Is there anything better in the morning than freshly toasted bagels slathered in cream cheese or melted butter? If you answered yes, then you must know that the correct answer is freshly toasted homemade bagels slathered in cream cheese or melted better. Congrats, you win points.
But how hard is it to make homemade bagels, really?
The answer is VERY EASY. Like, SHOCKINGLY EASY.
I promise.
This is a quick and easy bagel recipe that can be done in the span of a lazy morning or afternoon without any specialty ingredients. It also uses an easy, foolproof shaping method.
5 star reader review
“These bagels came out so good! This felt pretty ambitious for me (I’ve tried making bread exactly twice with not a ton of success), but the gifs of how to shape the bagels were super helpful in making them come out amazing. I cannot wait to make these again!!”
—Leann
For a more traditional overnight bagel recipe that uses barley malt syrup and bread flour, check out my recipe for hand-rolled New York-style bagels! I even used a riff on this bagel dough to make my easy homemade bialys recipe.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Easy Bagel Recipe
- About This Recipe
- A Brief History of the Bagel
- Ingredient Notes
- How to Make Plain Bagel Dough
- A Low Hydration Dough
- How to Shape Homemade Bagels
- Boiling Homemade Bagels
- Bagel Toppings
- All Purpose vs. Bread Flour
- Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast
- Kneading Bagel Dough By Hand
- Bagel-Making Timeline
- Practical Tips & Recipe Notes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Why You'll Love This Easy Bagel Recipe
Before you know it you'll be impressing all your best brunch friends with a fresh tray of homemade bagels sprinkled with everything bagel topping or finding that you suddenly have time to eat a complete breakfast every morning because it turns out bagels are a lot more fun to look forward to than eating that granola bar you usually grab on your way out the door.
Once you know how to make your own quick and easy plain bagels, you'll make them over and over again because while you'll know how secretly easy they are to make, your friends won't — and getting to bask in those impressed reactions? Priceless.
Soon you'll be making pretzel bagels, garlic bagels, blueberry bagels, egg bagels, and so much more! I even use these plain bagels to make homemade bagel chips!
Try my mini bagels recipe for an adorably smaller version of this bagel recipe.
About This Recipe
Making bagels is what started my love of bread making. You can draw a direct line from me learning to making a bagel recipe I saw on Tumblr back in 2014 to me going to pastry school in 2020 to you reading this blog post right now.
That very first bagel recipe I made was from Kamran Siddiqi at the Sophisticated Gourmet and though the bagels I made were lumpy and misshapen, they tasted amazing. I was hooked. The more I made them, the prettier they became.
I've adapted that recipe only slightly to share it with you here. The proportions and measurements are mostly the same, but I've made some adjustments to the method over the years, and have included a lot more information about the ingredients, tools, and the techniques for shaping bagels which I hope you find helpful at the start of your own bagel journey.
Also, even though homemade bagels are way easier to make if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, I've made bagels many times without a mixer (I JUST LOVE HOMEMADE BAGELS THAT MUCH, OK?) and while it requires a bit more upper-body strength for the kneading, they turn out great that way too.
There are some recipes I'd go nowhere near if I couldn't use a mixer, and I would tell you if I didn't think they were worth doing without a mixer, but that's not this recipe.
Homemade bagels are worth making, with or without a mixer.
A Brief History of the Bagel
If you want the full history of the bagel, look no further than Maria Baliska's excellent book The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread which charts the bagel's turbulent sociopolitical and socioeconomic journey from Jewish bagel peddlers in 17th century Poland to Europe, eventually crossing the Atlantic to New York City and the United States (did you know that the bagel didn't enter into mainstream popularity in the U.S. until the 1970s???).
And lest you think the politics and geography of bagels is less fraught today, the NYC vs. Montreal bagel rivalry is still going strong.
Why the Montreal bagel is the superior bagel — The TakeoutToday New York and Montreal bagels are so different that they barely qualify as the same species. New York bagels are bigger, more pliable (New York City tap water has very low levels of calcium carbonate and magnesium, which produces softer gluten), and salty.
Montreal bagels are sweeter (bakers add sugar to the dough, which, once rolled, is poached in honey-infused water), smaller, and crispier, with a chewy interior. Many Montreal bakers still hand-roll their bagels and cook them in the same wood-burning ovens they used when they first built their shops.
Traditional bagels are a much more laborious process than what you'll find here. This is a very easy, very simple beginner-friendly recipe.
Making bagels the "right way" is a two or three day process, with long overnight cold proofing in the fridge. Traditional bagels use barley malt syrup in the dough, and sometimes in the boiling water too. And if you want to be a real stickler about it, they must always be hand rolled from a long rope and baked on wooden boards wrapped in burlap and soaked in water.
So, no, this is not a traditional bagel recipe. But it is a great first bagel recipe. If you're new to bagel making, if you're new to bread making, if you're new to working with yeast, this simple and straightforward plain bagel recipe is a great place to start.
Ingredient Notes
Here are the ingredients you'll need to make your very own homemade plain bagels. See the recipe card at the end of this blog post for the quantities!
- All-Purpose Flour - Bagels are traditionally made with a higher protein bread flour which gives them that chewy texture, but I use King Arthur Baking's all-purpose flour which has a relatively high protein content for an all-purpose flour. If you're using another brand of flour (like a generic store brand flour) you may have better results with bread flour.
- Instant Yeast - Sometimes called "rapid rise" yeast. This yeast does not need to be bloomed in water and can be added directly to the dry ingredients.
