This is by far one of my family’s FAVORITE recipes. These Sourdough Bagels are so CHEWY on the outside and SOFT in the middle, you will never buy bagels again! This recipe is actually very easy once you have done it a couple times, and SO worth it!
Add your favorite toppings, such as Everything Bagel Seasoning, Sesame Seeds, Onion, Salt, or even Cinnamon Sugar! Regardless of what you put on top, these bagels don’t disappoint!
Homemade Sourdough Bagels
This is by far one of my family's FAVORITE recipes. These Sourdough Bagels are so CHEWY on the outside and SOFT in the middle, you will never buy bagels again! This recipe is actually very easy once you have done it a couple times, and SO worth it! If you aren't a fan of the Everything Topping, just skip that and bake as is for Scrumptious Plain Bagels, or experiment with any topping you like! My family loves these with a little Vegan Cream Cheese and Earth Balance. Either way, you will not be sorry you made them!
Servings: 8 Large Bagels
Equipment
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Tray
- Mixing Bowl
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook (I have a Kitchen Aid)
- Pot for Boiling Water
- Baking Scale (if you don't have one, that's ok!)
Ingredients
- 125g or ⅔ cup Sourdough Starter My starter is 90% hydration
- 250g or 1 cup Filtered Water Don't want any hard chemicals in water
- 2 tbsp Agave or Maple Syrup 1 tbsp in dough, 1 tbsp in water when boiling
- 10g or ½ tbsp Sea Salt (Non-Iodized) Iodized salt can kill the yeast, causing dough not to rise
- 550g or 3½ cups Bread Flour (more for dusting) Or any high gluten flour, I used Montana White wheat
- ¼ cup Everything Bagel Seasoning (or topping of choice) I buy mine at Costco, Trader Joe's
Instructions
Mixing Dough & Overnight Rise
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, weigh out the starter (SEE NOTES) then zero the scale and weigh out the water.
- Repeat this process for the Maple Syrup (or agave if that's what you chose).
- Mix these ingredients together quickly with a spoon or spatula.
- Next, in a smaller container, weigh out the salt. (I do this separately, as I have had many mishaps with adding WAY too much salt, and ruining the dough!)
- Lastly, zero out the mixer bowl and begin adding the flour. Once you have reached the correct weight, add the salt you previously weighed. Attach the mixer bowl to the stand mixer with a dough hook.
- Put the mixer on the lowest setting and let it mix until a dough comes together. If you have to scrape down the sides a couple times, that is OK. The dough will look like a nice tight little dough ball and should be easy to handle. (*If you are doing this by hand, bring the dough together in the bowl, getting as much off the sides as possible)
- Once the dough is ready, move to a clean bowl and cover with a damp towel and place on your counter overnight. Note: If you live in a very dry climate,l ike I do, you may need to place your dough in the oven over night, or to cover the dough with a bowl cover in order to keep the moisture in.
Shaping & Second Rise
- In the morning, check on your dough, if it has doubled in size and you can visibly see air bubbles, it is ready! If not, let it rise some more.
- Prepare a baking tray with parchment and sprinkle some flour on the parchment. This will prevent the bagels from sticking as they do their second rise.
- Lightly flour your work surface and carefully scrape dough out of bowl. (It will be sticky)
- Gently cut into 8 pieces. These will be big bagels, so if you prefer to divide it up more, you certainly can! I tend to make the dough a nice ball shape and then smoosh it into a thick disk and cut into equal triangles. I have also made it a nice long baguette shape and then cut them that way as well.
- Once you have your pieces, roll them into balls and then push your thumb through the middle and gently stretch the dough out, creating a hole. (By doing it this way, there are no seam and the bagels will not fall apart as easily.)
- Place each bagel on prepared baking sheet and cover with a tea towel.
- Let them rise for an hour (maybe two, depending on your kitchen temp) until they are nice and puffy.
Boiling & Baking
- During this time you can prepare your boiling pan and pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Fill a pan (I use my wok) with at least 3" of water, and 1 tbsp of Maple syrup or agave (if you have neither of these, granulated sugar works too).
- Bring the water to boil once bagels have risen.
- Gently place 3 or 4 bagels into the boiling water, boiling on each side for 90 seconds.
- Once they are done, use a slotted spoon or spatula, to place back on baking tray.
- While they are still wet, sprinkle them with the everything seasoning, or whatever your little heart desires! The topping should stick nicely!
- Repeat this for all the bagels.
- Place the baking sheet of bagels on the middle rack of the oven and bake @ 425 degrees Fahrenheit, for 25-30 minutes depending on how hot your oven is. (If baking smaller bagels, check the bagels at 20 minutes as they will cook faster.)
- Once the bagels look golden brown, they are done!Place bagels on a baking rack to cool.
- You can enjoy them warm and FRESH, or toast them once they cool! Place leftover bagels in an airtight container and leave on counter. Ours last up to 5 days usually, if we don't eat them all!! **
Notes
Do NOT OVER-PROOF! It is better to shape your dough into bagels when it is under-proofed, and to let them rise for an extra 30 min- 1 hour on your counter AS BAGELS before boiling. If over-proofed, the bagels will be too soft and airy, and when you do shape and boil them they will not puff up as much and become smooth. I find that it is best to use the dough before it gets to that point. If your dough has over-proofed, do not let the bagels rise for long once shaped. Boil them almost straight away, roughly 30 min after shaping them.
Special Note: I bake using a scale, so the conversions may vary depending on types of flour used and so on. If not using a scale, I would do all the measurements as stated and then adjust the flour so the dough is the consistency shown in the pictures. Good luck! Before you get started on this recipe, you will want to make sure you have an active starter. This means you will need to feed your starter within 3-10 hours of using it for this recipe. An active starter will be nice and bubbly and light. If you are unsure, you can take a small piece of your starter and put it in water, active starters should float! An Example of an active starter :
Special Note: I bake using a scale, so the conversions may vary depending on types of flour used and so on. If not using a scale, I would do all the measurements as stated and then adjust the flour so the dough is the consistency shown in the pictures. Good luck! Before you get started on this recipe, you will want to make sure you have an active starter. This means you will need to feed your starter within 3-10 hours of using it for this recipe. An active starter will be nice and bubbly and light. If you are unsure, you can take a small piece of your starter and put it in water, active starters should float! An Example of an active starter :
Example Schedule:
- 8 AM – Take starter out of fridge to bring to room temperature.
- Anytime from 11 AM-2 PM – Feed Starter.
- 8 PM – Mix bagel dough in stand mixer, cover and let sit at room temperature overnight. (If your starter is ready before you planned, you can make your dough in the afternoon- once made – cover dough tight and put in fridge. Take out before you go to bed, cover with a damp tea towel and put on counter. This will slow the fermentation process)
- 7 AM – Divide bagel dough, shape and cover with tea towel.
- 7:30 AM – Prepare boiling water and preheat oven.
- 8 AM – Boil bagels, add toppings and bake. Voila!
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