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! Watch the video tutorial before you get started.
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-bread baking—and I’m right here to guide you along! This recipe is such a fan favorite that I included it in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
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. (P.S. Each of those recipes has a video tutorial!)
Bagels Require a Lean Dough
The first step is to make the bagel dough. You need only 5 ingredients:
- Warm Water: Liquid for the dough.
- Yeast: Allows the dough to rise. I recommend an instant or active dry yeast.
- Barley Malt Syrup or Sugar: Bakeries use barley malt syrup to sweeten the bagel dough—it can be a little difficult to find, but either white or brown sugar is a fine substitute.
- 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!
- 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 cranberry nut 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 stand 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.
- Blueberry Bagels: Follow my blueberry 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 sea 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!
Homemade 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. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360g/ml) warm water (between 100–110°F/38–43°C)
- 2 and 3/4 teaspoons (8g) instant or active dry yeast*
- 1 Tablespoon barley malt syrup, granulated sugar, or brown sugar*
- 4 cups (520g) bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed*
- 2 teaspoons salt
- for coating the bowl: nonstick spray, butter, or oil
For Boiling & Topping
- 2 quarts (1.9L) water
- 1/4 cup (85g) barley malt syrup or honey
- egg wash: 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, whisk the warm water, barley malt syrup/sugar, and yeast together. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.*
- Add the flour and salt, and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it seems too sticky and clings to the sides of the bowl instead of forming a rough mass around the dough hook or spoon, add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and continue to mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be stiff and somewhat dry. If it is crumbly and breaks off in pieces, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Knead the dough: When the dough has reached the proper consistency, beat on low speed with the dough hook for an additional 6–7 minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 6–7 minutes, until the dough feels smooth, supple, and elastic. (If you’re new to bread-making, 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 nonstick spray, butter, or oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1.5–2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape the bagels: When the dough is risen, punch it down to release the air. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 ounces (113g) each. Shape each piece into a ball. Press your index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole, then stretch and widen the hole to about 1.5–2 inches in diameter. Arrange the shaped bagels on the prepared baking sheets. Loosely cover the shaped bagels with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 5–10 minutes as you prepare the water bath.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Water bath: Fill a large, wide pot with 2 quarts (1.9L) of water. Whisk in the barley malt syrup or honey. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-high. Drop 2 or 3 bagels in at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Boil the bagels for 1 minute, then use a spatula to flip each bagel over and boil for 1 minute more. Using a slotted metal spatula, lift the bagels out of the water, letting the excess water drain off. Place the bagels back on the lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining bagels.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of each bagel. If you’re adding toppings, dip the tops of the bagels into the toppings immediately after applying the egg wash.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the bagels are dark golden brown. Allow the bagels to cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Slice, toast, top, enjoy however you want! Cover leftover bagels tightly and store at room temperature for up to 4 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. 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 5- or 6-quart Dutch Oven) | Pastry Brush
- Yeast: Use instant or active dry yeast. If using active dry yeast, the rise time may be closer 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.
- 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 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.
- 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
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally! I love your recipes and have been making them for years! Just made these bagels tonight and the smell is amazing! I’m planning to enjoy one tomorrow morning. Wondering if you’ve had success with adding fruit to this recipe? My brother loves blueberry bagels so I’d love to hear any tips you might have. Thanks!
We love making your bagels! We made mini bagels for my younger kids, and they turned out great! Instead of dividing the dough into 8 pieces, divide into 16, and then bake 15-18 minutes. Thanks again Sally!
When I found this bagel recipe I was done!!! These are it! They are the best! We love them so much and eat them without any toppings they are just that good!! Highly recommend!!
Hi, Sally! I love SO MANY of your amazing recipes, but this really was my most favorite discovery. I do have a question about this recipe, though. Could I make 6 larger bagels instead of the 8 this recipe indicates? I would imagine they would take a minute or 2 longer to bake? Thanks!
Hi Linda, we don’t see why that wouldn’t work. Would love to hear how they go!
Sally, really lovvvved your bagel recipe. A few years back I had an opportunity to have a NY behalf. John A. has some good points about the thin, crusty, and soft inside texture in NY bagels. I read this article that some might want to experiment with your recipe. Putting in a shaped dough in the fridge overnight for example. Here it is.
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/the-secret-behind-why-new-york-bagels-are-so-good
Thanks for enlightening us once again with your creations.
Sally, I shared your recipe to my family in the metro area and they are coming over the weekend to enjoy time together and bagels. I followed Peter Reinhart’s recipe and noted his recipe provided grams. The results of a soft, stretchy, and firm dough without stickiness was perfect.
I believe forming a Sponge for a few hours until it is bubbly and grown is important in forming the texture when adding the remaining flour, salt, sugar, and malt, and a portion of the total instant yeast 1/4 tsp yeast. This contributes to hydration, and rising dough. It is placed in the fridge overnight that imparts a flavor that is Not “bread roll” like.
The other difference is the Diastolic Malt Powder is an active ensime that imparts flavor and structure that is characteristic of the bagel. The barley malt syrup needs to be active diastolic rather than no diastolic. For that reason, the molasses imparts flavor but not the transformation that DMP imparts.
