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
Can you please suggest a substitute if I do not want to use egg whites.
Hi Preethi, instead of egg wash, you can try brushing them with some milk before baking.
Absolutely OUTSTANDING bagels–my family and friends routinely compliment these as the best bagels they’ve ever had. Surprisingly easy and just so, so perfect.
It might, though, be worth mentioning that the bagels puff up in the water bath–I messed up my first few batches because I would shape my bagels, worry about how small they looked, and try stupid crap like adding a second rise.
Hi .. I am going to make bagels for the first time ever using this recipe.
Is bread flour the same as all purpose flour ? Can I use all purpose flour in this recipe ?
Thanks
Hi Rutu, bread flour has a higher protein content and produces a chewier bagel. See recipe notes for details!
Awesome! The only place to get a bagel in Australia is Starbucks, and I love me a caramel macchiato but I can’t just spend $10 every time I want a bagel! This recipe was easy peasy and worked great. I’m always nervous to try bread recipes but this is one bread I can officially make! ❤
I just made these for the first time. The taste was great. The bagels puffed up a lot in the boiling water bath and then sunk a bit in the oven, so maybe the dough was over-risen? I had proofed the yeast with the barley malt syrup and water and then allowed the dough to rise for 90 minutes before shaping. The texture was at the same time a bit too soft and a bit too chewy (seems contradictory!). Maybe the softness was the result of over-rising? Maybe the extra chewiness (particularly in the crust) was the result of boiling too long (1 minute each side)? Or maybe my bread flour had too high a protein content (King Arthur at 12.7%)? I could try substituting a bit of all purpose flour for some of the bread flour. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Also, I wondered if you had recipes for rye or pumpernickel bagels?
Thanks
Hi Michael! Yes, it sounds like your dough was over-proofed. Try reducing the rise time next time. King Arthur bread flour should be perfect for this recipe. Bagels are supposed to be extra chewy – were they too chewy? We haven’t tested pumpernickel bagels yet, but please let us you know if you do!
Can you make this recipe with sourdough starter? Thanking in you in advance
Best regards Renée
I’ve been making this recipe with sourdough starter for almost a year with great results! Just make sure to reduce the water and flour amounts by what is contained in your starter. And, of course, you’ll need to increase the rise times. I usually do my first rise overnight on the counter so we can have fresh, hot bagels for breakfast.
Thank you very much Katie for your reply
Regards Renée
Absolutely amazing however, I only boiled it for 1 minute 30secs on each side it came out perfect. Thank you for this brilliant recipe
I have a wheat intolerance that developed recently and I miss eating bagels so much. can I use a GF flour substitute? Is there a specific one you recommend?
Hi Elizabeth, we haven’t tested these bagels with gluten free flour. Let us know if you try it!
Maybe I simply did the recipe poorly, but my bagels both taste and look awful.
Hi Fyodor! Could you be more specific about your results? Did they not rise? Did you make any changes to the recipe? We’re happy to help!
is there a newsletter for this site as i keep forgetting it exists by not getting emails for it like i do with all the other recipe sites (if there is i can’t find it so please point me to the button saying newsletter)
Hi Gareth, thanks! You can sign up for our email list on this page.
I’m planning to make this bagel dough tonight and to let it rise in the fridge overnight, but I’m worried about overproofing it. Is there a maximum amount of time it can be left in the fridge to rise?
Hi Audrey, It’s best to stick to about 12 hours if possible!
Thank you! I left them in the fridge for 12 hours and they turned out great.
If I reduce the flour to 3 cups,how much should I reduce the other ingredients?
Hi E, You’ll want to keep the ratio of ingredients the same. So if you are reducing the flour by 75% you will have to reduce the rest of the ingredients by 75% also. If you don’t want to do that math you can make the full recipe and freeze any leftovers (see recipe notes)!
Is reducing 1 cup 75%? I don’t mean reducing 3 cups but reducing 1 cup so we have 3 cups left.
Yes, using 3 cups instead of 4 is 75% (or 3/4)
I’ve only got 3 cups of bread flour, can I sub one cup with AP?
Hi Zee, that will work in a pinch (keep in mind the bagels won’t be as chewy).
Hi
These bagels look awesome!!! I wanted to ask some questions.
1. Can I make this into matcha and white choco bagel by adding matcha powder and white choco?
2. Will the chocolate not melt while boiling if I add chocolate inside or will it be fine?
3. If I add chocolate, is it OK to let it rise in the fridge over night?
Thanm you so much!
