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
Followed instructions EXACTLY as written but bagels were pretty flat and wet in some places. Tasted great. Not sure why they were flat instead of puffy like yours look.
These are the bagels ever. I moved away from my all time favorite bagel shop and had to learn how to make mine at home. I’ve made this recipe enough times to have finished off my jar of barley malt syrup on this batch. This recipe has never failed. I like to boil mine for only 30 seconds per side to make them a bit less chewy for my toddlers little teeth. Our family favorite topping combo is asiago cheese and everything bagel seasoning for the best of both worlds. You will not regret making these!
Love this recipe and shifting into fall mode would love to be able to make pumpkin bagels so I don’t need to stalk them at Trader Joe’s. Thoughts on how I could modify the recipe, adding pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice perhaps.
To use pumpkin I’d suggest reducing the pumpkin puree in a 350°f (150°c) oven for about 20 minutes until it’s almost a paste. Then you can use it instead of water. Mix the yeast and sugar into the pumpkin when it’s warm to the touch…*not hot, or you’ll kill the yeast. Then add extra water as needed during mixing.
I just made these today. Easy, straightforward recipe. Fantastic results. Sally, you are my go-to for recipes. Consistently a winner!
Super easy recipe and they turned out absolutely amazing!!!
Hello, could I use cane sugar, rather than granulated sugar or brown sugar?
Hi Hilda, that should work fine here.
Turned out great! Made twice as many by making bagels smaller.
Just made these and I added fresh jalapeño and shredded fiesta mix cheese on top. They are heavenly, thanks for the recipe!
I love Sally’s recipes. I never really used to many recipes , and I have been cooking for a large group of family and friends for over 50 delicious years. My friends say I am the best baker/cook in my small town of Walker Lake, Nevada. I don’t know about that, but I do enjoy it, and always share with my neighbors. When I do need a recipe, I always look to see if Sally’s Addictions are available for that specific recipe first. They always turn out great, easy to read and create. They always turn out perfect. I also appreciate all the suggestions, it opens my mind to be more creative. Thank you for making the use of recipes fun again.
Hello! This recipe sounds delicious, and I’m eager to try it. Do you have a recipe for making onion bagels? They are really hard to find where I live, and I would love to try and make my own. Thank you.
Hi Jaime, We haven’t tested onion bagels, but recommend adding about 1/4 teaspoon onion powder and 1/3 cup dried minced onion in the dough. Some recipes suggest soaking the onion flakes for the topping in water before baking to prevent burning, but we haven’t tried that ourselves. Let us know what you try!
Do you have a blueberry bagel recipe or could I just add blueberries to this recipe? I just pulled a batch of bagels out of the oven. I did 4 everything and 4 plain. They are absolutely delicious! Now I want some blueberry!
Hi Crystal, for blueberry bagels we would follow our cinnamon raisin bagels recipe, substituting dried blueberries for raisins. So glad you enjoyed the bagels!
I’m glad others found this easy and good. I really didn’t love this approach. Other recipes put the sugar in with the yeast. This doesn’t. Others have more water and a looser dough which is much easier to work with if you don’t have a mixer. I found these more laborious, drier, and tougher than other recipes. I don’t have a stand mixer so maybe that’s the primary issue but I don’t find it such a barrier when I’ve used other recipes.
These bagels came out beautifully! They were chewy and delicious I love this recipe and it will be my go to forever!
I used molasses in the water bath (I didn’t have barley malt syrup and read it was a fine substitute) the same measurement and I was worried they’d be a funky color because the water was so dark but that did not happen they are perfect!
If I wanted to add chocolate chips is there a way I could do that?
Hi Evan, 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!
First time making bagels today and this recipe was so easy to follow! Absolute hit with the family and 6 bagels are already gone!
Can I add Greek yogurt or cottage cheese to make a high protein bagel? How much should I add? Thank you!