One more consideration, the bagel dough is shaped ahead of time and placed in the fridge and immediate boiled in a 2 L water and 1 tsp baking soda bath before placing in the oven for two 5 min periods at 450.
This all resulted in a thin crisp skin, and airy interior and flavor I have never experienced. It is incredible, perhaps similar to the New York experience everyone from NY claims. If the bagel is soft and chewy with a bread texture, I assume it is similar to our specialty bagel places across the country and not the NY experience.
These came out beautiful. I used molasses instead of barley malt and it was a great flavor.
I plan on trying the cinnamon raisin ones next week.
Enjoyed my first try of your recipe Sally. The texture inside and out was bagel. The bite about like a pretzel without the baking soda.
I used self rising all purpose flour because that is what I had. That means that I didn’t need salt because of the baking soda or baking powder in the self rising flour.
The dough was firm and smooth after a 90 min rise. I had a jar of yeast that did not have a label. After mixing in the dry ingredients, I realized it was not instant yeast. I added the salt after kneeding for 10 min because I did not want the salt to interact with the active yeast before it could develop into the dough. The salt, I believe breaks the gluten strands.
Since I did not activated the yeast, I placed the dough in my stainless steel mixer bowl with a silicone lid in the oven at 150 degrees F for 5 min and then turned off the oven. Then, let it rest for 90 minutes.
The dough doubled in size. I pressed the dough and formed individual balls about 135 gms each. I had a mini bun cake form to help open holes in the center.
When I booked the water, I added 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3 table spoons of dark molasses, forgot the honey. The bagel dough first sunk to the bottom while I moved the water and released the bagel with a wire spoon. The bagels rolled in the boiling water and seemed to be half way rotating vertically in the water. I removed the around 3 minutes.
Used the hand of the large wooden wire spoon to open the hole on each side of the bagel. Then placed the egg wash liberally on each side on a purferated round shallow bowl shaped wire tray. The tray was upside down giving a larger surface area for the bagels to sit above a deep wall pan. I placed a quarter cup of water in the pan to help crisp the outer edges.
After 20 min the top sides were deep brown and the inside lightly baked and bottoms light in color. I flipped, the bagels and placed them back in the oven for five min with the oven at temp but immediately turned it off. Allowed the backside to brown for 5 min.
Well textured, no noticeable surger flavor, cooked like a bagel on the inside. Next time, I will make sure that I have your ingredients before trying again.
Perfect bagel, just like the bakery. Wish I could post a photo of them.
I just got done making these bagels. The dough was super stiff when I was making it. I tried adding just a tad bit more water, which helped a little. When I was punching the dough back down and forming them into their shape, the dough was splitting and cracking a bit. I think from them being so dry and dense. When they baked they baked with a bunch of cracks as well. Anything I can change for the next go around?
Hi Justine, I’m glad you tried this recipe but I’m sorry it gave you a little trouble. It sounds like your dough was simply too heavy, which is why it kept splitting and why the bagels cracked as they baked. If this happens again, work more warm water into the dough to smooth it out. Even just a few teaspoons will help– and you can drizzle it on the dough after you punch it down, then work it in with your hands. I hope this is helpful.
im 15 years old and have made this dozens of times. my family loves them; my grandma actually requested them for christmas!! very easy, requires very little ingredients or practice
This is the first time I’ve ever made bagels. When I placed the bagels into the water they did not float?! They sunk to the bottom. Did I do something wrong?! They came out very dense and not fluffy?!
Hi Tom, I’m concerned your yeast may be inactive or the dough isn’t rising long enough. There should be enough air in the shaped bagels that they float. Try again with new yeast and let the dough rise a little longer in step 4.
Just to note: I combined 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour with 1 1/2 cup white flour, and 1 cup Spelt flour. I increased the liquid to 1 3/4 cup. Delicious. The best I’ve ever made (first time making this recipe).
Absolutely amazing. These are really fluffy bagels. The best I’ve ever made. I used a bread machine to knead and rise the dough (setting of bread).
I really appreciate your thorough instructions and thoughtful notes! I’ve made these a few times, but they haven’t been as high as yours. The dough feels right, bagels puff up nicely after shaping and float easily, but they flatten after boiling (20-30 seconds per side). They’re ok for sandwiches, but I’d like “fluffier” bagels. Suggestions?
Did you use the barley malt syrup? I have made bagels with and without it and found it makes all the difference in texture. The syrup has a different sugar texture to give the yeast the nutrients it needs to make a fluffier bagel. Plus, a longer rise time is helpful. I let my dough rise for 90 minutes.
I made these for the first time and they were perfect!!! Thank you!
Great to see you mention barley malt syrup. This made all the difference to the flavour (and texture) of my bagels.
I made these for the first time today. They just came out of the oven and they smell delicious but they do look a little flat. Question: The dough was REALLY sticky for me. I used the exact amount of flour indicated in the recipe. Should I have added flour?