- Salt - I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt which half as salty as other brands of salt. If measuring salt by weight, it doesn't matter what brand of salt you use. But if you're measuring by volume and using a different brand of salt, even a different brand of kosher salt, cut the amount of salt in half.
- Sugar - Plain granulated sugar is all you need here.
- Water - Lukewarm to the touch. Not hot. If you want to be precise, it should be between 100-110F.
- Egg - For the egg wash! The egg wash gives bagels their shiny browned crusts. If you're adding any toppings to your homemade mini bagels, the egg wash will also help them stick.
How to Make Plain Bagel Dough
To make the dough itself add all your dry ingredients to a bowl — including your instant yeast! — mix them to combine. Pour the warm water into the center of the mixing bowl.
Start the mixer on low speed and let the dough hook do it's thing, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to push the flour around the edges into the middle.
At this first stage you're just mixing the dough. The goal is to get the ingredients to combine and collect on the dough hook.
- If you the dough is wet and sticking to the sides of the bowl, tap in a tablespoon or two of flour as needed until the dough stops sticking.
- If the dough seems really dry and like it won't come together after about 5 minutes, dribble a teaspoon of water onto the dry bits in the bowl and keep mixing. Repeat only as needed. It's very easy to accidentally add too much water — resist adding it unless it really needs it.
Once the dough comes together on the dough hook, increase the speed to medium and knead for 3-5 minutes until the dough is smooth.
After mixing, the bagel dough will pull clean from the sides of the bowl and gather on the dough hook but will look lumpy and messy.
After kneading the dough, it will be smooth and elastic, slightly stretch and tacky to the touch but not sticky.
Shape the dough into a ball by tucking the edges under until you have a smooth top. Place it back in the mixing bowl, cover and let it dough rise in a warm spot (70-75F) for an hour.
The dough will just about double in size, but may not quite get there. The best way to test if your dough is ready is to use the fingerprint test.
The Fingerprint Test: Gently press a finger into the dough. If the indentation fills in quickly and completely, the dough needs more time to rise. If the indentation fills in slowly and partially, the dough is ready! And if the dough completely deflates and collapses under your finger, it has over-proofed.
A Low Hydration Dough
Bagel dough is a low-hydration dough which means the ratio of water to flour is very low. For example, when making artisanal sourdough or ciabatta with a very airy, open crumb, bakers often work with doughs that have a hydration level of 75% or more.
Doughs that have high water content are sticky and harder to work with. They're excellent for artisan breads where you want a lot of rise and large air pockets. That's not at all what you want when you're making bagels.
Bagels have a tight crumb with small air pockets. That comes from the way you knead the dough and knock the air out, and from a low amount of water in the dough.
This particular bagel recipe has a hydration level of 60%. It's a dense, smooth, and cohesive dough that should easily form a ball. You're looking for something that is smooth and elastic and slightly tacky to the touch but that doesn't stick to your fingers.
Once your bagel dough is kneaded, put it in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise for an hour.
How to Shape Homemade Bagels
Most bagel recipes I've seen are for hand-rolled bagels, meaning you roll a long rope of dough, then loop it over your hand and roll it again, pressing the ends together to form the bagel shape. There are benefits to that method — it compresses the gluten network inside the bagels, giving you a tighter, denser, chewier crumb. But it requires an overnight rise to allow the ends of the rope to seal back together. (If you're interested in giving that a try, check out my recipe for New York-style hand-rolled bagels.)
For this plain bagel recipe, we're going to use an easier method affectionately known as the "roll and poke" method.
After the initial 1-hour rise, deflate the dough to knock some of the air out of it, then divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. I recommend using a kitchen scale for this step so that your bagels are all the same size.
If you combined a few pieces of dough to get the right size dough ball, stack the smaller piece(s) on top of the largest piece. Gently flatten the piece of dough against a lightly floured surface, then tuck the edges up into the middle, pinching them together to form a smooth surface on the underside of the dough.
Flip the dough ball over and cup your hand around it, with your pinkie-finger flush against the counter. Slide your hand toward your body, dragging the dough ball with it. You'll see the front of the dough snag on the counter slightly, pushing the edge under itself and creating surface tension on top of the dough.
The dough will form an oval shape, so rotate it 90 degrees and repeat to get a nice circle. You don't always need to do this, but it's especially helpful if your dough is on the dry side or not sticking together well.
Once you've shaped all eight pieces of dough into little boules and let them rest for a few minutes, dip your thumb in flour and poke it through the bottom of the boule until it comes out the other side.
This is a great opportunity to push any extra edges or seams on the bottoms into the center of the bagel, sealing them shut. Once your thumb is all the way through, wiggle your other thumb in as well so the backs of your thumbs are pressed against each other, and start gently stretching and squeezing the dough until the hole is at least the same width as the sides of the bagel.
The bagel dough will shrink back when it rests (10 minutes!) before boiling and the hole will shrink again during boiling and baking, so don't be stingy in your stretching.
Boiling Homemade Bagels
I call the boiling and baking process "bagel botox" because it's this step that gives you that gorgeous smooth, shiny, taut bagel crust.
The boiling process gelatinizes the starches in the crust, setting them in place while also activating the yeast and air inside the dough to encourage the bagels to expand. The gelatinized crust will also prevent the bagels from expanding too much in the oven.
The boiled bagels will have a slight texture to them, but will completely smooth out in the oven. So if you're feeling like your bagels look funky after shaping them, don't worry... bagel botox is here to save the day.
Right before boiling, stretch the bagels one more time. This will prevent the bagel holes from shrinking closed as they bake!
