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
I have made this recipe several times now and have come out with delicious, wonderful bagels each time! I usually do the overnight method to save a little time the day of and for the added flavor. Each flavor variation that I’ve made (everything, plain, and Asiago) has been a big hit with my friends/family and I can’t wait to try more!
So excited to find this recipe. My son is allergic to sesame so we can no longer eat store bought bagels. My dough came out extremely dry and the bagels were therefore very lumpy and misshapen (although I think the texture and taste is good!). Should I increase the water next time? I am at altitude if that matters. Thank you!
Hi Aly, How are you measuring your flour? Make sure to spoon and level (not scoop) to avoid packing in too much flour which would result in a dry dough.
Bagels tasted amazing, the only issue I had is the bottoms were a little hard. The top and sides were perfect but the bottom was hard, any suggestions??
Hi Nicole! You can try moving the baking rack position down to the lower third. Or try reducing the bake time by a couple minutes. Glad you enjoyed the bagels!
I followed this recipe to the exact directions. They were terrific. I just wonder how you could make these topped with cheese?
Hi Sue, we’re so glad you enjoyed these bagels! After brushing with egg wash in step 9, you can sprinkle the tops with cheese.
Super easy and straight forward recipe. The bagels turned out fantastic right off the bat!
First time making bagels ever, and that was intuitive and easy. Thanks for sharing this incredible recipe.
Hi Sally, I’m curious, would it be possible to make these without a stand mixer? I don’t currently own one but would love to give it a try if it seems feasible to do without! 🙂
Hi Lena, you can mix the dough together in a large bowl then knead by hand for 10-15 minutes. Hope you love the bagels!
Hi, do you use regular table salt or Kosher salt in your bagels?
Hi Kim! We always use table salt unless otherwise noted.
at what point do I add the topping of sesame seeds and or any other seeds?
Hi Peggy, add the seeds after brushing with egg wash in step 9.
Awesome bagels! Only thing I want to fix is the bottoms turned out dark. They were not burnt, just dark and a bit hard. I cooked them on the third rack from the bottom using the silpat.
Your recipes are ALWAYS excellent. These were terrific! I worked in one of the best bagel shops on Long Island while in High School. I’m picky about bagels. This is darn good. Thank you Sally!
Best recipie
This is the perfect recipe…easy and fun to make!!
Can you substitute the flour for one-for-one gluten free flour?
This is a fantastic recipe! It’s precisely the flavor and texture I crave! I didn’t use a mixer and they turned out great. Thanks for this new addition to my Top Ten Favorite Things to Cook.
These bagels are delicious!! First time making bagels, and I intend to make them again.
Hey I just wanted to know how many calories is one bagel?
Hi Suad, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
First time making bagels and you made it really easy. My dough balls had a hard time forming the bagel shape. The dough wouldn’t form a solid ball on some of them – it separated and I couldnt make it stick back together. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Hi Caroline, We’re glad you tried this recipe. It sounds like your dough was simply too heavy, which is why it separated. 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.
Made these several times and they are delicious. How long can you proof in fridge overnight? Trying to determine how early in the day I can make dough for use next morning.
Sure can! See Overnight instructions.
These bagels were amazing and super easy!! Won’t be buying store bought anymore. If I were to make blueberry bagels, how would you do that? Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
Hi Rachel, for blueberry bagels, you can add dried blueberries in when we add the raisins in our Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. So glad you loved them!
Can I use wholegrain flour for this?
I’m trying to eat healthier and I know there are wholegrain recepies out there, but I’d prefer to use yours I have the most trust in this one
Hi Spela, while you can certainly give it a try, the bagels will likely be quite tough and dense. You could try swapping half of the bread flour for wholegrain flour, then adjusting more/less for future batches. Let us know how it goes!
when I prove the dough in the fridge overnight I never get a nice hole when I bake them… any tips on what i might be doing wrong?
Hi Emma! Is the dough rising and filling in the middle hole? Shaping the bagels to have a larger center opening can help!
First time making these and they were AMAZING!!!!!! I will be making these again!! I will try some different toppings next time!
I love fresh bagels and would always go buy them from a local bakery. I finally decided to make my own to save money and used this recipe. I have never done any baking before so I was intimidated. I followed your recipe and they turned out amazing. Thank you, now I’m saving all the money and enjoying the freshest bagels.
These are SO GOOD, and so easy to make! The hardest part (other than waiting) was shaping them into something that resembled a bagel instead of a dinner roll, but WOW, these are delicious!
My first time trying to make bagels, and this was a FANTASTIC recipe! Sally is my go-to for recipes!! My only question is related to making larger quantities and the honey/water pot. With using the 1/4 c honey and 2 qts water pot, how many bagels do you think you boil using that initial pot? Or should you make a new mixture every time? Trying to conserve my honey but make several dozen bagels at a time! hope this makes sense. Thanks for your help!
Hi Sarah, we’re unsure exactly how many bagels you can boil using that one pot/mixture, but feel free to use it for as many bagels as you can before it gets too low. So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi Sarah! I found that after about 16 bagels, I needed to add a little more water (only due to evaporation), and then added a bit more honey to make sure everything was evenly submerged.
Looking forward to making these! I do have a question, though. Can I use something else instead of egg? My husband is very allergic to egg, and I’d rather not kill him
Hi Natalie, We haven’t tested this recipe with egg substitutes, but let us know if you do.
I haven’t tried this specifically with bagels, but have substituted almond milk (I think any type of milk would work) for egg wash on other baked goods recipes with success. Might be worth a try!
I love this recipe and have used aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) multiple times – it works quite well!
Made everything bagels last weekend and they were fantastic. Cheese version is riding in fridge now to be made tomorrow morning. Can’t wait. These are better than any I’ve had at my local bagel places. Need to drive 35-40 min to get a bagel even close to this good. 10 out of 10 recommend!! Trying the barley malt syrup with this round, used plain sugar last time and worked great.
These bagels are so delicious. I did the overnight rise in the fridge, and used brown sugar & honey since I didn’t have the malt syrup. The bagels are so yummy! Beautifully browned, crusty outsides and soft, chewy insides – everything you want from a bagel! Thanks for this easy to follow recipe.
This is my go-to recipe! Due to personal preference though, I use AP flour instead of bread. The results are a lighter/airy inside. I thought the bread flour made them too dense! It’s interesting to play around with it. I also just made my own creamcheese!
I made these yesterday evening for overnight to cook this morning the recipe was great but my bagels came out dense …..please help tell me what to do to correct……
Hi Angela, we’re so glad you enjoy these! Bagels are meant to be quite dense and chewy. If they seem too tough though, they could have been simply over-baked. Be sure, too, that you’re spooning and leveling your flour (or using a kitchen scale) so that the flour isn’t over measured. Hope this helps for next time!
Great recipe! Thanks for this, I did the cheese version topped with poppyseed and sunflower seeds with cheese/ onion powder. They were delicious