Hi Jen, There are a lot of variances that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. There’s nothing wrong with adding just a little more flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency. Just remember that the dough is supposed to be a little soft, so don’t over-flour it. A firmer dough should create puffier bagels for you next time!
I love this recipe! It’s so easy and my boyfriend requests them weekly :). I had been making them with the brown sugar & honey substitutes until we recently found a home brew store with barley malt. I’ve now made them twice with barley malt and the flavor is great (definitely more traditional than with the brown sugar) and they are chewy, but the outside doesn’t crisp as much as with the honey, any suggestions? Or was this your experience as well when making them both ways?
We would like to keep using the barley malt as its cheaper, better flavor, and boiling with honey made them a bit on the sweet side, is there a specific barley malt that you buy? The brew store had various ones from light to dark. Thanks for the help!
Hi Sarah, somehow I’m just seeing your comment/question now so my apologies on the delay responding to you. I’m so glad to read that you enjoy these bagels! I found the bagels to have a nice crisp both ways (even with the barley malt syrup), so I’m wondering if you just need to bake the bagels an extra minute or two? That will definitely help. We use and love Eden brand organic barley malt syrup.
Hello, can I use instant yeast in the overnight version of the recipe? If so, are there any modifications needed?
Thank you!
Hi Alyssa, instant yeast will work, following the overnight instructions in the recipe notes with no other modifications needed. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious! My husband says he could not tell them apart from NYC bagels, and no special water is needed (as they like to claim about NYC bagels).
These are delicious, but every time they come out slightly underbaked around the hole. I’ve left them in for a lot longer than what’s required, and they are definitely dark golden brown, and the bottoms are approaching overdone. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Arielle, try reducing the oven temperature a bit. (Try 375°F (191°C).) This may help them cook more evenly. The bake time will be longer since the oven temperature is lower.
Hi Sally
I tried your recipe and I am very happy how they came out. My wife, who is a New Jersey Jewish girl and considers herself a bagel snob, gave your recipe (which I followed to the letter) 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!
Have made this recipe a few times & have loved it! Have also passed it along to others who have also loved it. Wondering if anyone has tried whole wheat flour?
Hi Nicole, I would recommend replacing only half of the bread flour with whole wheat flour, if desired. Bagels require a high protein flour, so you will definitely want some bread flour in the recipe. Let us know how they turn out for you!
Yes!! I made half whole wheat and half white flour and they turned out great! I wouldn’t recommend any more than 50% of the whole wheat to 50% of the white flour.
When you use whole wheat flour you have to have a higher water ratio because of the density. If you don’t use more water the bagels will be dryer and mealy this is also the reason I wouldn’t add more whole wheat flour to the 50/50 ratio. That being said, keep in mind that the dough will be stickier and airier so keep white flour on hand to better handle it. You actually want the dough to be stickier and airier with whole wheat flour because that’s what ensures that you won’t have dry mealy bagels.
So what I did to keep a higher ratio of water is I decreased each of the cups of flour by about 1/8 or so ( truth be told I eyeballed it)
Hope it works for you as well as it did for me!
I’m interested in trying the recipe and I want to leave the dough in the frig overnight before forming and baking. Can you clarify your instructions for refrigerating overnight after going thru step 4: That means I let the dough rise at room temp, then put it in the frig to let it rise? Sounds like that’s a double rise?
Hi Sam, For the overnight instructions we are allowing the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature (so skip the 60-90 minute room temperature rise in step #4). This slower rise gives the bagels wonderful flavor!
Great recipe! Easy and delicious! The only issue I’ve had are the bagels are burning on the bottom, is there a way to fix this? I am using darker pans so wondering if I should decrease the heat? I have even gotten them out early and they’re still too crispy on the bottom. Thank you!
Hi Alyssa, If they’re too hard on the bottoms, try lowering the oven temperature or even flipping them over halfway through baking (if you’re making plain bagels). Also, wait for the bagels to somewhat dry before baking. It could be the water from the boiling step that is burning on the bottoms.
For freezing dough, is there a reason you can’t freeze the individual balls in step 6 (instead of the whole dough?)
You could definitely freeze the dough portioned out instead of as a whole.
The first attempt turned out pretty well, although they took longer to bake then the recipe suggested. I pulled them at 30 minutes, and they probably needed another 1-2. That could be an oven issue. I don’t think it had to do with them being in the fridge overnight. I have to work on that.
One problem during the process was forming the balls. They simply wouldn’t form. When I tried finding the dough on itself, it didn’t stick and just sprang back. I ended up with some crevices and little pieces sticking out. They tasted ok, but it would have been nice to get them a little nicer looking.
These taste amazing and they look so nice and professional once you get the hang of it
First time with this recipe, which is slightly less fussy than the one I’ve been using. These turned out delicious and I’d say the effort is about the same as driving to my local bagel shop and waiting in line, with the added bonus of that heavenly bread smell permeating the house. I only had AP flour so I added a couple tablespoons of vital wheat gluten for chewiness. Made four plain ones for the kids, and two each with Trader Joe’s Everything but the bagel sesame seasoning blend and furikake. Delicious with egg, cream cheese, smoked salmon, and capers!