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!! I love your recipes!! Question- I have instant yeast. Do I still do the first step adding the yeast to the water? It’s confusing because when I google the difference it says instant yeast doesn’t require water do activate. I’ve never used anything but active yeast but the stores are sold out!
Hi, thank you! Yes, if using instant yeast, still follow the exact same directions.
Yummy!!!!!
Made these for the first time today using the overnight rise. They are great, will be making again!
I’ve made both this recipe and the everything bagel recipe and the first day it’s amazing but my problem is that they always seem to turn out flat and after a few days they get hard. Maybe it’s the way I’m shaping the bagels? Do you have any tips on keeping their shape and also how to prevent the bagels from getting hard? Just wanted to note that I’ve been using AP flour because I can’t find bread flour anywhere so. Not sure if that makes a difference. I love this recipe because it’s easy to make but I just want to make it right, so I’ll keep trying.
Hi Janise, like bakery bagels, these will turn pretty dense and lose softness after a few days. I always reheat in the microwave to soften them back up and then toast (if you like your bagels toasted). So they hold their shape better, make sure you aren’t over-working the dough or adding too much flour at any point in the process.
These are SO good! I’ve wanted to try making bagels for a long time. If being home because of a pandemic isn’t when to try I don’t know when is! I only had all purpose flour and they still came out great. Making a triple batch today. Hoping to get some in the freezer before the kids gobble them up!
Had great success with these – didn’t have bread flour but used half all purpose white and half whole wheat, and they worked great – nice and chewy!
My bagels were very sticky and did not retain their shape as I removed them from the parchment paper. They had a very weird shape and did not resemble bagels. What is the trick?
Hi Sally! So I tried this recipe today and it was halfway there for me. I think I made a mistake by using a lower rack in the oven because the bottoms were too hard/crispy while the tops were still kind of white. But it did taste good. What I’m more worried about is that my bagels came out looking EXTREMELY deformed and were super sticky after I set them aside while preparing the water bath. When I tried to take them off the parchment sheet to drop them in the water bath, they completely lost their shape and it was a real mess putting them back in shape. They also stuck to the parchment sheet and it was a battle to get them off for the water bath. Not sure where I went wrong.
Hi Sally,
First, thank you for your work and your recipes. I have tried a few bagel recipes and have had the most success (taste and technically) with yours. I have been searching the internet for a recipe for French Toast bagels – found one and it wasn’t at all what I was looking for. As a NYC resident, I can be a bagel snob, and here the French Toast bagels are like a cross between an egg bagel and a cinnamon swirl bagel, and are usually topped with a nice dusting of powdered sugar. I am not sure if you’ve ever had one or not, but they are a great treat and I was wondering if you had any knowledge or thoughts on how to create one? Thank you again for your time and your recipes 🙂
Hi Wendy, I don’t have a recipe for an egg bagel yet but my Cinnamon Raisin Bagels might be a good start to experiment with. Let me know if you try anything – sounds delicious!
I absolutely love this recipe. I have been baking bread for a while. Never made bagels. During this quarantine , I forgot to buy them so I figured I’d give it a try! I made the dough the night before and shaped & baked the next morning. My husband said they were better than the bakery and store’s bagels. Thank you. ps they freeze beautifully.
My local bagel shop closed, and I didn’t have much luck with other recipes. Then I tried this recipe and they turned out perfectly! We were out of bread flour, but all purpose worked for me. I seasoned them with the everything mix from Trader Joe’s. The whole family loved them!
These were PERFECT.
It was my first time trying to make bagels. There are a lot of recipes out there, but I’m so glad I chose this one. I wish I could post a picture. They were chewy, perfectly cooked, and delicious! Even my dad, who’s normally not a bagel lover, said they were fantastic.
I didn’t have the barley malt syrup so I used brown sugar/honey route as recommended.
This is one fantastic recipe – guaranteed results EVERY time!! I love this recipe, and it never fails. Thank you Sally! I made just a few small changes: 1. Instead of bread flour, I use all purpose flour but add a few teaspoons of vital wheat gluten and whole wheat flour – seems to be enough to do the trick; 2. I do the full 5 minutes kneading in my Kitchenaid – no hand-kneading required; 3. For boiling, I use 6 c water, 1 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp molasses – give them a nice brownish colour. For the topping, I mix 1.5 Tbsp each of sesame seeds, flax seeds, and poppy seeds, and press the upside down bagels into into the seeds. On the mornings when I make bagels, the whole house fills with a delicious aroma and by the time they are ready to eat, our mouths are watering and we can’t wait to chow down. Thanks for restoring my confidence in bagel-making!
These came out great! My daughter was so happy, she’s been craving good bagels. I thought it would be difficult but I followed the directions and they are delicious! Golden brown outside, fluffy inside, and the taste is great. So glad I took the plunge and made this recipe.
Came out perfect. Cut the recipe in half for my first time and made four for the trial: two plain, one sesame, one garlic. I used whole wheat and actually let the dough rise for 3 hours and they turned out great. My only issue was that after transferring directly from the bath to the baking sheet, they stuck to the wax paper while baking. I would probably lay down a thin layer of non-stick spray first next time and hope it doesn’t overly caramelize/crisp the bottom of the bagels.
Hi Sally! I made the bagels for a second time and they didn’t come out so great this time…the dough was really sticky and they came out very flat, and the insides were doughier. Do you have any idea what I could have done wrong? I measured everything with a scale so I don’t think it was wrong measurements. I baked them for 23 mins. Do you think it could have been because it was quite warm yesterday? Your thoughts would be appreciated, I want to make them again because the first time they were amazing! Thank you!
