This easy homemade bagels recipe proves that you can make deliciously chewy bagels in your own kitchen with only a few basic ingredients and baking tools!
Today I’m teaching you how to make homemade bagels with only a few basic ingredients and kitchen tools. Today you’re going to tackle any fears of yeast and bread baking—and I’m right here to guide you along!
Bagels, crème brûlée, soft pretzels, and French macarons. What do these foods have in common? Each seem really complicated to make at home. That’s why you’ll often find them on your baking bucket list. But secretly, they couldn’t be easier. Homemade bagels taste fresher, are cheaper, and you’ll earn the bragging rights for from-scratch baking. (PS: Each of those recipes has a video tutorial!)
Bagels Require a Lean Dough
The 1st step is to make the bagel dough. This is the same dough you use for everything bagels, a recipe already published on my blog. There’s only 5 ingredients.
- Warm Water: Liquid for the dough.
- Yeast: Allows the dough to rise. I recommend an instant or active dry yeast.
- Bread Flour: A high protein flour is necessary for bagels. We want a dense and chewy texture, not soft and airy like cinnamon rolls. Bread flour is the only solution!
- Brown Sugar: Bakeries use barley malt syrup to sweeten the bagel dough—it can be a little difficult to find, but brown sugar is a fine substitute.
- Salt: Flavor.
Notice how there is no fat? This is called a lean dough. Lean dough is ideal for recipes like focaccia, pizza dough, artisan bread, and no knead bread. Breads like dinner rolls and homemade breadsticks, and sweet bread, such as cinnamon rolls, include fat for richness and flavor.
You can prepare and knead the dough with a mixer or by hand. If you’d like a visual of how to knead the dough by hand, you can watch the full video tutorial in my post on How To Knead Dough. After the dough has been kneaded, let it rise for 60-90 minutes. Punch it down, then divide into 8 sections and shape into bagels.
How to Shape Bagels
Shaping bagels is easier than it looks. Poke your finger through the center of the ball of dough, then use 2 fingers to widen the hole to about 1.5 – 2 inches. That’s it! I don’t really do anything fancy and the bagels don’t need to be perfect. Mine never are!
Bagel Water Bath
Bagels must cook for 1 minute on each side in a pot of boiling water. This is actually the most important step in the whole recipe. Why?
- Boiling the bagels gives the bagel its beautiful shine. But looks aren’t everything—this shine is actually a result of the dough’s starches gelatinizing which creates a crisp, shiny coating. I learned this from Cooks Illustrated.
- Boiling bagels cooks the outer layer of dough, which guarantees they’ll hold their shape in the oven.
Add honey or barley malt syrup to the water bath. Why? The sugar adds extra caramelization and crisp. Brushing the boiled bagels with egg wash does the same. Don’t skip either!
Homemade Bagel Varieties
- Plain Bagels: Follow the recipe below. These are excellent as the base for breakfast casserole.
- Cinnamon Raisin Bagels: Follow my cinnamon raisin bagels recipe.
- Everything Bagels: Follow my everything bagels recipe.
- Sesame Seed Bagels: Use 1/3 cup sesame seeds. After brushing with egg wash in step 9, top with or dunk each bagel into topping. Use more as needed.
- Poppy Seed Bagels: Use 1/3 cup poppy seeds. After brushing with egg wash in step 9, top with or dunk each bagel into topping. Use more as needed.
- Salt Bagels: Use 1/3 cup coarse salt. After brushing with egg wash in step 9, top with or dunk each bagel into topping. These are pretty salty, so feel free to go lighter on the salt.
- Cheese Bagels (Asiago, Cheddar, etc): Add 1/2 cup of shredded cheese to the dough when you add the flour. After brushing with egg wash in step 9, sprinkle with extra cheese.
- Cinnamon Crunch Bagels: Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough recipe below when you add the salt. Double the cinnamon crunch topping from cinnamon crunch bread. After brushing the bagels with the egg wash in step 9 below, spoon cinnamon crunch topping on each.
Some readers have used this bagel recipe to make whole wheat bagels by replacing half of the bread flour with whole wheat flour. I haven’t tried it, but I do use some whole wheat flour when making homemade English muffins, another breakfast staple!
See Your Homemade Bagels!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
PrintHomemade Bagels Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 8 bagels
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Make fresh bagels right at home with this tested dough recipe. Don’t skip the water bath and egg wash—both provide an extra chewy and golden brown crust.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (between 100-110°F, 38-43°C)
- 2 and 3/4 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast*
- 4 cups (520g) bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for work surface and hands*
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar or packed light or dark brown sugar (or barley malt syrup)*
- 2 teaspoons salt
- coating the bowl: nonstick spray or 2 teaspoons olive oil
- egg wash: 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
For Boiling
- 2 quarts water
- 1/4 cup (60g) honey (or barley malt syrup)*
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm water and yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.
