cover both trays with a damp towel. Let them sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
- Once the dough is springing back as you touch it, means your bagels are ready to go.
- Pre-heat oven to 425F.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Once water comes to a boil, add baking soda to the pot.
- Boil bagels in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
- You should boil bagels about 20 seconds on each side. I don’t like to boil them over 1 min total, or their crust might turn out too hard.
- Remove bagels with a slotted spoon after they have boiled about 20 seconds on each side.
- Place boiled bagels in a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat, and sprinkled with semolina/cornmeal, if you’d like.
- Brush bagels with milk.
Sprinkle with whatever seasoning of your preference. I used sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onions, dried garlic, coarse sea salt, and even some Za’atar I had in my spice cupboard. Za’atar is a tangy spice blend you will love, once you try it.
- I made a big batch of this seasoning to keep on my cupboard.
- I just keep it in a shaker, and shake on top of toasts and other savory goodies.
- After sprinkling your bagels with the seasoning, place trays in the oven.
- Bake for about 10 minutes. Rotate pans. Bake for another 5-15 minutes. It will really depend on your oven and what size bagels you decided to make.
- Once bagels have a deep golden color, remove them from the oven. Let them cool and enjoy them fresh. STORAGE: I like to enjoy the bagels when they are very fresh. That’s when they are the best. However, nothing wrong with leftover bagel toast in the morning. Keep bagels in an air-tight container for up to a couple of days, I wouldn’t go longer than that. You can also freeze them wrapped in foil and inside of a ziplock bag or freezer container for up to 2 months.
- For variations: For other variations, check out this Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bagels.
- For bagel topping ideas: Seeds (Sesame, poppy, flax, sunflower, fennel), cheese (asiago is a big favorite), coarse salt, spice blends.
I have no desire to make my own bagels anymore after making them every morning for years at my coffee shop! So you need to come make me these! I love sourdough!!
Thanks Patrick! Id love to share these sourdough bagels with you!
I ate so many of these bagels when I was in New York. I have to try making them myself.
Yes you totally should. so much fun making bagels from scratch!
I have never made bagels before, but if I’m ever going to do it, it will be these! Sourdough Everything sounds like the best flavor EVER!
Thanks Allison! Yes it’s my favorite bagel flavor!!
I sooooo wanna try these! Love sour dough and love bagels, this would be a perfect combo!
Yes these are my favorite bagels. Thank you!
i’ve never tried making my own bagels or making my own sourdough starter but this just might convince me to start! they look amazing
Thank you so much!! I love making my own bagels!!
Wow these bagels look PERFECT! Now I’m craving bagels!
These bagels turned out just perfect! My husband said they were one of the best things he ate from sourdough, which is a big deal 😀 Thank you so much for the recipe, definitely making a double batch soon again.
Thank you so much!! I am so happy you and your husband enjoyed the recipe!!
I want to try this with my Sourdough starter, but my kids like blueberry bagels best. If you were to add blueberries, would you use fresh blueberries in the dough at the very end of the kneading process? I don’t want to crush all the blueberries too much. I’m looking forward to making these!
Hello Alicia, I would add them at the very end of the kneading if using fresh blueberries but chances are they will melt into the batter forming a swirl. If you want the blueberries to stay whole Id use some dried blueberries which happen to be delicious too!! Thank you for writing!! Have a great day!!
Was my first attempt at making sourdough bagels – – have had good luck with sourdough bread making so far. These turned out great! Will be the new standard recipe in our household.
Omg I’m so happy to hear that!! Awesome!!!! Thank you so much for reporting back!!! 🙂
I love the sound of these! Just the other day I asked my boyfriend to make bagels with me – he LOVES bagels. Everything bagels = HIS FAVORITE – So how fitting of me to have been browsing your recipes and bio.
I used to make bagels all the time, but truthfully – never successfully made sourdough, Do you have a link or recipe for that ? I don’t know if I used to get thrown off by the measurements or if I was neglectful, but my sourdoughs never rose .
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’d love to try these!!!
Hello!! I never made a post about making my own sourdough starter, but I have successfully used a book called Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, by Emilie Raffa. It’s a precious book that really makes sourdough very simple to make!! She has a very straightforward approach, and explains really well all the steps. This is my go-to to make sourdough starter!! Hope you make your sourdough! I just love sourdough baking so much!! And also love everything bagels!! They are the best, and your comment makes me want to make them!!! 🙂
Thanks for your comment, have a lovely day!!!
If you wanted to do these over night would you let them rise at room temp for a few hours and then fridge them, or go straight into the fridge after kneading?
Hey Joe, two options here.