You can boil your bagels for as little as 30 seconds or as long as 2 minutes per side. I usually go for about a minute per side, but it's really up to you.
The longer you boil them, the thicker the crust will be and the chewier the texture of the bagels will be. If you boil them for 30 seconds per side, the crust will be thinner and more flexible, allowing them to rise more in the oven.
You can control the texture and size of your finished bagels depending on how long you choose to boil them, but again, like the choice between all purpose or bread flour ... the difference here is, well, see for yourself:
The bagel on the right was boiled for 2 minutes on each side.
Some people add baking soda or barley malt extract to the water before baking (it helps the bagels brown and can change the flavor slightly), but this recipe is so much simpler than that — you literally just boil them in plain old regular water. Easy!
The bagel on the right was boiled for 2 minutes on each side.
Use a wire spider to remove the bagels from the hot water. Arrange the boiled bagels on a lined sheet pan, and you're ready to add toppings!
Bagel Toppings
If you're planning on using any bagel toppings, you'll want to apply them after boiling but before baking.
To get your toppings to stick to the bagels while they bake, make an egg wash by whisking together 1 egg + ¼ teaspoon of salt + 2 teaspoon of water and then use a silicone or pastry brush to brush the boiled bagels with the egg wash.
Then sprinkle with the topping of your choosing! Even if you aren't going to use a topping, I still recommend using an egg wash to get that beautiful shiny crust.
If you love the flavor of a topping but hate that it's only on one side of the bagel, mix up to ¼ cup right into the dry ingredients when you make your dough.
I love doing this with everything bagel topping in particular, because it infuses the whole dough with garlicky, oniony goodness that tastes amazing when sliced, toasted, and slathered in melty butter. Just make sure the topping doesn't include salt, because salt will throw off the chemistry of the dough.
All Purpose vs. Bread Flour
The original recipe for these bagels calls for bread flour, as do most bagel recipes. Why? Because bread flour is a high protein flour. It absorbs more liquid than all purpose flour and will result in a tighter crumb (aka the texture and size of air pockets of the inside of your bagel or loaf of bread).
As we've already discussed — bagel dough is a low-hydration dough and we want it to be stiff, smooth, and not sticky at all. Working with bread flour will help you get those truly optimal results.
That said, you absolutely can use plain old regular all purpose flour to make your bagels. You will probably never even notice a difference, unless you were to see them side-by-side. Unless you're someone who uses bread flour regularly, there is really no need to spend the money on a specialty flour when all purpose will do just fine.
For more side-by-side comparisons of bread flour v. all purpose flour, check out this King Arthur Baking blog post.
Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast
Active Dry and Instant yeast are technically the same thing — meaning, they are both saccharomyces cerevisiae, a single-celled living organism used for leavening bread and doughs.
The only difference between the two types of yeast is that Active Dry yeast granules have a little coating around them which needs to be dissolved to reveal the yeast inside. The yeast can't start working until that coating has dissolved.
This is why Active Dry yeast is often bloomed in water before use — it dissolves that shell to expose the yeast!
But because of this extra little shell around the Active Dry yeast granules, you'll need to use slightly more Active Dry yeast to get the same effect as using Instant Yeast.
To calculate how much Active Dry yeast to use, increase the amount of Instant yeast by 25%. So for this recipe, you'd be using 7.5 grams of active dry yeast. Most scales can't measure that precisely, so aim for 7 or 8 grams of active dry yeast and you'll be just fine here.
You can add the Active Dry yeast directly to the dry ingredients just like you do the Instant Yeast. Your bagel dough just might need an extra 20-30 minutes of rising time because that little shell needs time to dissolve.
Kneading Bagel Dough By Hand
Don't have a stand mixer? No worries! Kneading bagel dough by hand requires a bit of upper body strength and takes a little bit longer, but is totally possible.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the warm water into the center.
Start by mixing the water, slowly incorporating more flour from the sides into the center until a messy dough begins to form. Pinch and squeeze the dough, folding it over itself until all the water has absorbed and there aren't any big dry patches or clumps of flour.
Turn the dough out on to a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, folding the dough over itself, flattening it with the heel of your hand, rotating 90 degrees and repeating. Dust in more flour as needed if the dough is sticky. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky.
Set a timer for the kneading step — kneading takes a lot of work and you'll get tired and think time is up sooner than it is!
Follow the rest of the recipe as written!
Bagel-Making Timeline
- 10 Minutes: Mixing and kneading dough
- 60 Minutes: Letting dough rest, rise, and double in size
- 10 Minutes: Divide and shape your bagels
- 10 Minutes: Letting shaped bagels rest again
- 5-10 Minutes: Boiling bagels max 2 mins per side
- 20 Minutes: Baking!
Even if you take the longest amount of time on each of those steps, this recipe clocks in at ~2 hrs. The process may take you longer at first when you're still new to the shaping process which is why I've written this recipe as being three hours, but once you get the hang of it you'll breeze through it.
Practical Tips & Recipe Notes
- If you're working in a dry environment or making bagels in winter when there's less natural moisture in the air, you may need to add up to an additional ¼ cup of water to the dough before kneading. If you do need to add water, measure out your ¼ cup, but then use a teaspoon measure to slowly drizzle it in, stopping when the dough comes together and there are no large, noticeable dry spots. It's a lot easier to add water to a dry dough than add flour to a too-wet dough, so always err on the side of too-little water, especially with bagel dough. If you do end up with a dough that's too wet, add flour a ~⅛ cup at a time, giving it time to incorporate and absorb the excess liquid before adding more.