- Add the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. The dough is very stiff and will look somewhat dry.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 6-7 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 6-7 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape the bagels: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. (Just eyeball it—doesn’t need to be perfect!) Shape each piece into a ball. Press your index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole about 1.5 – 2 inches in diameter. Watch video below for a visual. Loosely cover the shaped bagels with kitchen towel and rest for a few minutes as you prepare the water bath.
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Water bath: Fill a large, wide pot with 2 quarts of water. Whisk in the honey. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high. Drop bagels in, 2-4 at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Cook the bagels for 1 minute on each side.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of each bagel. Place 4 bagels onto each lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. You want the bagels to be a dark golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow bagels to cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice, toast, top, whatever you want! Cover leftover bagels tightly and store at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Overnight Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare the dough through step 4, but allow the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature for 60-90 minutes. The slow rise gives the bagels wonderful flavor! In the morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let the dough rise for 45 minutes at room temperature. Continue with step 5. I don’t recommend shaping the bagels the night before as they may puff up too much overnight.
- Freezing Make Ahead Instructions: Baked bagels freeze wonderfully! Freeze them for up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then warm to your liking. You can also freeze the bagel dough. After punching down the dough in step 6, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then punch the dough down again to release any air bubbles. Continue with the rest of step 6.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer | Baking Sheets | Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mats | Large Pot (such as a large 5.5 quart dutch oven) | Pastry Brush
- Yeast: Use instant or active dry yeast. If using active dry yeast, the rise time may be up to 2 hours. 1 standard packet is about 2 and 1/4 teaspoons, so you will need a little more than 1 packet of yeast. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Bread Flour: Bagels require a high protein flour. Bread flour is a must. Here are all my recipes using bread flour if you want more recipes to use it up. All-purpose flour can be used in a pinch, but the bagels will taste flimsy and won’t be nearly as chewy.
- Barley Malt Syrup: This ingredient can be a little hard to find, but truly gives bagels that traditional malty flavor we all know and love. Most natural food stores carry it. I offer alternatives such as brown sugar in the dough and honey in the water bath; I’ve made bagels with these alternatives AND with barley malt syrup and honestly love both versions.
- Bread Machine: Place the dough ingredients into the pan of the machine. Program the machine to dough or manual, then start. After 9-10 minutes, the dough will be quite stiff. Allow the machine to complete its cycle, then continue with the recipe.
- Bagel Varieties: See blog post above for various add-ins and toppings. Note that the toppings are added after the egg wash in step 9. Some readers have used this bagel recipe to make whole wheat bagels by replacing half of the bread flour with whole wheat flour. I haven’t tried it, but let me know if you do!
- Halve or Double: You can halve this dough recipe by simply halving all of the dough ingredients (do not halve the water or honey for the boiling step). No changes to the recipe instructions. For best taste and texture and to not overwhelm your mixer with excess heavy dough, I do not recommend doubling this dough recipe. Instead, make separate batches of dough.
- Adapted from a mix of recipes I’ve tried: King Arthur Flour, Cook’s Illustrated, and Complete Book of Breads
These are the BEST bagels! My dad is from NYC and we have struggled finding bagels that meet his standards in CA. I’ve been getting more into bread baking lately so I decided to try bagels while we’re stuck home for at least a few weeks. These are IT! My dad said they’re the real deal! I made them two days in a row and I’m making more tomorrow. Highly recommend! I’m using active dry yeast and if I let it proof in the bowl with the warm water AND the brown sugar for five minutes it still only takes an hour for the rise time.
I live in northern Sweden, where it is difficult to find bagels, and I have missed them SOO much. Tried this recipe and it is seriously the tastiest, most amazing bagels I have ever tried. And now I can get then whenever I want to. Thank you for making weekend breakfast great again
Sally, one thing I was wondering but didn’t see my answer in either the written recipe or your video tutorial. When you remove the bagels from the hot water bath, do you put them briefly on something like paper towel to soak up the excess water? I could be wrong, but wouldn’t there be a little excess water, and if so wouldn’t it make the bottoms soggy? Please let me know, I am wanting to make these ASAP. I love bagels, but with the threat of the , not only is a trip to the stores scary, but most of the shelves are empty anyway. Your meal planning and baking has been a lifesaver during this difficult time. Thank you so much!
Hi Rayne! If you’re using a slotted spatula or spoon, there shouldn’t be too much excess water. I always put the boiled bagels directly on the baking sheet and bake. The water evaporates right up in the hot oven. Thank you for asking!
These are AMAZING!! And, honestly, they are not hard to make. I made three dough in the afternoon, put it in the fridge overnight, and finished then in the morning. Will DEFINITELY make again!!
Sally. You have given my family a wonderful gift. Especially since CV is keeping us all at home. I made a batch of these and you would be amazed at the joy on the faces of these folks. Thank you so much. Delicious.
Sally, I greatly appreciate your home baking ideas during this time. I tried the bagels today and they looked perfect until they came out of the oven – they seemed to fall and look more like bialys than bagels. I think I may have let them rise a little too much – could that have done it? Thank you!
Do they seem deflated? Yeast recipes/breads will deflate if the dough has risen/proofed too long.