Number one: you can make the dough, knead it, and then place it in the fridge overnight, straight after kneading. Make sure to cover it well. And make sure to let it come to room temperature before proceeding with shaping the next day.
If you have room in your fridge I would simply make the dough, let it rise, then shape the bagels, and then place them in the fridge, in a covered tray. And then the next day all you have to do it pull them out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature before baking.
Both options would work!
Thank you for your question!
Thanks for giving weight measures for starter and water, would you be able to do the same for both flours, please? My Australian cup measure is a different size to American and I would love to give these a try! Also , what percentage hydration is your starter?
Hello there! Thanks for your comment Marion! The measurement in weight for the flour would be 382 grams each. I just updated the recipe above! Thanks for bringing it to my attention! And my starter is at 100% hydration! Have a lovely day! Happy baking!
I took a sourdough class at my high school to get some extra credits but ended up loving the whole process. I now make sourdough loaves all the time and because I live in San Francisco, conditions are perfect. I’m planning on making these tomorrow but my dad won’t eat them. If I half the recipe how long should I let it rise.
Hey there, so the rising time should be about the same. If it’s warm and humid the dough should rise faster, regardless of the size anyway. But I would count of the first rise to be about 4-5 hours, and the second one to be about 1-2 hours. The dough should look slightly puffed when done rising, and if you press it gently with your finger it should spring back.
Hello! Thank you very much for the recipe. I followed the recipe but cut in a half. I’ve got 6 bagels. They turned out absolutely perfect！ They are definitely one of my favorite bagels recipe. Thank you very much again for the sharing the recipe!
Thank you so much for your comment I am so glad you liked the recipe!!!!! Have a great day!!!
Hi Camila, I just wanted to drop in and let you know that I made these bagels for my Bread Bakers group. They turned out lovely. I, of course, gave you credit in the post and on the recipe card. The post went live this morning on my blog if you would like to see it. https://adayinthelifeonthefarm.blogspot.com/2019/09/everything-sourdough-bagels-breadbakers.html
The bagels look lovely, thank you so much Wendy!!! I appreciate it! I am happy you liked them!
Just made these with my sourdough starter and I am hooked. Will make more and share with my sisters.
yay! that is awesome! Thank you so much!!!!
Tried bagels a year ago. Result not good. Made these today, result is excellent. Have been making sourdough bread for 4 years, also excellent. The key to sourdough is the right balance of water to flour. I called the King Arthur hotline and they put me on the right track.
Oh awesome!!! I am so happy you had good results!!! I love this recipe so much!!! And King Arthur hotline is so incredible!!
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Have a lovely day!
They turned out fabulous first time!
Thank you.. do you think I could make the dough at night… rising time would be 7-8 hrs would these have a negative effect?
Thank you
Becky
You can definitely make them the day before.
You can either make the dough, place it in the fridge right after kneading, let it slow rise in the fridge and remove from the fridge, let the bagels come to room temperature for 1-2 hours, shape, proof again for another 1-2 hours (the time will depend on how warm your kitchen is), and then bake.
Another option is to make the dough, let it rise for about 4 hours, then shape the bagels, place them in the fridge, then the next day, remove them from the fridge, let them come to room temperature for about 1-2 hours, and then bake.
Let me know if you have any questions!!
Thank you!!
Hey. I am excited to try making my own homemade bagels. Yum! And your recipes look wonderful. I keep looking for your sour dough starter recipe and can’t find it. Am I overlooking it somewhere?
Thanks so much.
Hey Amy, I never got around to publishing a recipe for my sourdough starter! I even recorded videos about it to make a video too, just never got around to sitting down and editing everything and putting it together! Do you already have a starter?
Can I use all bread flour and skip the wheat?
Yes you can do that!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I tried a different recipe yesterday and they are chewy and have a good flavor, but never really rose like they should’ve. Can’t wait to try again, appreciate the tips you provided!
Awesome thank you! I hope you like it!
Made these today and they turned out awesome! I substituted 1cup bread flour cause I ran out of whole wheat but worked.
I’d post a pic but these came out really good. Ate ‘em with smoked salmon cream cheese capers onions and lettuce.
Thanks for the recipe.
That sounds absolutely delicious! I am so happy you liked the recipe! Thank you Kim! Have a great day!
can i use olive oil instead of vegetable?
for sure! That’s what I use nowadays!
I’ve accidentally put in bread flour instead of all purpose… is all lost?
Not at all!! They will be great!!!