- Be careful not to tear the dough when you stretch the bagels out. Bagel dough isn't like play-dough or pie dough, where you can simply combine all the scraps and stick 'em back together. Tearing your dough destroys those beautiful strong gluten strands you spent so much time kneading. When the dough rests, those raw edges and seams will begin forming new gluten connections, so don't worry about them not being perfectly smooth all the way around. This is one of the hardest things to get right (and honestly, your bagels will still taste great even if you don't get this perfectly) so just know that it's something you'll get better at with practice.
- This recipe is written with weight measurements because weighing baking ingredients is much more accurate that using volume (cup) measurements! If your flour or water measurements are off, your dough will behave much differently than it should and you won't get the same rise or texture as the recipe promises. I've included approximate volume measurements in the recipe card below to give you a sense of how much you need if you're not used to measuring by weight, but I really encourage you to use a kitchen scale if you have one. There is no set standard for how much "1 cup" of flour weighs, so its important to follow the weight measurements instead of trying to convert to cups.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Plain Bagels in Less Than 3 Hours
Ingredients
- 500 grams all-purpose flour (4 cups, stirred and loosely spooned into a measuring cup and leveled off)
- 18 grams sugar (1½ tablespoons)
- 10 grams diamond crystal kosher salt (2 teaspoons, but use half as much by volume of any other brand*)
- 6 grams instant yeast (2 teaspoons)
- 300 grams warm water (1¼ cup)
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- any desired bagel toppings
Instructions
- Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and any optional mix-ins together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour the water into the center.Mixer: Connect the dough hook attachment, start the mixer on the slowest speed and give the dough a minute or two to incorporate, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.By hand: Pour the warm water into the well and use a wooden spoon or spatula to begin mixing, gradually incorporating more flour until the dough comes together.If the dough looks dry, add up to an additional ¼ cup water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing or kneading well between additions to give the water time to absorb. It’s a lot easier to add additional water to dry dough than it is to add flour to wet dough, and bagel dough is a low hydration dough so you definitely you don’t want it to be too sticky.
- Once the dough comes together into a shaggy mass, it's time to knead.Mixer: up the speed to low-medium and let the mixer run for 3-4 minutes, adding more flour if the dough appears to be sticking to the bowl. By hand: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather it into a ball. Fold top of the dough down over on itself, rotating a quarter turn between each fold. Repeat for 8-10 minutes, incorporating as much flour as you can from the counter into the dough.You’re looking for a dough that is firm and stiff, smooth, and just slightly tacky to the touch. It shouldn’t stick to your hands or the bowl.
- Shape the dough into a smooth round ball, and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Let it rise for an hour in a warm spot (70-72°F) until about doubled in size.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and fill a wide, deep pan or large pot (hell, even a wok if that’s all you’ve got) with at least 3 inches of water, and bring it to a low boil on the stove.
- Deflate the dough and divide it into eight equal pieces (use a kitchen scale for precision) and shape them into balls. Gently flatten the piece of dough against a lightly floured surface, then tuck the edges up into the middle, pinching them together to form a smooth surface on the underside of the dough. Then flip the dough over, cup your hand around it, pinkie against the counter, and drag your hand towards your body. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat as needed until you have a smooth taught surface on top and a seam underneath.
- Starting with the first dough ball you shaped, coat your thumb in flour and poke it through the seam-side of the dough, pushing any extra edges into the middle. Slide your other thumb in and gently stretch the dough out until the hole in the middle is at least the same width as the sides. The hole will close as the dough rests and will close again as it boils and bakes, so don’t be stingy here.If you like a bigger hole in your bagel, stretch the dough out again before boiling.
- Cover the shaped bagels with a damp paper towel or clean dish cloth and let them rest for 10 minutes. They, too, have been through a lot.
- Gently drop your shaped bagels into the pot of boiling water, top-side down. Work in batches as needed. The bagels will expand as they boil so don’t crowd them. Boil bagels for 1-2 minutes per side. Boiling for 2 minutes per side results in a slightly chewier, airier bagel.
- Remove the shaped bagels from the water and put them on a parchment or silicone baking mat lined baking sheet.
- Brush each bagel with egg wash making sure to get the sides and centers. Add any desired toppings.
- When all the bagels have been boiled, egg washed, and topped, transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake them for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove the bagels from the oven and transfer immediately to cool °on a wire rack. Try to wait at least 15-20 minutes before cutting them open, but I honestly can’t blame you if you crack after five.
RECIPE NOTES
- To test if your dough is ready after it rests for an hour, gently press into it with one finger. If it immediately fills in the indentation when you remove your finger, your dough needs more time to rise. If the indentation only fills in part way or fills in very slowly, your dough is ready. If it doesn’t fill in at all or the dough seems to collapse, your dough has overproofed.
- You can mix in a ¼ cup of your preferred topping right into the dough to infuse your bagels with maximum flavor. Just make sure your topping doesn’t include salt, or it can throw off the chemistry of the dough.
- Store in an airtight bag with a paper towel to absorb moisture. Stored properly, they will stay good for 3-4 days. They’ll get a bit hard after the first day or so, but soften up if you toast them. You can also run them briefly under water (!!!), then microwave them for 10 seconds, slice them, and toast them (or put them on a rack in your regular oven for 10 minutes at 350°F).
- *If measuring salt by weight you can use any type of salt. If measuring by volume, and using any brand that is NOT Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, cut the amount of salt in half (1 teaspoon).
Carleigh
I’m hardly a baker but a neighbor and I spent a morning following this recipe and WOW. So delicious. So rewarding.