Hi E, for chocolate chip bagels, you can chocolate chips in when we add the raisins in our Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. Same amount. You can still follow the overnight instructions. We haven’t tried adding matcha powder, but let us know if you try anything!
Followed exactly the measurements for the dough, however my dough was very sticky and nothing as you described it in your method. It didn’t look dry or heavy.
Hi Rose, there are many factors that can impact yeasted dough, including humidity, temperature in your kitchen, etc. If you found the dough too sticky, feel free to add additional flour (about a tablespoon at a time) until the dough comes together. Also, generously flour your hands when handling the dough. Thanks so much for giving these bagels a try!
Bagels turned out great. Reminded me of the bagels my dad would buy on Sunday mornings, hot from the bagel place. No need to toast them. Wish I could share a picture.
I made this and it turned out really well. I used half whole-wheat flour and the other half bread flour, the texture was perfect. And putting in honey instead of baking soda for the boiling, just the perfect solution for the horrible after taste that I usually get if it’s baking soda.
Will definitely make this again. Oh and I halved the size , so got 16 bagels, perfect serving size for us Asians.
This recipe is fantastic and quite versatile! I’ve probably used it about a dozen times and it never fails. I just tried the overnight method last night and it totally develops the flavor, do yourself a favor and try it! You won’t regret it!
Hi!
These look so great! Just wanted to know, how could I make this into a choclate chip bagel? How much chocolate chips should I add?
TIA
Hi El, for chocolate chip bagels, you can chocolate chips in when we add the raisins in our Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. Same amount. Let us know if you give them a try!
Why do you not add baking soda to the boiling water?
Hi Shaun, the sugar from the honey or barley malt adds extra caramelization and crisp to give them that signature bagel coating. You could use baking soda if desired, but the coating would be more like a soft pretzel.
The recipe was EASY to follow however, I needed to add 1tsp of sugar to the water so that the yeast would rise. That is the only change I made! I made one batch of plain (AMAZINGLY CHEWY!) and one batch of cinnamon raisin crunch and took the advice of NOT doubling the batch, rather making two SEPARATE batches. As another baker commented, make sure you have the shape you want BEFORE putting the bagels into the honey bath since that is what you’ll get when you bake them! WONDERFUL recipe. My family LOVED them and I don’t think I’ll ever BUY bagels again!
I love this recipe, and I make it often!!
Question for you though … after a day, the ones with toppings (which are our fav) get kind of weird. Like, the tops of the bagels get a little dimpled and tough. I know bagels are best the day of, but we can’t eat that many bagels in one day. Okay, okay, we CAN, but we shouldn’t 🙂
Is there any way I can prevent that from happening? Is there a way to store them to fix this? Any ideas would be very appreciated!
Hi Amanda! We’re so happy you love these bagels. Best way to store them is to tightly cover and store at room temperature – make sure to completely cool them before sealing. They will get a little moisture on them but always toast up perfectly! You could try leaving the container open just a crack to prevent the sticky tops. Hope this helps!
Made Bagels. First time. They are awesome !
Had one problem & need help.
Boiled bagels.
DRAINED & put wet bagels on parchment lined cookie sheet.
They baked fast to the parchment paper. What did I do wrong?
Cut off bottom & bagels were delicious!
How di I prevent that in future?
Hi GwynAnn, if the bottoms of your bagels are burning, try lowering the oven temperature a bit 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. Thanks so much for giving these a try!
do you let the bagels rise a bit after shaping them, before boiling them?
Hi Danae! Just loosely cover the shaped bagels with kitchen towel and rest for a few minutes as you prepare the water bath, no need for another rise.
I have tried several bagel recipes and failed. This recipe is not only easy it is amazing. I have made it several times and I have never had a failure. Thank you so much for this recipe.
I made these this afternoon, and they turned out so good! I wish I could attach a pic of them. This is a great recipe!!!
I actually have loads of barley malt syrup! Do you use the same amount as listed for sugar, i.e. 1TBsp ? Thank you!
Yes, same amount — enjoy, Rona!
I tried this recipe of bagels and they’re soooo good. An advice is that before boiling them shape them nice and pretty because after you boil them you won’t be able to shape their imperfections. You should definitly try to make these, you won’t regret it.
Wonderful recipe, turned out nicely and very simple to follow! Will definitely be making again 🙂
Great bagels, this is my go-to recipe for bagels now that I’ve made them a few times. I do skip the egg wash before baking because I didn’t have it on hand once and I didn’t miss it.