These bagels are so good! This was my first time making bagels. I’m used to baking with sourdough, so the recipe wasn’t as hard as I had imagined it would be for bagels. This was a project that I had put off doing for many years. Living outside the USA; my husband often mentioned the bagels that he missed. I decided to finally make bagels but they had to be with sourdough. Your recipe is the first and the only one that I have tried. They turned out great thanks to your recipe! My husband said, ” stick to this one and don’t change a thing”! I am so pleased 🙂
That’s such a lovely feedback, thank you so much Melanee!!! I really appreciate it! 🙂
I just pulled these out of the oven and they look awesome! Can’t wait to slice one open and try it. Thank you for sharing the recipe! Wish I could share a photo 😊
Yay!!! that’s awesome to hear Michelle!!! Wish I could see a photo!! If you have instagram pls share with me there! 🙂 enjoy the bagels!!
Instead of leaving them out for four hours, is it too much to let sit overnight? I prefer to start my sourdough recipes before bed and finish in the morning.
I guess if your place is cold that might be fine, I’ve never experimented with leaving it out for that long so I don’t know. You could place it in the fridge overnight and then the next morning, you’d take it out, let it come to room temperature before shaping the bagels, but then you also have the rising time for the bagels after that. You could make everything the day before up to shaping the bagels, then place the shaped bagels in the fridge, and wake up the next morning and just remove the bagels from the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, boil them and bake. Hope this helps!
This is the BEST bagel recipe I’ve tried so far! They look great and taste even better! Thanks for helping me level up my sourdough bagel game!
Yayyy!! I’m so happy to hear that!!! Thank you!!!
I’ve been baking sourdough bread but not bagels. I’m glad I tried your recipe. The bagels turned out great and tasted delicious. I tweaked it a little bit. I didn’t have AP flour so I used 2 cups of bread flour and 4 cups of WW flour. I added more water to get the right dough consistency as well. Lastly, I cooked it a bit longer to get the golden brown colour. As you said, all ovens are different. Next time, I’ll try your cinnamon raisin bagels. Thanks for sharing your recipe🙂
Thank you so much for your feedback, Grace! Sounds like your bagels turned out amazing!! Hope you have a wonderful night!
I just made these for the second time and they turned out so well again! I love this recipe, I will definitely be making them again. I added everything bagel seasoning into the dough as well, just for a bit extra. I would recommend this recipe for sure!!
Yay! Thanks Jacky!! Much appreciated!! 🙂
I don’t know the math, but I think the total time for the recipe is definitely over 1 hour 10 minutes. The total time listed in the beginning of the recipe does not account for all the rest/rising time of the dough which is what I typically see. That being said, I’m looking forward to trying a bagel tomorrow after it rests for another 3 hours.
Ooops! I should adjust that! Thank you!
I made these bagels last night and they are wonderfully delicious! The dough was actually much easier to knead than other bagel recipes I’ve tried before. Love the taste with the slight hint of sweetness. I didn’t have bart marley syrup or honey, so I used molasses instead. Still turned out so, so good!
That sounds lovely! Thank you so much Kieu! And sounds like a nice substitution with the molasses! Great stuff! 🙂
These bagels came out SO PERFECT. I have made a lot of different bagel recipes but this one is by far the best. They are addicting and I just ate two after dinner. Thank you thank you thank you!
That’s awesome to hear! Thank you so much!!! 🙂
Just tried this recipe today – so good! This is the first time a bread recipe has actually turned out the way it said it would throughout the various stages! My all purpose white starter was at its prime (fed it in the morning and it double by noon) when I used it and once I mixed and kneaded everything I let the dough rise in the oven (turned off of course) and it was about 4-5 hours. I did forget to flour my baking pan and put parchment paper so my bagels got stuck to the bottom but that was my own fault. Honestly a great recipe to follow!
Yay thank you for this awesome review!! 🙂
Can I use all AP flour? Excited to try these! Noted the wheat has a nice nutty flavor, I just have a lot of AP flour I need to go through! These look delicious, cannot wait to try!
Yes you absolutely can 👍
Really good recipe, I followed it steps by steps and my sourdough bagels are amazing. Thanks for the recipe
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you!!
Hello!
I’m eager to try this recipe after all of the amazing reviews, but I’m not sure if the starter needs to be fed/active or if discard is okay. Please let me know. Thanks!
It does need to be active! Thank you!
Can I use all whole wheat flour?
Yes you can, but have in mind that whole wheat flour tends to produce denser, and drier baked goods. But I think it should turn out fine, just a bit less fluffy.
These were so good my kids and husband devoured them in a day! Thank you!