Rebecca
Thank you!! Glad they were successful! 🙂
Rebecca dePencier
Leavin’ a test comment!!
Rebecca
Thank you! It worked!
Phyllis Benvin
This is a great recipe! I made these today and they turned out wonderfully. Thank you for the tutorial on how to make a boule, because that’s where I was struggling. I’ve made bagels before and they looked pretty rough. As someone who also has to watch sodium, I cut the salt in half and they still look and taste great! I wish I could upload a photo!
Rebecca
So glad you liked and glad to know it worked well with half the salt — salt helps control yeast activity so that can be a tricky one to adjust. Enjoy your bagels!! 🙂
Martha Heagany
Stumbled upon your recipe and SO glad I did as I am NOT a baker and others sounded way too complicated for me. For this first time I boiled two at a time and varied the time from 30, 60, 90 and 120 seconds per side. We ended up liking the 60 second per side. With that being said, I'm wondering about something....they were nice and soft inside but seemed a bit doughy...the crumb was a bit different on each one but all seemed a bit under-cooked....should the oven rack be on the top rather than the middle of gas oven? Should oven temperature be higher or should I leave them in oven longer OR perhaps rest longer than the 20 minutes? We tested them right at 20 minutes as we could't wait! Thanks SO much. Can't wait to try them again after your recommendation.
Rebecca
I'm so glad to hear this!! I would say leave them in the oven just a bit longer, or try moving to the top rack. See what happens! You may also find that you need to shape the dough into slightly tighter balls before poking the holes through. I made a batch recently where I didn't roll the dough balls as tightly and they ended up more doughy than usual. So when you cup your hand around the dough and slide it toward you, instead of doing it twice, keep rotating 90 degrees and do it four times. That might help!
Martha Heagany
Will try...thanks so much...practice makes perfect!
Matthew
Thank you for this recipe, very simple to follow and the results were great! I am originally from NJ, many good bagel shops there. We moved to PA 10 years ago and bagels are not the same here...these were awesome....wish I could attach a picture!
Rebecca
<3
Meg
Making a double batch of these delish NY chewy bagels was one of the highlights of staying home to help flatten the curve during trying times of pandemic. Eating the perfectly chewy bagels was another highlight - better than any of the Bagel Shop bagels. Staying at home and baking 😋 is a good thing.
Rebecca
<3 so glad you liked them!! stay safe!
Ella Osborne
I made these yesterday and they are amazing! Ate two for breakfast. I'm going to make more and fill my freezer with them.
Rebecca
Yay! That makes me so happy. Enjoy the bagels!
BRENDA
How should I change the recipe to make whole wheat bagels?
Rebecca
You can replace up to 20% of the flour in this recipe with whole wheat flour. The bagels will be slightly more dense, but they’ll be whole wheat bagels! You may need to add some extra water (add 1 TBSP at a time) to get the dough to come together when you’re mixing it, before you knead it, too.
BRENDA
Another question : I do not like eggs and the thought of eating a bagel with egg wash makes me anxious. What would you suggest as a substitute? I used olive oil and the bagels taste fine but our fingers were a bit oily.
Could I use plain water? Suggestions?
Rebecca
I have only used egg wash — I tried oil once and it wasn’t great. You can do it without egg wash, I have certainly done that before. You won’t have a beautiful shiny crust but they will bake up well. I did a quick search for vegan egg wash substitutes and I’m seeing recommendations for coconut oil, a mixture of milk and agave, or even corn syrup thinned with water. I’d encourage you to try a few options until you find one that gives you the results you’re looking for! And let me know if you find one that’s awesome, I’d love to be able to let more people know.
BRENDA
Thanks for the quick reply. I found your recipe on NYT cooking and I like it more than the previous recipes for bagels that I have tried.
Of course the other times I made bagels I had grandkids to help.
This virus can't last forever so they will back to give me suggestions. Baking directions from a five year old will never let you down.
Rebecca
🥰🥰🥰 I’m glad you like the recipe so much, and I’m sure your grandkids will too!
Christine
I actually used aqua faba (which is the liquid drained from chickpeas) and it was great!
Added a golden color and a little shine.
I save the liquid and put into ice cube trays. When frozen, i put into storage bags. One standard cube = 1 egg
Rebecca
Oh that's so good to know!
Samara
So hard to find good bagels outside of London so I was really keen to try this recipe as it seemed straightforward and not overwhelming. So glad I did! They turned out so well! Beautifully brown, good crumb, and so chewy. Thank you!
Christine
I make this at least twice a week. And because it's only 8 bagels for a single recipe, it's not a huge task.
I add 2 T flax seed meal and it adds a nice texture without being too bulky.
And, yes, I have burned my fingers more than once trying to eat one before they've cooled down.
Rebecca
🥰🥰🥰 love the idea to add flax seed meal! So glad you love the bagels. 🙂 enjoy!
Macy
If I’m using active dry yeast, should I activate it in the water before or just mix it in with the dry ingredients like I would with instant yeast? I’m a beginner, so I’m not super knowledgeable about everything yet!
Rebecca
No need to bloom it in water if you're sure the yeast is good! If it's an old packet that's been lingering in the back of a drawer for a while, you may want to let it activate in 1 TBSP water with a pinch of sugar before you use it. But if it's brand new yeast or you keep your yeast in the freezer (the best place to keep yeast, btw!) then you can go ahead and add it right in with the dry ingredients without a problem.