This is a great recipe made everything bagels twice delish!! thank you!
Hi! I’m wondering if I can use whole wheat flour
Hi Mafe, Some readers have used this bagel recipe to make whole wheat bagels by replacing half of the bread flour with whole wheat flour. I haven’t tried it, but let me know if you do!
I just made them with 1 cup of whole wheat flour:3 cups white flour and they turned out great. My plan was to try to go to half (2 cups whole wheat:2 cups white) if these turned out but I think I’ll stop at 1 cup, I wouldn’t want them any denser.
Has anyone tried airfying the bagels instead of baking? I did mine in the air fryer (400 at 10 minutes, flipping halfway) they came out golden brown and look amazing, The issue i seem to be having is they always end up going flat. 🙁
These were great! I used all purpose flour because that’s what I had, and it was fine. When the stores aren’t sold out of flour (!) I’ll get some real bread flour and try again, see if they get even better!
These were delicious! And very easy to make with Sally’s step by step instructions! I only wish the video showed a bit slower and more clearly how she shaped the bagels, because that was probably the hardest part for me. I made plain and everything using TJ’s Everything But the Bagel Seasoning – delish! One question – mine were a bit flat, any ideas why that may be? Thanks!
Hey hey! the recipe sounds and seems delicious however, i think i messed up a bit. I didnt have proper bread flour but i had 0`(10 gr of protein) and 00`(11 gram of protein) flour so I mixed them up. When i let the dough covered for an hour and a half more or less, they didnt rise up too much but the texture was nice. Then, when i boiled them, they didnt float but instead sink deep in the pot…. I continued with the baking in the oven and they look nice. Maybe after i try them, ill know wether they turned out right. What have I done wrong? I feel maybe the flour choice had a lot to do with this? Thank you very much! Lots of love <3
I read recipe after recipe and finally settled on yours because your instructions were so detailed and clear. I was actually encouraged that my bagels would turn out well, and they did! My daughter and I made both sesame and plain bagels tonight and we love them! Can’t wait to make some cinnamon raisin nex time! Thanks for the wonderful recipe; I will be checking out your blog for more recipes 🙂
Hi, Sally! I am making this for school later this week and was wondering if I could make the bagels a little smaller, that way I can share them with more people? If so, what would I need to change with the cooking time/water bath?
Thank you so much, Sally! I always love reading your blog! Have a great day!
(P.S.: Congratulations on your new baby!)
Hi Banana, You can make them smaller! Water bath will stay the same but the bake time may be a bit shorter depending on how much smaller you make them. Enjoy and thank you 🙂
These bagels are the best hands down I make them every weekend now. By any chance do you know the calories in 1 bagel?
My first time making bagels. Really enjoyed the process and result.
AmaZingly delicious. That honey bath makes all the difference!
These bagels are amazing!
I would like to make and freeze the finished product. Do you have any suggestions?
I’m so happy you enjoyed these, Judith! See recipe note #2 for freezing instructions.
I just finished making sesame seed bagels with whole wheat bread flour and it worked out perfectly. Great rise and golden color. Yummy texture. I will definitely make these again. Thanks for this great recipe and easy to understand instructions.
Can’t wait to try these! Would I have to do anything significantly different to the recipe to make chocolate chip bagels other than add chocolate chips to the dough?
No changes necessary! I do also love cinnamon chocolate chip bagels so feel free to use my recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Bagels and substitute chocolate chips for the raisins. Enjoy 🙂
I have always wanted to try making homemade bagels but was a little afraid of the process. I made the cinnamon raisin version of the recipe and they are delicious! I’m sorry I waited so long to try them! Can’t wait to share these tasty bagels with my family!
I like this recipe and I have one question. When I make the Everything Bagel, the topping burns before the bagels are done. I tried adding the topping about 3 minutes before they were done, by taking them out of the oven, giving them an additional egg wash , then adding the topping, but it still was too dark. Is there another way to make the Everything Bagel so it doesn’t burn?
I made them today and it was so easy to make love it♥️
Used he overnight method and we loved our fresh from the oven bagels this morning. Can’t wait to try the cinnamon raisin ones.
So easy and yummy, thanks!
Followed recipe exactly and they’re great! Thank-you!
I live overseas and we can never get bagels besides the occasional bag of almost expired Lender’s in the freezer section. Have always avoided making them but your decorations were easy to follow and I had so much fun surprising my kids when they got home from school! Thanks!
I made these wonderful bagels last week. They were such a success we had a bagel making party great fun. So pleased with them never had success before with yeast recipes
I used this recipe using either light brown sugar or raw honey to sweeten. I did use a whole wheat flour and it was AMAZING! I wish I could send you pictures! Or better yet one of these delicious bagels!
Excellent bagels recipe. Don’t change a thing when you go to make it. They’re perfect. Topped with sesame seeds, our favorite. Thanks Sally!
Today I am trying the cinnamon raisin bagels using half bread half whole wheat flour! I can’t buy store bought ever again! Thank you for this recipe!