Hi Chrissy, was the dough too sticky and/or shaping too difficult? Was your yeast expired too, by chance? I’m concerned the bagels were flat. Try adding another couple Tbsp of flour next time. That should help them hold their shape a little better.
I love these bagels and have made them a few times now with excellent results! However, I decided to try the overnight rise methid last night and my dough got a crusty top. I’m going to try boiling/ baking anyway but do you have an idea how I can prevent this?
Hi Nora! They’ll be just fine—it was simply the exposure to air inside the bowl. Happens to me all the time.
Don’t mind me, just working my way through your every recipe! Always wanted to try making bagels and when I saw you had video instruction here I knew I had to give it a go! Made plain and everything this afternoon. I didn’t have any bread flour (and haven’t been able to find at the store) but I added some vital wheat gluten to my all purpose flour using a conversion I found somewhere online, I think it worked ok– the bagels had a wonderfully dense and chewy consistency. The only downside is that they’re so filling, I can only eat one at a time! Another perfect recipe complete with easy to follow instructions, thank you!
Hi Sally, I am going to bake these for vegans as the recipe looks good and people’s comments are positive too :). What would you suggest instead of the honey (and barley malt sugar as we don’t have this available?). Would golden syrup be OK? And I guess the brushed egg could be a soya milk or nut milk or vegetable margarine as you have suggested alternatives of butter/milk on an earlier comment? Thank you!
Natasha
Hi Natasha! A few readers have used brown sugar in the boiling step. Instead of egg wash, brush them with some nondairy milk before baking.
Hi Sally! Bagels are my favorite! If I could eat them everyday I would. Your recipe looks amazing and I plan on trying it this week. I had a question regarding the egg wash, I know you advised that it is necessary, however, a member of my family cannot have eggs. Is there a substitute I can use to achieve similar results? Thank you so much, I love your site!
Hi Mena, A light brush of milk or melted butter works too!
I was wondering if you would suggest using this recipe for blueberry bagels.
Hi Cami, You can use fresh or dried blueberries. You can add them in when I add the raisins in my Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. Follow those instructions. A caution, though, fresh blueberries will make this dough very wet. I prefer dried berries.
Great recipe. The family loved it. Thinking of doing 1/2 the recipe for cinnamon raisin bagels and 1.5x the recipe for plain/everything so double the recipe in total. Should I change the water/honey for boiling half way through or will it last for 2 batches properly? Thank you!
Easy recipe. Came out great!!!
Have you any suggestions on the ratio of flours if I want to make a rye bagel??
So glad you enjoyed these, thanks Rob. I haven’t tried a rye variation but let me know if you test anything.
I tried the recipe with 25% rye flour and 75% bread flour. I also mixed in 2 tablespoons of caraway seeds. The dough was sticky ( I am not sure if that was due to high humidity in Florida or the rye flour) so I added about 1/4 -1/3 Cup more bread flour. The rye bagels came out great.
Thanks again for the recipe.
I no longer miss my New York bagels!!
I really love your recipes, I’ve made your dark chocolate mouse cake more than ten times! I followed this recipe and measured everything out by weight, however, my dough was really sticky and not stif like yours. I’m waiting for it to rise now, not too concerned but should I be?
Hi Angelina, 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. Flour your hands and work surface well when you are shaping them.
They turned out delicious! I just left it and floured my surfaces enough so they won’t stick.
These turned out great! My family loved them (and I typically struggle with recipes the first time I make the ).
Very good recipe, am in France we dont have bagels here, or is very rare to find them. They look amazing! Thank you.
Love the recipe
They came out great amd it was my first time!
Thanks
Well, I don’t know what I am doing wrong. Have the right flour, everything else, and follow the directions. They taste good but are not chewy. Any hints, anyone?
This is my only Sally’s recipe that has not been fantastic.
Thanks.
These bagels are delicious and the texture is awesome! However, I followed the recipe by shaping the holes in the bagel to be 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter, and the bagels were quite large. They were much thinner than I would have liked them to be, so next time I will definitely not follow the recipe on that part.
I had issues with bagel height. I found a video online that shows a good technique. Just put the dough ball on a floured surface and coat your index in flour. Push through and then soin the bagel around your finger that helped mine stay puffy
These were amazing and so easy for a first timer! My daughter is keen on egg bagels. Have a recipe for those? Thanks so much!
With the overnight method, I recommend covering the dough in plastic wrap on top as the top of the dough, when left covered only with a towel, left a crust on the top of the dough. Made it more difficult to form the bagels the next day. Also, super important to take your time with forming the balls, as they need to come to room temp.
Just made these bagels and they are so amazing! First time making bagels and this recipe was so easy to follow and it was the biggest feeling of accomplishment!!
Quick question- if I were to make them into mini bagels, how long would you recommend to bake for? And would water bath timing be the same? Thanks!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed them! You can make mini bagels. I’m unsure of the bake time but keep your eye on them and bake until they are golden brown.
Just took these out of the oven. Of course I ate one, sooo good!
As the raw bagels rested and I boiled the water, all was great. Unfortunately, as I removed the bagels from the parchment cover sheet to put into the boil, they stuck to the parchment! although I tugged and lifted as gently as possible, several bagels deflate and squished, and did not recover, resulting in flattened bagels. I will say they baked beautifulyy ad tasted devine. Any advice?
Hi Mary, I haven’t had that happen before but I imagine it was very frustrating. Try coating the parchment with a little flour which will help prevent those bagels from sticking before they go into the water.