Jacque
The only reason to bloom yeast is to ensure its efficacy. If you're certain your yeast is fresh, just add it in. All yeast has a shell coating, so no fear of adding to the dry ingredients with the salt. After you add the water, the shell begins to break down, the flour and sugar (I add a bit of dry Barley Malt) then feeds the yeast to activate it. You just need to watch the temperature of your water you're adding, too hot will kill the yeast, best to be under, the heat from your hands if kneading will help heat the yeast to activate. I actually like to hand knead the dough a few times at the end, just to get a feel for it and to ensure it's consistency is right.
Lucy
At what temperature is the oven supposed to be at?
Rebecca Eisenberg
Please refer to step 4: "Preheat your oven to 425°F and fill a wide, deep pan or large pot (hell, even a wok if that’s all you’ve got) with at least 3 inches of water, and bring it to a low boil on the stove."
Amber
The bagels are so good and ridiculously easy. I make them for presents all the time and everyone is always so impressed. Well, until I give them the recipe. Now I get to find a new baked good to dole out this year at the holidays because everyone else I know is also making their own bagels now! I usually double my batch to make 16 (because they go that quickly), and if I'm not going to use or gift all of them right away I cut them in half and freeze them. I made just eight this morning and they were gone within 30 minutes thanks to my kids and husband.
Rebecca
Ahh this is so wonderful to hear! I’m glad you enjoy them — and that your family and friends are too! Happy holidays! 😍
Leann
These bagels came out so good! This felt pretty ambitious for me (I’ve tried making bread exactly twice with not a ton of success), but the gifs of how to shape the bagels were super helpful in making them come out amazing. I cannot wait to make these again!!
Rebecca
Yay!!! Go you!! Cheers to trying something new!
Wendy
Do you think that you could use a bread machine to make the dough?
Rebecca Eisenberg
absolutely!
Kristin Smith
Any tips for an egg alternative to top the bagels? I can’t eat eggs sadly.
Rebecca
If you scroll through some of the other comments there are alternative suggestions that don’t use eggs!
Renee J.
Joining the chorus! I made a double batch of these bagels, and they turned out great. I'll be making these again - maybe today! Thank you!
Rebecca
💕💕💕🙌🙌🙌
Kelly
This recipe is fantastic. I've made these bagels so many times now and they're really some of the best I've had (and I live in New York!). If you don't want to wait 3 hours in the morning, I've had success making the dough and letting it rise in the fridge over night. Then you only have to shape, boil, and bake in the morning!
Rebecca
The highest compliment one can get from a New Yorker!! Thank you, so glad you love the recipe!
Eunice
Hi Rebecca,I was going through some recipes and I ran across this one,I love bagels, besides the "Kitchen Scale" what other equipment I can use as a kitchen scale.?
Thank you;
Rebecca
Rebecca
There aren’t really any replacements for a kitchen scale. You should definitely get one — they’re very affordable (I have one linked in the post) and your baking will be much better if you use one!
Laura
Love these every time I make them, and the fact that they take less than 3 hours is the best. Also, thank you for great instructions on rolling little boules!!
Grace
Hello, I watch my salt intake so can I leave out the salt since using yeast? Would it throw off the taste and the rise of the dough?
Rebecca
Unfortunately you need salt. The salt slows the yeast rise and affects gluten development. Salt also adds flavor — not salty flavor but just actual flavor. Without salt the dough will be sweet and not very tasty, and definitely not bagel-y. I would say at MOST you can cut the salt in half but I definitely wouldn’t make it without the salt at all.
Jacque
Does anyone know what the final weight of the dough should be.
Rebecca
It can vary depending on how much water you end up having to add to your dough! It’s usually around 800-850 grams.
Jacque
Perfect, mine was 829, I live in the NE and was a very humid and rainy summer day added a few extra TBSP flour. They were beyond perfect. I've tried every recipe under the sun, making a biga, double over night resting, etc. This recipe put those to shame in just 3 hours! My family thanks you immensely!!!!
Rebecca
🥰🥰🥰 you’re welcome to your family!! So glad they liked the bagels!
Jacque
The best bagels I’ve ever made!!! I wish I could show you a picture! Amazing. Thank you so much!
Jacque
Here they are:
Rebecca
Those look so good!! Love your topping choices!
Mariah Kutchko
Bring these next time if you wanna impress at brunch! This is a great recipe to try if you’re not too familiar with yeast because the instructions are so clear and helpful
Andi
Made these tonight with my brother. I thought I messed them up. And maybe I did? But they were still so delicious! We did everything on half and asiago on the other half. We'll probaby do a double batch in a few days. First time using the dough hook on the kitchen aid. Really easy recipe to follow even for a novice bread maker.
Rebecca
If they were still delicious then you didn't mess them up! So glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Andrea
Made this recipe with my brother. Did they turn out perfect? No. Were they delicious? Yes. Did we make enough? No. They were gone in a day. Did we make more the next day? Yes. Were they better than the first try? Yes. Will we make again? Absolutely. Recommend to a friend? For sure. You too can make bagels. Who knew?? Not I.
Sally
First time ever making bagels, these could not be easier! I am planning on making them weekly. Thank you for the great recipe! Delicious 🤤
Rebecca Eisenberg
So glad you like them!! Enjoy!
Daniel Destefano
Hi Rebecca, I moved to Denmark last spring. I picked out some cold smoked Faroe Islands salmon today and decided I needed to make some bagels so that we could have it with cream cheese, red onion, and capers. This was my first time making bagels and your recipe, notes, and video made it easy. I've subscribed to your YouTube channel and hope you keep doing what you are doing. I like the recipes from the blog best. Thanks.