Yay! I am so happy to hear that 🙂
I got my starter going a few months ago and was ready to try bagels. I looked around decided to try this recipe. It was GREAT! I used the Trader Joe’s :Everything Bagel Seasoning which did the trick. I will be making them again soon. Thanks!!
thank you so much Lisa! I am so happy to hear 🙂
Loved this recipe. I have ried several others and was not totally 100 percent happy. These were like I bought them at my favorite bagel shop in New England. I did make a few changes. I used all white bread flout since my family is not fond of wheat flour in their bagels only insandwhich bread. I made my own everything mix with what they like. I also have an oven that does proofing and sped the process up to a total of 6 hours which was really nice from start to eating one. Thanks for the info on storing the bagels in freezer. In future I will slice and place a piece of wax paper between the piece then wrap with foil and place in ziplock. Makes it easier to take straight from freezer to toaster. Today I plan to make more and a batch of the sourdough cinnmon raise ones.
Amazing!! Thank you so much for this awesome review and for the tips 🙂
I just took these out of the oven! I halved the recipe and got 7 bagels. I must say I was so pleased with the results! I did use all white flour. I tried a different recipe for my first two batches ever and wasn’t too pleased. Decided to give it one more try using your recipe. So happy I could cry! Third times a charm! I will stick to this recipe. Thank you so much for the tips and great step-by-step instructions.
I had some of the same questions as some of the commenters above regarding leaving the dough overnight. I put mine in the fridge overnight right after the kneeding. Took the dough out in the morning and let it sit to come to room temperature . Worked out wonderfully!
Halved the recipe cause I was worried I’d mess up on my first attempt.
Used bread flour instead of AP and could have added a little more water to compensate for the higher protein.
The dough was extra dry and was hard to bake into smooth balls cause of it. I’ll adjust next time!
Used oat milk instead of regular milk to “brush” (used my fingers since I didn’t have a brush, worked great! Sprinkled TJ’s Everything But The Bagel Sesame Seasoning. I think instead of sprinkling, I’ll roll the bagels in the seasoning next time to coat it all the way.
Otherwise, they just came out of the oven and I LOVE them. As a native New Yorker who is currently quarantined in another city, I’ve been craving a solid bagel and this definitely has done the trick for me!
Excited to try it again with more hydration and more seasoning. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!!
This was my first try at making bagels and I am so pleased! I will definitely make these often and hope to get better at forming the bagel–the first ones came out a bit “unusual”.
I did the process up through step 9 (kneading) and then put the dough into the fridge overnight. I let it proof in a warm spot for about 5 hours and proceeded. I did not make the hole in the bagel shape large enough and will remember this the next time–and I will make this recipe frequently. Thanks for this great recipe!
Awesome to hear! Thank you Andy!
I used your recipe as my first attempt at sourdough bagels because you list measurements by weight as well as volume. I figured weighing would be more accurate, and I was rewarded with success. I had a lot of trouble with the shaping. I had to resort to rolling the dough into “snakes” then trying to glue the ends together with water and lots of pinching. The came out with a great crust, and nice flavor even though they look a bit wonky.
awesome!! thank you so much!!
After rising for the four hours, they hadn’t risen at all. My starter was fed and active. Is something wrong? I’ve put the bowl, well covered, in the refrigerator for the night. Right now I’m discouraged. Any suggestions?
It can take longer than 4 hours depending on your starter, the weather, etc. Give it a few more hours, or rising in the fridge overnight might also help. Take it out tomorrow, let it sit on the counter for an hour or so, and proceed with step 12 of the recipe
Thank you for that quick response. I’m hoping they will turn out fine tomorrow. Another question. When I feed my starter, I use a 1:3:3 ratio. Could this be affecting my starters response? Thank you again.
Thank you again. I just took them out of the oven and they are delicious and look beautiful. It took quite a while for them to rise, but our air conditioner is on now so it may have been too cool. I appreciate your help.
Pretty sure this is going to be a fail for me. Measured all ingredients precisely, but dough was way too thin. Even added more AP and WW flour, but dough is definitely not stiff and dense. Bagels are shaped and rising, but they look really sad. Maybe my starter (100% saturation) was too thin? I’ll definitely see it through, as I’ve already gotten this far. But my expectations are extremely low at this point.
These bagels turn out so nice. Lighter than the store bought bagels but still the right texture. I followed in the instructions using the weight measurements rather than volume.
I am looking forward to making these again.
thank you so much!
I highly suggest putting rosemary and sea salt on top!
sounds wonderful! Thank you!
Can I substitute malt with honey?
Yes you can!
My first attempt turned out well. I used ½ bread flour and ½ whole wheat. The kneading was tough–the dough kept wrapping around the hook and then just turning around and around. They also got very dry when I was rolling them out–it’s very dry weather here. I solved that by spritzing the counter and the dough with water, that worked well. Next time I’ll try some flavorings.