Hi Kathy, we haven’t tried adding these, but let us know how they turn out for you if you do!
You have 2 AND 3/4 teaspoon of yeast so does that mean i need 2 teaspoon and 3/4 teaspoons or two 3/4 teaspoons of yeast? Thank you.
Hi Anabel, you need 2 teaspoons + 3/4 teaspoon.
This recipe is so easy, fast and good. I’ve been making this recipe for at least four years. Whole wheat flour works well!
Came out fantastic for my first time making bagels. Ended up covering mine in cheddar and adding some freshly sliced jalapenos. An extra 5 minutes in the oven and they came out looking like the ones you would find in a store!
Made as directed and they were fantastic – crispy texture outside and chewy inside.
Great recipe and turned out wonderfully! Thank you!
Can you please advise if you can add blueberries to the dough and if so at what point and how much of the blueberries would you add?
Hi Jessica, for blueberry bagels we would follow our cinnamon raisin bagels recipe, substituting dried blueberries for raisins. So glad you enjoyed the bagels!
Thank you Lexi!
Honestly this bagel recipe is the best and I’m so pleased I have found it.
The bagels taste great, however. Prior to dropping them into the water they deflate… so I end up with ugly looking, lumpy things.
How can I avoid the rising bagels to stick to the baking sheet?
I’ve tried flouring the surface, a silicone sheet… always the same result…
Hi Andrea, Is your dough doubling in size during the rising stage? Yeast recipes/breads will deflate if the dough has risen/proofed too long. Our baking with yeast guide may be a helpful resource as well! Hope that helps for next time!
Yes, it doubles during rising, then when I mold the bagels and let it sit, it doubles again.
That’s when they stick to whatever surface I put them on. So I have to kinda scrape them off and into the boiling water…. Not pretty.
Andrea – I used to have this issue but I place them on individual parchment paper pieces and put the bagels i. The water with the paper and remove the paper after it naturally releases in the water. Works like a charm!
Can I freeze the already cooked bagels?
Hi Emily, Baked bagels freeze wonderfully!
When I make my bagels I use a baking sheet with a silicone topper, cover with parchment paper and generously sprinkle the parchment paper with semolina flour. I’ve never had an issue with it sticking to the tray. Hope that helps.
If I can only set my oven to 190 Degree Celsius, how long do I bake them for?
Hi Pigu, a little longer, but we’re unsure exactly how long you’ll need. Keep an eye on them in the oven!
This recipe makes it hard to buy bagels. But, my dough comes out super lumpy. I’ve tried weighing the flour, scooping and leveling, but it’s still lumpy and hard to get a smooth bagel. I’ve tried two mixers as well.
Hi Cristina, I’m so glad to read that you enjoy these bagels. It sounds like the dough could use more kneading. Could you try kneading by hand for a few extra minutes to help achieve a smoother dough?
I have the option of bread flour with or without a rising agent. Which do you suggest?
Hi Julie, you need bread flour without a rising agent here.
Can I halve this recipe?
Hi Kathy, halving can be a bit tricky with yeasted recipes, so we recommend making a full batch and freezing any leftovers.
Hi Kathy. This is what she has put in her notes 🙂
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.
Hi my first batch turned out great. The second time I made them the flavor was different. Tasted kind of like bread. What do you think I did wrong
Hi Joanne! Could there have been too much flour in the dough? How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
How much water and molasses can I use for the bagel bath instead of Barley malt syrup?
Hi Barbara, you can use the same amount of water and molasses as listed in the recipe (2 quarts water, 1/4 cup molasses).
Loved making this recipe!! The bagels rock
do you know the calories for this recipe per serving?
Hi Trinity, 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
I have made this recipe a number of times and it has always worked. I decided to try and use organic wheat flour, but my dough is not rising. Any suggestions?
Hi Stacey, was your water too warm (which can kill the yeast) or was your yeast expired by chance? That could be the culprit for the dough not rising. For future batches, we do 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!