Rebecca Eisenberg
This is such a kind comment! Thank you so much and I’m so glad you enjoyed the bagels!
Traci
These are easy and good! Having made bagels before I was shocked at how easy! My husband loved them!! I will definitely be making these again and trying different varieties, blueberry next I think!
Sally
I love bagels and have always wanted to try making them. Every recipe I came across seemed so daunting. I found this 3-hour bagel recipe and thought “I can do that!” I made a batch and my family raved about them. I made another a few days later. The Practical Kitchen has turned into my go-to for baking. Every recipe I have tried has been a hit! Thank you for your hard work!
Meg Lally
These were so easy and so delicious! I’ve made them a few times and even got my Mum involved.
Elizabeth Bailey
I have been making Bagels on and off for about 2 years. I was hoping to find a sentence where you suggest the best time to Precut your bagels. I am always cutting mine right when I go to eat them, but for my kids, a precut bagel gets eaten faster than my homemade ones. Would precutting them after the boiling, or after baking them when they are cooled down be best?
Rebecca Eisenberg
do you mean slicing the bagels? it’s best to let them cool before slicing, otherwise the insides can get gummy. i usually slice the bagels almost all the way through before freezing them, so they stay together in the bag in the freezer but are easy to separate and toast from frozen!
Elizabeth Bailey
Yes. I was hoping there may be a better time to slice the bagels, before storage. When they are on the warm side, I guess. Thank you, for your reply.
Megan
Just made these and they sure are tasty. The egg that is brushed onto the bagel I think I put too much on. The bagel has that egg smell on it which isn’t appealing to me but it still tastes VERY good. As a first time bagel maker how can I reduce this smell next time? Is there an alternative to using egg? Do I need to add more water to the egg and very lightly brush the bagel? Thanks!
Rebecca Eisenberg
It definitely sounds like you used too much egg wash! In the future you can try using just egg white, or adding a little more water to the egg wash to thin it out. You also don't necessarily need the egg wash unless you're trying to get toppings to stick well; you can skip it if it bothers you that much!
Kellie
I made these today and they actually turned out! No one is more surprised by this than me, lol! The recipe was easy and they taste delicious!
Rebecca Eisenberg
I’m so glad you gave it a try! These really are the easiest bagels 🙂 enjoy them!!
Alyssa
Made these and had to pause halfway due to a work emergency. After I shaped them I threw them in the fridge for a couple of hours until I could resume the process. I let them come back to room temp and then just proceeded as directed. They. Were. Awesome! Not sure I’ll ever buy bagels from the grocery store again!
Val
Another five star recipe! This is the second time I’ve made the 3 hour bagels and with your detailed instructions I’m getting the hang of the rolling and shaping. I made two batches this time but mixed them separately with the dough hook. I was afraid it would be too much for the mixer to handle. Next time I would like to try your tip of mixing the toppings into the dough. Thank you so much for the great recipe! I’m having so much fun!
Rebecca Eisenberg
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this recipe! A whole world of fun bagel flavors awaits you 🙂
Elizabeth
Great recipe and directions! Made these bagels first time ever yesterday. I hand kneaded instead of using my Kitchenaid which wasn’t as arduous as I thought it would be. They came out delicious with everything spices for topping. My only difficulty was folding the dough ends up and pinching the dough together. They didn’t want to! In the end only two bagels had a bit of a bumpy bottom.
Lindsey b
I have been using this recipe for 2 weeks now and I absolutely love it, I have made cranberry and candied pecans bagels and a jerk seasoned cheddar bagel as well. Thank you for sharing
Rebecca Eisenberg
Oh, I'm so glad to hear that! Those sound like delicious bagel flavors!! Happy baking!
Dianne
Absolutely easy as can be! Instructions were perfect. Bagels look amazing. I’m waiting for them to cool. Will be working my way through other recipes from your site. Thanks!
Rebecca Eisenberg
I'm so glad you liked them! Happy baking!
Olivia
Do you have ideas for mix-ins for these bagels? I'm going to try them plain first to make sure I get the hang of the recipe, but I'd love a sweet option for breakfast bagels and maybe some savory options, too. Any ideas of what kind of mix-ins, or maybe just guidelines for mix-ins? Like dry vs. wet and how to adjust if it's a wetter mix-in? Thank you!
Rebecca Eisenberg
Great question! Most of my bagel recipes use this recipe as a base — I would recommend checking them out to find one that's similar to whatever you're trying to add and adapting it to use your mix-ins of choice. With wetter ingredients, you'll want to hold back some of the water in the dough, with drier ingredients you may need to increase the water just a bit. Make the recipe plain first so you get a sense of what the dough should feel like, and then it's easy to experiment and adjust from there. No matter what you add to the dough, you can always adjust the consistency by adding more flour if its too wet or more water if its too dry! Happy baking!
Rebecca
Yeah, these are ridiculously easy and delicious but have created a huge problem.
My family will now no longer eat store bought bagels.
😉
Rebecca Eisenberg
LMAO it's not the worst problem to have hahahaha
Cora Rea
If I could give this higher than a 5 star rating, I totally would! This was my first time ever baking anything that wasn't out of a box, and I don't think I will ever go back! This recipe was so simple and easy to follow! I love the entire set up of this page, and will definitely be making these a million more times! I put cheese over a few of the bagels after the egg wash, and they were to die for! My entire family was in love with the chewy, soft yet crispy texture and loved the flavor so much! Coming from the pickiest family ever, that means a lot! Thank you so much Rebecca! I had so much fun and can't wait to check out more of your recipes!
Rebecca Eisenberg
Welcome to the world of baking from scratch!! You should be so proud of yourself. Keep on baking and enjoy those bagels!
Megan
I love bagels, but have struggled making them from scratch before. Not with this recipe! I’ve made them a few times now, and they’ve been *chefs kiss* every time, if I do say so myself.
Diana
This recipe is fabulous and the results make you feel like an excellent baker. Thank you for sharing!
Ashley M
Could i substitute bread flour with this recipe (that's what i have on hand)? Or would it throw it off?
Rebecca Eisenberg
You can absolutely use bread flour! You may find you need to add a bit more water to the dough, but it will work.
Mary
This recipe was so easy to follow and has turned out great the two times I have made it. The second time I made 6 bagels rather than 8 because we prefer a bigger bagel and they still turned out delicious. Thank you Rebecca!
Sarah
This is only the second time I tried making bagels and OMG did they come out delicious!! Thank you for this recipe!
Elizabeth
First try making bagels and it was a success! Love the step by step pictures and that ingredients are by weight. Can’t wait to try more!!
Rebecca Eisenberg
Yes, #TeamKitchenScale all the way! Congrats on your bagel success, and cheers to many more!
Elena
I made these tonight as dinner rolls and they were AMAZING! crusty on the outside, soft and moist inside. I skipped adding a hole, skipped boiling, and skipped the egg wash. I'll have to try them as bagels at some point, too!
Dawn
Add my vote to the 5 star rating. My first attempt at bagels and they came out perfect. Topped with your 5 minute Everything Seasoning Blend. Your instructions are direct, and easy to follow, without overwhelming "wordsmithing". Your writing style is somewhat conversational so I feel like you could be in the kitchen next to me. I am a fan! Thank you for the many wonderful recipes.
Rebecca Eisenberg
Ohhh thank you so much for all the compliments — you're so sweet! I'm thrilled you enjoyed the bagels 🙂 Happy baking! ~Rebecca
Chrissy
Can't wait to try. Can you swap bread flour for all purpose?
Rebecca Eisenberg
Yep! It might need a little more water since bread flour is more absorbent but it will work just fine.
Patricia Jean Palmer
I have tried several bagel recipes and not found any success. This recipe was PERFECT!!!! They turned out so well and the process was very very easy. I can't wait to try making some with add-ins to change up the flavors!!
Rebecca Eisenberg
So glad you enjoyed these and had some bagel success!! Check out my other bagel recipes for some inspiration on other bagel flavors to try! Most of those recipes use this one as a base. Happy baking!
Abby
My kids beg for these bagels every weekend. I have found that a cold overnight proof yields better bagels, according to my teenage food critics.
Tatum
What an amazing recipe!! … I was halfway through and I almost gave up as it is my first time making bagels and I was unsure of what to expect throughout the process and had lots of doubts! I stuck it through and had some amazing bagels in the end.
Petrina
I've made this recipe twice and even my Dad liked them! I don't really remember having bagels in our house before. I made some for the neighbors and they said these were the best bagels they'd ever had! It's such an easy recipe and yet so yummy😋. Thank you!
Ashley
Would there be any additional flour needed or water depleted if added fresh blueberry puree?
Rebecca Eisenberg
Check out my recipe for blueberry bagels! It’s already formulated to incorporate blueberries.
Dinka
Hi! Can I make the dough in a breadmaker?
Rebecca Eisenberg
Yep!
Brie
I LOVE this recipe. I’ve made it a few times and they always turn out delicious, smothered in everything bagel seasoning or plain. The directions are easy to follow and the boule help is top notch. I think back to this recipe often as I bake other things now!
A question - I’m prepping for postpartum. Has anyone tried to freeze these (once totally cooled out of the oven)?? I’d think they’d freeze well, especially without toppings, but want to see if anyone has experience!
Rebecca Eisenberg
Bagels freeze AMAZINGLY well once they're completely cool. I like to slice them almost all the way through (so the two halves stay together) and then wrap them well in an airtight bag in the freezer. Let them defrost for a few minutes on the counter so you can break the two halves apart, then pop in the toaster oven and they'll be basically good as new!
AG
My first time making bagels and this was an amazing turn out! They were delicious! Will definitely try this recipe again but this time with toppings. Thank you!!!
Jackie Watson
I’m not a baker by any means, but this recipe was so simple and easy to follow! I added the Lipton Onion soup mix on top of the egg wash for my onion bagels (1 package covered 8 bagels), and cinnamon sugar for the others. I’ve also shared this link with my friends. I especially appreciate the tip for the bagel shaping, I just need a little (lot) more practice lol. Once I’ve made in the past told me to roll it and lock the ends in, but I didn’t like that at all.
Rebecca Eisenberg
OK using onion soup mix to make onion bagels is GENIUS, love that so much. I will definitely have to give that a try. Thanks for sharing, and keep on enjoying the bagels!
Daz
I've been working from your recipes for a few months now and these bagels came out even better than I expected!
Your instructions are always so easy to understand and remember, even when the chaos of baking has fully consumed my attention. Thank you so much for providing such a fantastic resource for us home bakers, I wouldn't have ever even tried baking my own bread if your recipes didn't make me feel confident that things would turn out alright!
Looking forward to having my own fresh bagels for many mornings to come!
Jenny
Like the English muffin recipe, I was doubting my ability to make what I thought would be so complicated. But these bagels were so easy and so fun to make (like the English muffins!). Your instructions are so easy to follow, and the gifs make it that much clear. My husband said we are never buying store bought bagels every again!